What's up? Nice forum here.

Was wondering if anyone knew if the 5 speed tranny in the '03 V8 was a new transmission (new design) or has been used in other toyota products before. Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, the V8 is from a Sequoia, correct? Basically, I was curious if these components have a strong history of reliability.

Thanks

Welcome,

The 5-speed transmission is a BRAND-NEW design. It is the new 5-speed "truck" transmission from Toyota/Lexus. It is on Toyota 4Runner V8, Lexus GX470, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Lexus LX470. Previous transmissions on these vehicles have been a 4-speed auto. The new 5-speed transmission has a nice 1st gear ratio (3.5 i think), which means that the acceleration from stop is gonna be excellent. In addition, this new 1st gear ratio helps in off-roading (greatly improves CRAWL RATIO).

How reliable is it?? I don't know. This is the first year of it. However, unlike Honda, Toyota has been well-known to make bullet-proof transmission...easily on par with GM's tranny.

The 4Runner's V6 4-speed auto tranny is similar to the "old" 4-speed tranny discussed above. It is similar to the 3rd gen transmission. However, i believe it is strengthened to match the increase torque of the new V6.

The new V8 is very similar to the Sequoia V8, but not exactly the same. The 4Runner/GX/Land Cruiser/LX470 V8 rates at 235 HP and 320 Torque, and requires PREMIUM fuel. The Sequoia/Tundra rates at 240 HP and 315 Torque, and allows for REGULAR FUEL.

Beyond these small differences, the engines are very similar. However, if you notice, all vehicles with the 4Runner's V8 (235HP/320Torque) have the SAME transfer case (full-time 4wd; aka no 2wd option) and have the NEW 5-speed automatic transmission.

Hope this helps.

Here is more information for your reading pleasures:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showth...?s=&threadid=3

Go to the last post (.pdf file).

Hope this helps.

Thanks Thai for the great info

The new v8 requires premium fuel??? Ive been putting regular fuel. I thought i looked over the manual to see if it required premium and it didnt say so.

Vac,

I believe most literature RECOMMENDS premium, but Regular is OK.

In my opinion, based on various readings (on Land Cruiser, LX470, GX470, and 4Runner), premium fuel is the way to go, especially if you want to keep your 4Runner for a long period of time. I would go with whatever the owner's manual recommends, and NOT what the salesman said!!

Thanks.

The owners manual for our '03 4Runner Limited V8 says this on P. 236:

"Octane Rating: Select Octane Rating 87 (Research Octane Number 91) or higher. For improved performance, the use of premium unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 91 (Research Octane Number 96) or higher is recommended."

FWIW, there are two methods of determining octane number: Research Octane method (RON) and Motor Octane method (MON). These yield different numerical values for a given fuel, and the octane numbers appearing on gas pumps in the USA are the average of these two rating systems' numbers, usually referred to as "pump octane".

So the upshot is, you can safely use 87 octane fuel with Toyota's blessing, but you may want to try 91 octane premium and see if there's an improvement in MPG, power or both.

Myself, I plan to wait until the breakin period is over, then do some experimentation to see if premium pays back in terms of mileage. I tow a 4000# trailer a lot, and I'll be using 91 octane premium for that.

Regards,