[Lyric]

A week ago my transmission cooler lines broke and I did not notice this till I was about 20 miles from the house and luckily the Toyota dealership was within a walking distance. At the time I was leaking fluid I was unsure really to what exactly was leaking.

I walked to the dealership and the mechanic was nice enough to walk down the road to take a look at my vehicle and my vehicle was just a few blocks down the road. He was able to confirm it was transmission fluid leaking and stated I needed to remove the skid plate to see where it's leaking from. It happens to be I had my tools in the rear cargo area of the truck so I got up underneath and took the skid plate off. I started the vehicle back up to allow pressure so we could tell where the fluid was coming from and it was coming from the transmission cooler lines. So I bolted the skid plate back up and walked back with the mechanic to the dealership.

Once back at the dealership the mechanic and parts guy helped pull the part I needed on the computer up but they did not have one in stock within the area. I would not be able to get the part till 4-5 days later. Plus the part was $75 and I hated the idea of paying that for two small metal tubes. So the mechanic pulled me aside outside and gave me some information and a cheap fix that would work.

He said for me to go to the local parts store and buy two metal brake lines, a pipe bender, clamps and plastic ties. He said to remove the old metal tubes that are broken and leaking transmission fluid and replace them with the metal brake lines. He said they would be the same size and length and just bend the pipes and use the old pipes for a close match in bend. Next slide the rubber hoses over the nipple ends of the pipes, clamp the rubber hoses down with clamps and zip tie the new metal pipes to the frame.

So I bought some transmission fluid from Toyota and went back the truck and checked the level and noticed I was down about a quart or so and filled it up just to get to the parts store and back home.

For two metal brake lines, clamps, pipe bender and plastic ties I payed $18 vs $75.

Once home I removed the metal transmission cooler lines with are clamped to the rubber hoses going to and from the transmission and radiator. Next I unbolted the metal lines which are welded to a bracket onto the frame of the truck. But of course the bracket will not be needed because its welded to the broken pipes and instead I will be using plastic ties to tie the new metal pipes to the frame. Next I laid the old pipes on the ground and took the new pipes and pipe bender to match exactly the bends I needed to make. Make sure to not get a kink in the pipe while bending and if so buy another pipe. Once the pipes were bent to match the old pipes I connected them to the rubber hoses and used the new clamps to secure the hold over the nipple end of the metal pipes. Next I zipped tied the cables to the frame. After this was all complete I drained the old transmission fluid and replaced with new transmission fluid and checked everything over twice. I started the truck and watched for any leaks. Nothing leaks and I took it for a quick test and everything is running smooth and no issues.

This was a simple and quick fix. Much cheaper than $75 and only took a couple hours. And a big thanks to the Toyota mechanic for looking at my vehicle which was not in the parking lot and for recommending the cheap and easy fix he did. I don't know if this will be a help to anyone or if it has been wrote up already but just thought I would share. Thanks

[03_4x4Runner]

This is the first time I have heard of this problem on the 4runners. What year and how many miles do you have. I could see the rubber hose leaking but not as likely for a metal line to leak.

[Lyric]

Originally Posted by 03_4x4Runner

This is the first time I have heard of this problem on the 4runners. What year and how many miles do you have. I could see the rubber hose leaking but not as likely for a metal line to leak.

Info:

2004 SR5 V6 4X4
145,000 Miles

Honestly I think this was all do to salt and weather over time as the metal lines started to rust and basically with time it corroded and started to leak. I have some rust on the under carrage of course this comes with time/age, salt and weather. So of course the transmission lines started to rust and eventually rust won and caused a leak.

I am slowly replacing things underneath like brake lines, bolts and other things a little at a time.

Whether anyone has rust or not I would recommend looking underneath for things that have rusted and replace them little bits over time. I only wrote this up for those who might have rust underneath or may need to replace these things in the future.

Note: I had never heard of this issue before ether until I talked to the Toyota mechanic who said, it is more common than most know. Basically some people drive around forever with a small small leak in the transmission cooler lines but it drips onto the skid plate and dries up or flies off while driving down the road. Its never enough to cause a puddle underneath because its only a small amount that is landing on the skid plate. Again with this it dries or flies off while driving down the road. In my case it was a nice huge hole and it basically busted bigger due to pressure. The dealership is a Toyota and Honda dealership in one and the mechanic said it was common with both autos.

