He said he put global trans fluid in it. He said it's what they always use for Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

If by "global" shop meant Toyota WS “World Standard”, then I would recommend checking the level.

Man, I don't think it is Toyota OEM...I got a little more info out of him...he says they use it on everything with no problems--Toyota, Lexus, Mercedes, etc...sounds like a generic one-size-fits-all "global" synthetic trans fluid.

Now I don't trust the shop. I think I'm going to have it redone at a Toyota dealership.

Wife’s 2012 Rav4 had same symptom. Torque converter was replaced under an extended 150,000 mile warranty for this specific problem. Likely no such warranty on 4Runner.

Interesting...I came on here today to research this same issue. I haven't had any work done at all, but lately on certain turns in my city I get that same shutter you mentioned, around 30-45 MPH. Goes away after the turn. I think I might get it some times just going straight, but mostly on turns. I'll probably try an alignment first to see if that helps.

2011 Limited with 139k.

Considering what he told you, sounds like the culprit of the problem is the wrong fluid… Dealer would be expensive… since they have to replace all fluid now (not just drain and fill)… but you may not have any other options unless you can do it yourself or find another and trusted shop that will use Toyota WS fluid.... sorry you have to deal with this.... what a pain...

P.S. your story with that shop is one of main reasons I do my own oil changes as well as other maintenance -trany, transfer cases, difs oil cahnges, etc....

Hopefully its just a fluid level issue. I personally will use Toyota WS ATF when I flush my trans. However, I believe any World Standard should be fine. If it was me Id:

Add about 24 oz of whatever WS ATF they are using. Then idle the 4runner for 15-20 minutes to bring it up to temp. Remove the fill check plug. Hope that some fluid comes out. When the drain stream becomes a "trickle" replace the fill check plug.

This procedure will verify the fluid level is correct. Verifying the correct fluid level should be the first check.

If this procedure doesn't correct the shudder, I'd go to Toyota for a full flush or do a full flush myself. Certainly with Toyota WS ATF.

FWIW-my third gen was particular about ATF level. Maybe 5th gens are too.

Man I do EVERYthing else myself. But I was honestly scared of the transmission. Saw two YouTube videos that make think I just need to start doing it myself. I’m gonna add fluid and catch the extra that comes out like @badattitude suggested.

I totally understand, I felt a bit intimated as well until I did first full trany fluid exchange on my 3rd gen 4Runner… no issues, just take your time.

Sounds like a good plan!

Here’s how much fluid came out after I added 24 oz, then let the truck warm up for 20 min, then let the check plug drain until it became a trickle. This is a 5-gal oil catch pan. It looks to be about 2 qts of trans fluid. I would say it was conservatively 1qt overfilled, probably a bit more. I'm gonna drive around the block and see how she does.

After warming up the truck and draining the excess trans fluid, I went for a 10-min test drive accelerating slowly, replicating the conditions under which I got the dreaded rumble strip shudder from the torque converter. I was unable to make it happen even once.

I am cautiously optimistic that I have solved the problem! Sounds like 1 extra quart of trans fluid is just not ok at all in these vehicles.

Remembered that I had an empty 5-qt oil jug. Drained my catch pan into it, and look at that—2qt even. I added 24 oz before letting it drain after warming up, which is 2/3 of a qt, so my trans was overfilled by 1 1/3 (or 1.33) qt at the transmission shop. Extremely disappointed in that shop.



Thanks to those of you who helped me out on this thread. This forum is still awesome!! And now back to your regularly scheduled “which tires for my lift” threads.

Ok. I haven't driven very much since draining the excess fluid out of my trans. In the last couple of times I've driven it, the shudder is back. I decided to take the level check plug out again after driving it. The fluid was much warmer to the touch than when I let the 4R idle for 20 min in my driveway and did my first trans fluid level check. This morning, out came more than another quart. Here is the total of the extra fluid that was in my trans:



Looks like my trans was overfilled by about almost 3 qt at the shop I had it serviced at (remember the pictured amount includes the 24 oz I poured in before I first let out the fluid level check plug).

A couple things I've learned:

• Idling the 4R in park for 20 min DOES NOT warm up the transmission fluid. It was much warmer after driving and working than when it was just sitting.

• This transmission shop put in way too much of a generic "global" transmission fluid. I think this is why my torque converter is slipping.

• This fluid seems to be really clean...I am wondering if they replaced ALL the fluid (and added too much while doing so) instead of just dropping the pan and replacing 3qt.

• This problem doesn't happen when I drive normally. Normal driving for me is keeping it in S4 until I hit 45mph...then I go to D. I have no shudder or slippage when in S4...only when shifting from 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th when in D.

• After searching the forum, it seems a lot of people have this issue and some consider it a semi-normal quirk of the 4Runner. Again it only happens to me under very light acceleration and only in D mode, not S. I almost wonder if it is the adaptive programming of the transmission working against what would be a very different shift point under less acceleration. I mean, the trans has learned that I like to keep it in 4 until 40-45 mph. When accelerating very gently in D, which I very rarely do...it wants to get to 5th gear much faster. Just thinking out loud...

At this point, I'm waiting for the Toyota dealership to call me back and let me know how they do a flush or fluid exchange for this transmission. If there are any detergents or cleaners run through the system, I'm not going to do it. But if it's a simple replace-the-old-fluid-with-new, then I think it'll be the easiest way for me to make sure that my trans is full of Toyota OEM fluid. If I still have the problem after that, I'm gonna write a nice long honest Google review of this transmission shop that screwed up.

I'll keep you all updated.

I live about 10 minutes away from the dealer and drove straight home normally (keeping it in S4 until I hit 45 mph). Since it would only shudder in D mode when the truck was fully warmed up, I didn’t want to try to test it out on the way home and see if it was cured.

I noticed immediately that it shifts harder, which is a good thing. Worth the $300? For me—yes. And that’s because I had a local shop that in all likelihood caused my issues in the first place. They serviced it twice, and (A) did not use Toyota OEM fluid, and (B) overfilled it by almost 3 quarts. If yours is slipping and you get the dreaded shudder, it might be worth it to flush & fill at a dealer as well.

I could have drained the trans at home and filled it to spec level with OEM fluid, but I don’t have the machine that cleans the transmission out. According to some, cleaning the buildup of film out of the torque converter is what helps it to stop slipping.

I’ll report back soon.