TC is going out, transmission damage?
 

Hey peeps,

So I found out that the crazy rattling I was having from my car was my Torque Converter. Took it to the mechanic and he quoted me to replace it for 900, all fluids and parts included, not too crazy but enough to question if I should since the car is around 180k. I am not sure what the life on transmissions is for the 4Runner but the last thing I want to do is have my TC replaced and then have the transmission go out, or even worse have damage done to it because of the TC breaking pieces into it. I was told that I could drive the car around till the TC died and no longer worked, then I would replace it. I am against that as I have read about the little pieces that can mess stuff up.

Last morning I pulled out of my drive way, shifted into drive and drove, next thing you know my car is not even going forward. Foot on the pedal, RPM's going up by not going anywhere. I move into 2nd and I start moving forward, move back to drive and kinda works. After about 5 minutes of rolling around the issue had seem to go away.

This morning same issue but I had to get to work so no time to warm up fully. Could this be a result of the TC going bad?

At this point I am thinking about getting rid of my 4Runner. I had the shocks, struts, bushings, tie rods, ball joints, rear springs done since I got it. The last thing I want is to fix the TC and have the transmission go out on me then I am really dead in the water, out both a car and money.

Any ideas?

I'd swap the torque converter. I had my torque converter go out. Same thing. Driving down the interstate and it'd randomly rev up and not engage. Few hundred miles later and it sounded like metal pieces rolling around in the converter while just driving down the street. I swapped it out and no issues with the tranny after that. A torque converter is only $100 or so, obviously getting to it is a ***** but it's a relatively easy fix and the parts are cheap. I replaced mine around 180k also. I wouldn't drive it anymore if you can help it, but I think you'll be fine if you swap it out and in doing so the whole tranny will get flushed with new fluid too. I'd have the mechanic drop the transmission pan first, that will show if there's any huge chunks of material and then he can swap the filter out too. Even if the tranny is bad, tranny's are pretty cheap. I actually have a tranny with a low mileage TC for sale that I can't even get rid of, though I'm in Utah.

I've been thinking about it and I think I might just bite the bullet on this one. It has only been day two of this issue so I guess I am going to drop off my car tomorrow at the mechanic so he can start work on it. On the way home from work today I will take it easy and keep it under 60 (that is usually where I hit my cap since the issue began).

And hey shoot me a PM and we can talk. I don't mind paying for a crate if it comes down to it.

I have a 4 runner with a bad torque converter in it. PO not only overheated the engine but my guess the Transmission too. You better take that tranny and Torque converter before I ask him for $ to ship it to me.. :]

They can go bad, not super common but happens. They mostly make noise when failing. Louder when 4wd activated. You notice takes alot more rpm to get them to move and in park and neutral your TC noise will stop or drastically decrease to almost silent or no noise at all. Sometimes when failing they will stall the engine in drive.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

I think I might have to.

Just as a quick update. I checked the fluid level and it was full when the engine was hot, liquid was dark red.

I borrowed as siblings car for the time being so I am not at a total loss. I was driving home and I could barely maintain highway speeds, luckily it was traffic and mostly rolling the car 3/4th's of the way.

I will say that I just moved my car from a cold start into my driveway. I was on a flat surface and put it into drive, no power, had to gas it a bit and wait about 30 seconds before it could go forward. Strange enough I was able to go in reverse with no issues. I went up the block and pulled a U-turn, went down to my driveway and I tried to go up (it is at a slight incline) and I was unable to drive up. I had to wait about 30 seconds to get enough power to slowly crawl up the small incline so I could park it.

Wtf man. :/

I really hope it is just my TC and nothing else. I am going to replace just that for now and do service on the transmission as far as fluids.

Is your fluid red or dark brown black? Does it smell burnt. Any noises coming out of the transmission? Hoping a TC will patch your rig up. As it does regulate fluid flow. :]

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

Honestly it smells burnt in that area but can’t tell if it’s oil or transmission fluid, or both. I want to say a dark red but when I wipe it there is also a bit of black possibly? Can’t really tell.

And same, I’m about to send it to the shop tomorrow to get this figured out.

Yes. Very good idea. Shop should be able to diagnose it for you and see what you are dealing with.. :-) Keep us posted.

Transmission is shot bois. Mechanic reported that damage is now both the TC and now in the transmission. It’s my daily and I have to get it fixed so I’m going with a rebuild.

That works as a rebuild will most likely have a warranty and both the Transmission and TC will be replaced.

Are you getting your rebuild local?

Only curious cause I could be in the same situation. I think I'd just go with a Reman from Toyota. Although I haven't priced local nor do I know what's wrong yet.

What are you experiencing?

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

This is good advice. A Toyota remanufactured trans would be my choice as well. I guess it's too late to save the OP from paying high labor rates for this job but maybe somebody else that finds this thread will benefit from the Trans Replacement video series @infamousRNR and I did.

Here's Part 1 of the series:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oZDSjlxl2Q4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yea, about 90% of the time when a TC goes bad it burns up the transmission too. That's what happened to mine. I bought a reman transmission and with labor it set me back nearly $4k. Could have bought a junk yard transmission for about $500-1000 but I wanted peace of mine.

Just to keep any answers I might get in one place, here is my thread.

Weird Transmission Issue