I looked at all sorts of transmission and options last year (although I have a 98 which has a slightly more reliable transmission). The part that always kept me from going with these sorts of shops is the warranty. I saw this company but did not choose them because of their warranty policy. It says 3 years warranty but if something goes wrong I'd still be on the hook for labor costs even though they say they cover it. From the warranty section:

"Book times are pro-rated and have a maximum labor rate of $50.00 per hr.
Work may only be completed by a certified shop."

Around here, a certified transmission shop charges $150.00 per hour so I'd be paying $100.00 per hour for a replacement or repair if I had to make a warranty claim, PLUS having to pay $2400 + shipping + tax. Just too spendy for my budget so I went with a $600 out to the door price for a junkyard unit. One year later and I'm pretty happy with that decision. I realize with every passing month that option is getting harder as there are fewer and fewer good units left.

If you think or find that your transmission needs replacing, I personally went with a used one back in 2016, high mileage from florida, cheap. I am touching wood, but the thing is flawless and the truck has been adding a lot and lot of miles since then.

I'd guess the used transmission for the 3rd gen are quite ''cheap'' (post covid cheap...), so if you are in to do the job, it could be a very economical and long term swap, with the mtbtim videos, you got a shop manual on steroid. Get a 250$ transmission jack from harbor freight that you can sell back for 100$ and you're ready.

Hello friends. I have a 97 4runner 3.4l auto trans that has been in the family and has made wonderful family memories across the u.s. about a year ago my trans cooler unit failed and it backflushed trans fluid into my coolant and vice versa. It was an on the side of the road, thousands of miles away from the home repair. After about $600 worth of trans fluid, the tranny was flushed out and I installed a new radiator(trans cooler is permanently attached to the bottom of it). No issues, drove excellent. After arriving home after some time had a CEL light come on, ran it and it was throwing a code for a shift solenoid. Asked a good mechanic friend and he said if it wasnt causing any issues, just keep rolling. Work was busy and like a fool I continued on. Fast forward a year and I am heading down the interstate a few weeks back(solenoid light still on) and the tranny feels like its slipping. A little later into the trip I see a auto trans temp warning light come on with the strong smell of trans fluid. I want sure exactly how long that light was on in that few hour trip as I had a photo placed on the dash and it wasnt until I smelled the transmission fluid that I removed the photo as I had a gut feeling it had a light on
I immediately pulled over off the highway and met her cool down. I was 4 miles away from my destination. After a length of time permitted for cooling I proceeded down the highway until I arrived at my destination, allowing her to cool off again. On the trip home the a/t temp light never dis come back on but the strong smell of tranny fluid was prevalent with the slippage feel if I really stepped into it. I usually do my own repairs unless I am super busy with work and at the present moment I happen to be in the event I take it to a trusted mechanic. He is booked out like 2-3 months so I took it to a secondary mechanic(dont know a ton about him but hear good things). He said we can throw a new solenoid kit in($450), new ATF fluid and a new seal for $675. But he later got ahold of me and said the ATF fluid was black and smelled burnt. I will testify and say that the ATF fluid probably needed replacing prior to all this occurring. We were going to replace it anyways when we got home after our trip where the trans cooler unit failed but work picked up. My question is, do I go ahead and swap out the solenoids, hoping it will be a remedy or replace the entire trans with a used one pulled from a salvage yard?The mechanic the 4runner is at thinks the transmission MIGHT be bad based solely on the burnt smell of the ATF on the dipstick and the black coloration of the liquid. Please, any feedback would be much appreciated. 🤙

Replace it with one from a salvage yard.

Replace it. 1996-2000 4wd will interchange but transfer your transmission pan/dipstick over

You can also make a 01-02 trans work.

Just have to swap the kickdown cable mechanism, and a few other parts. A friend of mine put a 1997 4x4 trans, in a 2001 for a 4x4 conversion.

Try just replacing the fluids first, it could be all it needs. At best this will just buy time as with the coolant mix AND burnt fluid the transmission is probably toast and needs replacing.

Sorry to necro an old thread, but I can't make my own posts yet.
Got a 3rd gen 02 4Runner that was running and driving, but started throwing a CEL for shift solenoids. Dropped the pan to change solenoids and found an egregious amount of metal bits in it. Cleaned it out and swapped the solenoids knowing it was only a matter of time before it completely grenaded. That time came 2 months later, so now I'm looking for a boneyard trans. Everything around me that's got decently low miles is $1200 or higher plus shipping. My question is would the A340F from the 1st gen Sequoia be an option? They're plentiful and cheap here with low miles. I know the bellhousing pattern is different, and I read somewhere that you can swap it since everything past the bellhousing is the same. I've been trying to find some solid info on if it's possible to do this, and what all I would need. I'm just not having any luck finding a writeup on it. If anyone could give me some solid info or a link to a writeup I'd appreciate it!

You'll need a different torque converter, pump, and bell housing. I wouldn't recommend using any of the parts from your current transmission to make it work. If you haven't already try checking car-part.com and call your local LKQ. Good luck!

That's kind of what I expected. I read that the Sequoia and Runner had different spline counts on the converter. Car-part is where I've been looking. Closest good one to me is $1600+shipping. With 105K on it. But was able to find a Sequoia one with similar miles for $650. That's what sparked the idea of swapping parts. Thanks for the answer, I appreciate it

I agree with the above poster as my transmission AND torque converter failed at the same time because of particle contamination. You'd be taking a big risk by keeping the old torque converter and just hoping it's good. Removing the torque converter is as much work as removing the whole transmission itself!

Keep looking and be patient if it's possible with a spare/2nd vehicle. I bought mine a year ago for around $1200 with parts & fluids and everything else. It had about 135K miles but be cautious of mileage claims. A lot of places will just list it as '100,000 miles' but you know that isn't true.

Yea I was definitely going to get a new converter, not worth the insignificant savings if it all blows up again quickly. The biggest issue with waiting is the registration is coming due in March, so I'm on a bit of a time crunch. Might just have to pony up the extra cash and get the one I was originally looking at. Side question, I just found a decently low mileage 04 4x4 Tacoma with a blown engine that they're parting out. I know a lot of the parts between the two are interchangeable, would this swap be possible and save me from the planetary gear issues of the 01-02 A340? I'm 99% sure that's what failed in the truck already. I really appreciate your guys's time

I replaced the TQ in a resent 4runner rebuild because I was in there and why not, I looked around local parts stores and though they had them listed for sale, no one seemed to be able to get one, ended up going with one off RockAuto. its rebuild by a company in the USA put a few thousand miles on since Dec. and no issues. It's was under 200 after returning the core, fyi if u go through Rock u have to pay for the return shipping, 17 to get ur 50 back.

Thanks for that. I was running into the same issue with nobody local having much of anything for it and was looking at that same converter. Wasn't familiar with the name of the company, but glad to hear it seems to be a quality unit.

Being a 2002, I agree with your assessment about he planetary gear being the problem. With an '04 Tacoma I do not know if it is plug and play. There are some speed sensor differences between Tacomas and 4Runners so there may be some undocumented issues with compatibility.