01 4Runner dies at stop

[arduckhntr]

Need help soon!!!

I have an 01 4Runner (SR5 4WD) with 143K miles having serious issues. I’ve owned this vehicle for years w/o any issues; late last year I bought a 2014 FJ with plans of passing the 4Runner to my 16yr old son. My wife and son have been driving recently and mentioned it would die at stop signs/lights, and when I took it on a test drive it died on me as well. The best way to describe the symptoms would be similar to pulling to a stop sign/light with a standard w/o depressing the clutch (vehicle shutters and stops). Local shop recently did a full fluid flush (trans, oil, diff, coolant etc.), and they also resurfaced the rotors since they owed me some work. I took the 4Runner back as this all happened after they worked on the vehicle and they thought it was a stuck torque converter/solenoid, but after pulling the pan to start the repair they found metal!!! Is my trans gone at 143K? If you’ve seen this before what was the fix if not the trans? This may be a full loss for me as the vehicle may not be worth as much as doing a trans rebuild. Please help!!!

Thanks

 

[theriddler]

Metal in the pan is never good, but if the trans shifted fine it may not be a total loss. I've repaired tens of thousands of 5.9 and 6.7 diesel engines from the Dodge Ram and EVERY one that I worked on had some metal "powder" in the pan. Unless the pan is dropped, removed, and cleaned there is no way to get rid of all of this...but if it's just sitting there in the bottom it won't hurt anything either. Pics would be very helpful if you have any. I think I'd have it put on a diagnostic machine and see what they can find if they haven't already. I'm not so sure this isn't an engine issue rather than a tranny issue. Keep us posted.

 

[slides]

Is it everytime you come to a stop or sometimes. Have you tried putting it in natural right before u come to a stop and pop it back in drive once you have completely stopped?

 

[LittleCaesar]

Your best recourse first, IMHO, is to clean the throttle body and IAC valve. If there is a good deal of dirt and/or oil in both, then replace the PCV as well.

 

[arduckhntr]

Arrived home today and wife picked the vehicle up from the shop; vehicle drove fine until driveway and then it died right as she pulled onto the drive. The shop gave my wife a bag full of metal shavings, and IMHO If that came from the trans the thing is about to come apart. I've never tried the shifting into N right before a stop, but I could see how that would rule out the lug on the motor due to trans. Is this normal that a tranny would go at 140K on these vehicles? I've driven this 4runner as a daily driver (60 mile round trip) for the past 70K miles w/o any issues. I don't drive hard, tow hard, and the wife and kids have not abused this vehicle.

Thanks again to all for any advice.

p.s. Throttle body has been cleaned, but IAC has not been checked.

 

[nissanh]

I once had the same issue when I come to a yield sign. The gas was also in reserve.
Filled up the tank and cleaned the throttle body and no problem so far. Make sure to buy the throttle body gasket from a store (about $2-3).

 

[LittleCaesar]

If they think it is the TC, all they should have to do is remove the tranny, replace the TC, and then flush the tranny with new fluid. For safety measures I would add a Magnefine ATF filter that has magnets in it that would pick up any old TC pieces floating around still and use it for at least a year. Costs about $20.

I remember in an Oldsmobile where my aunt's TC would stick because of a bad clutch solenoid so they replaced the TC, solenoid and flushed the tranny. No problems after such.

Ever hear any whining from underneath the 4runner in the tranny area?

Post a pic or two of these shavings.

 

[arduckhntr]

"Ever hear any whining from underneath the 4runner in the tranny area?"
No not really; the only thing I can say is occasionally when you would get ready to move fwd the 4runner would torque up and then pop/jump fwd. It almost seemed like a drag car on a trans brake; vehicle would load up and then launch. Metal shavings are at the house, so I will post a pic later. They did say that they found the shaving on the magnet though, and not just in the pan.

 

[gotopless]

I'm having the same issue. I did all new fluids a little over a year ago and I have not put but a few thousand miles on the truck since. The trans failed at 154K and was rebuilt by the previous owner.
Now at 190k my truck does the exact same thing as yours. I guess some of these trans do fail under 200k but that could be due to previous owner sucking at maintaining a rig.
I haven't taken my runner to the shop yet but I'm curious to see if we have the same problem.

