1996 4Runner transmission: re-manufactured, rebuilt or used?

[Down by the Water]

All,

I've been having intermittent problems with my 1996 4Runner 4x4 not shifting into OD. I've changed the solenoids, fluid and filter (not a flush, just what drains out) and the engine thermostat. I thought the t-stat did it (yeah!!) Then I let the truck sit for a week while we went to Louisiana. It had some problems for about a day and then cleared up. Fast forward a little over a month, let the truck sit for two weeks while we vacation in California. Come back and OD is just gone, like it doesn't exist.

I've had it twice to Toyota. First time no problems, it drove great for them and no codes. It's a tough situation, the truck runs great otherwise, good mileage and power in all gears and seems to shift well (other than OD?) Second time, definitely no OD, still no codes and they recommend replacing the transmission.

My question: re-manufactured, rebuilt or used?

Toyota: $3700 for a re-man, rear main seal, fluid and labor

Local shop1: $3200 re-man -or- $2500 re-build

Local shop2: $2700 used with 5K miles on it -or- $2200 used with 40K miles on it.

I'm just putting this out there to see what people think. I'm confident I will make the wrong decision eventually ;o) I've gone over the forum and see that the consensus seems to be all over the place. Just curious to hear folks opinions.

Thanks

 

[jgue467]

You can search some more on here or wait for other replies but in my experience reading here (I've not done it) when this question comes up Many knowledgeable folks on here recommend Used over rebuilt/reman.

As you know many, many 3rd gen trannies make it to 300k+ miles and some to 400k with just normal maintenace (mines at 273k with just fluid changes), so I'd trust one with 40k anyday! Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

 

[Down by the Water]

New wrinkle in the story, I finally got someone to drive it with a scanner on it. No signal from the ECU to shift into 4th. Also, OD on/off button not working properly? After all that I tried the "manual shift test." It does go into 4th and stays in gear. I'm thinking my transmission might not be bad after all. Not sure how to start tracking this problem down though???

 

[miken6570]

Check transmission temperature sensor, maybe bad connection, and do an ohm test

 

[Down by the Water]

Trans temp sensor

Check transmission temperature sensor, maybe bad connection, and do an ohm test

Would that be the one on the passenger side of the transmission, behind the cooling lines?

Was also thinking it could be the engine temp sending unit? Though I would think that might cause other problems. I've replaced the engine thermostat, which seemed to clear the problem up for some time.

 

[thegipper]

I'm no transmission expert but if the only problem is it doesn't go into overdrive, it may be fine. It could be something simple like an electrical problem or something with the OD on/off switch. I would definitely do more digging around before just slapping a new tranny in there.

When a transmission goes, it usually has more problems with it then just the OD not working.

Again, I'm not expert though.

 

[3bears]

I bet your tranny is fine, problem is elsewhere
electrical switch or solenoid or wire

 

[gamefreakgc]

When a transmission goes it USUALLY fails to shift across all gears, or the most used gear (first). When it does shift into OD, does it sort of drift and lose power and then slowly shift into OD? Or is it a quick shift like all the others?

 

[Down by the Water]

When a transmission goes it USUALLY fails to shift across all gears, or the most used gear (first). When it does shift into OD, does it sort of drift and lose power and then slowly shift into OD? Or is it a quick shift like all the others?

It shifts fine when it does go into OD, it doesn't drift and pop into gear, it shifts like all the other gears.

 

[fblainen11]

I had a rebuilt transmission in my 97 2wd. Never had any issues. It was strong.
Pulled about 4000 lbs from South Louisiana to Lexington Kentucky and back.

 

[gamefreakgc]

It shifts fine when it does go into OD, it doesn't drift and pop into gear, it shifts like all the other gears.

Maybe hold off like a few others have suggested? I've yet to hear of a transmission failing on the gear used the least amount, something just doesn't add up.

A used transmission in there might fix the problem but there might be a wallet-friendly fix as well.

 

[Down by the Water]

Update:

In the interest of full disclosure and for fun I thought I would update this string.

Last week, as my wife was driving through our neighborhood on the way home from the store our 4Runner just stopped working. She said it sputtered and lurched like it was out of gas, the dash lights all came on, and it coasted to a stop...We had it towed to our local service station (not the dealership.) They were not able to connect to the PCM via the OBDII link, no communication, and proceeded to manually test the different systems to see what might be the problem. Eventually they conceded that the PCM itself must be bad.

They found a used one at a local junk yard, installed it and the truck is back up and running. Only time will tell but, so far, no shifting problems.

I had previously thought the PCM might be bad, even debated the pros and cons of replacing it with my dad, but had an impression that was less likely than it turned out to be. My mistake cost me about $500 in diagnostic testing (a used PCM is relatively inexpensive and dead-simple to replace.)