So it's just nice to take a look underneath and if it's an issue or you notice even rust. Then just perform the fix I did myself and change the transmission fluid out while your at it.

Remind you on my 04 it was not the closed transmission. My transmission has a drain plug and you refill through the dip stick tube.

Thanks

[Mike6453]

This just happened to me too. My truck has some rust but it wasn't causing any issues until about 2 weeks ago. I started to notice small puddles of transmission fluid under the car. Took it to the mechanic and he mentioned that two lines were rusted.

The issue is getting corrected now.

2004 SR5 4WD

[jms2112]

what a coincidence, as I was going to post a thread on this same thing! I just did this last night, the exact same thing. Mine were totally rusted and I had planned on replacing them at some point. Well I was in there replacing the idlers (different thread) I must have bumped one of the trans cooler lines and that was all it took. It started leaking. I thought the same thing, I'm not paying 50 bucks or whatever for some lines. I thought originally I would replace the hard lines with hose but then I had some 3/8 brake line and a tube bender already so I figured I'd use that. I pulled off the bracket with the rusted lines so I could bend the new ones up in a similar way.

They came out pretty good. I had to go back and get some more 3/8 line. I ended up breaking off the rusted lines at the bends and bolting the bracket back on, then wire tying the new lines to that bracket. But I also encased the new lines in old heater hose to prevent wear and hold them in better.

Pics:







Jim

[4RBob]

I also had this part rust out here in the salt belt. I went with the OEM part though and installed it.

Keeping an eye out on some PS lines too.

[BOSMECH]

I live in New England (Salty winters) so now I am going to go check mine on my 03.

[gshadow325]

on toyota website i found out

previous owner of my 03 v8 bought a new transmission @ 145k for $4600 because of this problem.

he promptly sold it to me because it has so much problems for real cheap!

[montana_jeepn]

So the transmission lines are 3/8in, not 5/16? I am adding a transmission temp gauge. I ordered Autometer 2287 where I think I should have bought Autometer 2286.

[NotKewl]

So I got out to go to work and this morning and saw this great big puddle under my truck. After some investigating I noticed that the fluid (which had run all the way down the chassis and around the bumper to splash up onto the lift-gate) was transmission fluid. Yippy, I thought (well, more like Son of a Bi...). Looks like I have the same issue. Well, at least now I don't have an excuse for putting off installing my B&M 70268.



You can see the splashes of tranny fluid on the rear of the 4Runner. Must have been leaking like a siv all the way home yesterday.

[ben550]

I was under my truck inspecting the lines and noticed that I have a lot of corrosion on the transmission cooler lines. I want to order the part but have a question. On the parts site there are two brackets Part number: 3907A.

One is $50 the other is $30. Both say it fits the 4runner? Are either ok? Not sure what the difference is?

[Hapeacres]

Yup, a few months ago I noticed small pools of tranny fluid leaking from my 04V8. I think it may have been going on for a while since my driveway is crushed recycled asphalt so it is hard to tell. I noticed it while leaving it parked in a friends garage for a day. The tranny cooler lines were completely rusted out and the power steering lines looked even worse! Since there is no dipstick, this really concerned me. I just had my mechanic replace the tranny cooler line and brought the V8 over to the dealer for a fluid exchange which it needed anyway. That way I was assured new fluid at the right level. Since then, I ordered a new pressure side power steering line and have installed that as a preventative measure. You should take a good look at your power steering lines cause chances are they are rusted just as bad.

[ben550]

I'll definitely check the power steering lines. I actually just flushed the power steering fluid. I'll check the lines tho.

The transmission cooler lines part is in the mail. I am just replacing the metal part, and a few of the clamps. The hoses should all be fine still. I might replace one hose.

I was going to do a full transmission fluid exchange after cause it needs to be done anyways.

Here's a pic of the corrosion on the line, its pretty much right at the bend. I was able to pick it apart with my finger... not leaking yet but almost there.

The dry coolant is from a recent timing belt change.

[TRDCal]

I had the front portion leaking last year so spliced in a small chunk of rubber hose. Sprung another leak last month, I ripped out all the old rusty lines and replaced with ATF grade rubber hose. They won't rust out and are not exposed to the sun so I think they'll last. Cost me about $60 in hose.

[nyc4runnin]

i got this same issue, probably just buy the oem tubes at the dealer or partznet