 

[arduckhntr]

Update

Okay so this is the latest update; I jumped into the 4runner tonight to take her for a test run. Vehicle started up fine, rev'd fine (with and w/o A/C on just to lug the motor a little), but noticed that now my check engine light is back on again. When I put her into reverse to back out of the drive she died after shaking and making horrible noise. I finally got it out of the drive and placed her into D with same results, and then manually place her into lowest gear and she died again. Next time around I managed to get her into N then rev the motor a little shift into D and get rolling. The engine sounded fine, but vehicle had a horrible shake with clunking sound; as I approached a stop I placed her into N and then vehicle stayed running and sounded fine. After I got back to my drive I put the E-brake on and put her into R; engine stayed running, but vehicle shook and was making noise. I tried to climb underneath to pinpoint the source but could not (bad hearing due to military service). At this point I'm not even sure I can drive to a trans. shop

 

[wc11]

You keep saying "died" and "stopped" which I assume to mean the engine shut off or stalled?
I had this problem a few years ago. When your coming to a stop light or sign, put into neutral before coming to a complete stop and try to keep engine revs above 2k and if it makes no weird mechanical noises, then you most likely need a throttle body cleaning. This solved all my problems.

When parked and idling, with all your "noise and rumblings", are the rpm's stable or fluctuating?

 

[arduckhntr]

Quick list of recent (within last three weeks) work:
1. Oil change
2. Belts replaced (timing done around 110K)
3. Fuel to air ratio sensor
4. Transmission flush
5. Diff gear lube changed
6. Oxygen Sensor
7. Brake rotors turned (pads replaced within last 15K); rear drums checked good

To clarify (stops/dies)... When the vehicle is in N or P she purrs like a kitten, and revs fine and idles fine as well. When you put the vehicle in gear the 4runner shakes (if you can manage to get it rolling/moving). If you don't give it gas immediately after shifting into gear it will die or turn off. If you manage to get it rolling and plan on coming to a stop if you put it into N it will stop shaking and start running like a top again.

Hope that helps

Motor sounds strong (better than my 2014 FJ)

 

[theriddler]

It would be interesting to see what fault code shows up if you can get it read somehow. Something has happened with all the recent maintenance that has been done, I'm thinking that if someone replaced the trans filter that maybe the left a cap or something on the new filter when it got installed or maybe it just wasn't installed correctly. I've seen it happen so I would check it, maybe even get a new Toyota filter and install it...look over the tranny really well when you take the old one off too. This doesn't sound like a bad tranny, just a bad sensor, something installed incorrectly, or at worst a failing torque converter.

 

[jasonoflivingston]

"Ever hear any whining from underneath the 4runner in the tranny area?"
No not really; the only thing I can say is occasionally when you would get ready to move fwd the 4runner would torque up and then pop/jump fwd. It almost seemed like a drag car on a trans brake; vehicle would load up and then launch. Metal shavings are at the house, so I will post a pic later. They did say that they found the shaving on the magnet though, and not just in the pan.

The loading up and popping feeling can be caused by the transmission not downshifting properly at stops and then trying to get going in a higher gear. It essentially ends up revving up to get rolling and then tries to lock up the clutches with the revs high.

I had that problem with my trans before my rebuild. Solenoid was stuck and torque converter was pretty much toast along with a bunch of other problems. My issues were caused by a previous milkshake that had happened before I owned the vehicle.

 

[arduckhntr]

Well I went to my Toyota dealership today; not for the 4runner, but scheduled maintenance for the FJ. While there I asked their guys about the 4runner issues, and they immediately said "We would never do a full trans flush/refill on a 145K vehicle" I knew what the response would be, but I asked anyways "Why"? They responded with "At that point it can break (%^&*) free that can cause issues with the transmission"... I really want to get the 4runner out and try to get it above 15-20mph to see if it feels better; my thought is if the lower gears are gone, or if it's stuck in a higher gear it should smooth out at higher speed (speed matching the proper gear etc.) Does this troubleshooting sound correct? Also, is it possible that gears are fine, but it's stuck in a higher gear due to solenoid being stuck on torque converter like previously thought?

 

[AZ4Running]

If the trans had never been flushed at 140k then yes it could break up build up in the trans. But a full flush will remove almost all of it and the trans filter will get the rest. However if serviced regularly there is no problem. That said i have flushed many vehicles with over 100-150k with very dark trans fluid and had no issues. I would drop the trans pan myself and check it for metal. If there was enough metal in the trans to give u in a bag there will be plenty in the pan still. You also most likely would not be able to drive it if the trans was that bad, you press the gass and go no where. Regular service is key to keeping any vehicle running strong for 200k plus.