Thanks to everyone who threw in their $.02 on this thread. I really appreciate you taking the time.

 

[noxor]

hey, hijacking the thread because im new and dont have enough posts. im stuck in TN so this is a unique exception i hope you can understand. here is my situation, what do you think?

Hi Everyone.
99 4runner, 4x4, v6, 3.4L auto trans
I had just driven (with my dad) about 17 hours straight when we decided to stop, get some food, and a hotel.

We were just off the 40 and going about 15mph up a small hill, when it wouldnt go forward any more. Engine ran fine, just stopped going forward. I also noticed (it was raining) there was some dripping going on under the engine as there was a rainbow-shimmering fluid washing away.

Well we stopped it and got it towed to a shop right away. I had measured the trans fluid and it was a few inches above normal (although we were on a hill) and the coolant reservoir was full (but a little dirty looking).
Shop says the transmission is shot. Tech said the tranny fluid looks old/burned and he saw some solid (keyword: metal) pieces in the fluid when was was doing his initial diagnostic.

My dad picked this up from a dealer back in August (in NY) and i live in NV, and just got some time to drive it back, so we havent put any real miles on it until now. Odo says about 130k. No clue on the prior history. My dad took it to a shop to have it looked at before we bought it, we heard nothing about the transmission.

Bad part about this deal is we dont live in TN so we cant just curb the car for a while and wait. I need to get back to NV and my dad NY of course. Shop says a jasper rebuilt with install is about 4-5k.

Well Im looking around for used ones now and the shop says if we find a used one they will install it and expect the time to be about 8 hours @ 95/hour. Thoughts? It will cost quite a bit to have it towed back to NY.

 

[thegipper]

On face value it sounds like a pink milk shake. Was there transmission fluid in the coolant reservoir (why it was full and dirty looking)? If you don't know what a pink milk shake is, search it on this forum. Essentially the radiator fails internally and causes coolant and transmission fluid to mix.

Some people are able to save their transmission by doing a shit ton of flushes (transmission) and flush the cooling system (radiator obviously needs to be replaced too).

Even if you do decide to get a new tranny, you need to make sure that yours didn't fail because of a pink milkshake otherwise you will just ruin your new tranny. Have the shop (or do it yourself) inspect the coolant. My bet is your radiator failed and you got a pink milk shake. This would also explain why you saw something dripping down from the engine (from coolant reservoir).

Now it could be just a failed tranny. If the fluid was never changed it could have cooked the tranny. In that case, there is no way around having a new tranny put it. I would personally find a good low mileage used one if that is the case. These are pretty solid trannys so a good used one should be fine.

If they drop the tranny pan and there is a ton of metal chunks in it, the tranny is probably toast. If the fluid is just "pink milkshakey" then you could try to have it flushed several times and see if it can be salvaged.

Let us know what you find.

 

[bararonson]

I'm agreeing with thegipper, although you didnt specifically mention the pink milkshake look. If there is ABSOLUTELY no pink milkshake in the tranny fluid or engine coolant fluid then the radiator/tranny-coolant line wasn't compromised. Now what, gipper? Try flushing out old coolant and refill? There should be a drain plug on tranny pan, so you can if metal comes out without having to drop pan. You've thrown out some large dollar estimates. Guess I'd try changing fluid first- IF there's no pink milkshake and/or metal

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[thegipper]

Fluid is cheap and is always IMO worth replacing if it may fix the problem. He needs to first completely, 100% rule out a pink milkshake. The fact that his coolant reservoir was full, something was leaking on the ground and the fluid looked "dirty", makes me think PMS.

You can certainly have them drain the fluid and show you. If there are metal chunks or shavings in it, the tranny is probably toast.

There is a drain but metal shavings/chunks sometimes won't really come out well. I would definitely first just use the drain plug and inspect the fluid. IF you find any signs of metal shavings ect then drop the pan and see the extent of the damage, at this point, dropping the pan isn't really a big deal if the tranny is in fact toast. Even if it is not, a tranny pan gasket (or RTV) is no big deal.

 

[thegipper]

Did the fluid in the reservoir look something like this?

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[bararonson]

Good answer, gipper. I wonder how noxor is doing?

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[noxor]

Good answer, gipper. I wonder how noxor is doing?

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Hi everyone and thanks for the replies!
Well I am taking it to a dedicated transmission shop, took a while getting a tow this morning.

So I checked the radiator, and the coolant overflow. Both are fine, no milkshake.

Checked the dipstick for the Trans, now that I'm out of the rain. It's brown/black in color, and smells pretty bad. Th guy yesterday did not drop the pan so I will see how that looks here soon.

Supposedly my dad had a few people check it before we got it, and I was told the fluids were fine. Not sure how quickly atf fluid would go bad, but I feel like something that obvious should have been seen, so, not sure what to think about that.

 

[bararonson]

Are you towing anything

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