1998 4Runner has trouble moving from stop

S

six6vilber

New member
Hello, my 98 4Runner (automatic) is reluctant to start moving from a stop. Typical symptoms include the following.

Starting it up and shifting into drive is not a problem. When I step on the gas the car feels like it wants to move forward but can't, almost as if the e-brake is on. Usually when I give it more gas something will catch and make a loud noise, then the car will move forward normally. Sometimes its very hesitant but begins to move without the loud noise.
Reverse works fine.

This all started to occur when it got really cold out (~20 degrees and less).
Also, at the time this started to happen, there was a loud vibration that would occur at speeds greater than 50mph or so. I had it looked at and they said the u-joints were shot. Once they were replaced the vibration went away. With regard to the issue described above, they weren't able to find anything wrong. All together I've taken my 4Runner to 3 different places including a Toyota dealership and not only could non of them find anything wrong but they couldn't even reproduce the scenario I described above. I've read on the forum about other have similar symptoms where it turned out to be oil impregnated brake pads causing the problem. Another person had replaced the battery which fixed the problem. When I brought my 4Runner in to be looked at I suggested what I found on the forum and they said that it wasn't the issue. I had them change the battery anyway just to see what would happen and the problem went away for a few weeks and now the problem is back, however, not as severe - If I start up it up, I can shift into drive without any issues. Then I take my foot off the brake, while in drive on a downward incline, and the car will ever so slowly lurch forward and then finally release and glide forward normally. It seems like there is almost some mechanism that is in place when the car is in park that isn't properly being released when its put into drive. I'm not a car guy so any suggestions of how to proceed would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
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I haven't tried anything other than starting up in park. Its an automatic so I don't think I can start it up in anything other than park, correct?

Also, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I've also read that dirty transmission fluid can cause a problem like this. The dealership said that all the fluids look good, however, I seem to remember them telling me in the past that the transmission fluid needed to be replaced. I can't remember if I got it replaced or not. I'd have to take a look what was done over the last year or so.
 
I may have an idea of what you are talking about. When I lived up north, my Tacoma would do the same thing (2000 SR5 4x4) turns out, what was going on was simple. when it was cold and I would park my truck, moisture would freeze my brakes (rear I think)

I got the exact symptom you did, hard to get to move and usually a loud clunk. when I drove it for a while I could not get it to do it again. Park it for long enough for the brakes to freeze....you guessed it...same thing.

Hope this helps
 
I started it up in neutral and it seemed okay.

Another thing that I noticed yesterday was that each time I put it into drive it would slowly lurch forward and then release - ie I would put it in drive, wait for it to release, stop, backup, then put it in drive again, etc... This is the first time that it repeatedly did it. It usually just does it once and is fine afterwards and it would very sporadically do it again while driving.

Also, when I brought it in to the dealership they mentioned that I needed to have the front rotors resurfaced. The only time I noticed anything different here is just before the truck comes to a stop. Sometimes it will just jerk to a stop around 1mph. Is it possible that this is related? My initial thought is that it is not related since the former issue seems to be related to the rear (its rear-wheel drive) of the vehicle while the latter seems to be related to the front, however, I'm only guessing.
 
I have the exact same thing happening. I recently installed HIDs and my battery pooched out, after boosting it I could hammer on the gas (right after putting it into drive from park) and the engine would rev but the truck wouldn't move hardly at all.

Then something would almost "twang" sounding like something disengaging and then it would drive fine. The weird thing is that when my battery was dead - this was very severe. When it would disengage like that my whole electrical system would shut down for a second and "reboot" almost and then it would be fine for the duration of driving.

Got a new battery and everything is fine - but I still get a very minor "twang" when I first start going after shifting into drive.

When I drive normally now (it has almost always done this) that it almost seems like when I start from a standstill that my engine has to rev and then my torque converter will engage before I move. It's weird to describe.

Anyways - I haven't found a fix. New brakes. Cleaned twice. New battery. All new fluids.
 
rajuncajun said:
I have the exact same thing happening. I recently installed HIDs and my battery pooched out, after boosting it I could hammer on the gas (right after putting it into drive from park) and the engine would rev but the truck wouldn't move hardly at all.

Then something would almost "twang" sounding like something disengaging and then it would drive fine. The weird thing is that when my battery was dead - this was very severe. When it would disengage like that my whole electrical system would shut down for a second and "reboot" almost and then it would be fine for the duration of driving.

Got a new battery and everything is fine - but I still get a very minor "twang" when I first start going after shifting into drive.

When I drive normally now (it has almost always done this) that it almost seems like when I start from a standstill that my engine has to rev and then my torque converter will engage before I move. It's weird to describe.

Anyways - I haven't found a fix. New brakes. Cleaned twice. New battery. All new fluids.
Click to expand...

Interesting - with regard to the battery. When I replaced mine everything was fine for a few weeks and now its back but much less severe as you described.
 
I think what Simmonsauto meant is dob't go off on D go from L and see if there is a difference.

I've seen a couple in the past that where doing this in cold temperatures and the ecu was the problem. When you put it in "D" the ecu gives the signal to the transmission to go in 4th gear to eliminates the "slack" in the drivetrain then goes to 1st gear. In cold temperatures, the ecu stays in 4th gear longer, by the time it goes to 1st, you are already moving forward with the foot near the floor and then "bang" the 1st gear engages roughly because of the pressure in the tranny. I would replace the ecu without any doubts.
 
Replace the ECU? That's a last resort. Especially if there are no trouble codes.

Check the easy stuff first. Make sure your transmission fluid is at the proper hot level, and that the fluid looks translucent and bright red. Then check your coolant to be sure there has been no cross-contamination, as is relatively common with automatics (the trans cooler is inside the radiator). Your coolant should be red (toyota) and pretty translucent, or green (some other brand), but should not be brownish or foamy pink.

Once those things are sorted out, check back.
 
Where is the noise coming from? If it's from the rear, I'd imagine it's the brakes.

Also, considering it's happening when it's cold, I doubt it's battery related unless you're running a really old or crappy battery or have serious electric faults. In addition, the fact you say it sometimes jerks to a halt at 1mph makes me even less convinced it's anything electrical. Especially because my car did that when I developed the problem I will explain below. You mention it works fine in reverse, exactly the same as what mine did. This is because the design of the rear shoes is that they do not drag when going in reverse, and that is also when the star wheel self adjusts.

What I'm guessing you have is a less severe version of what happened to me.

My runner was hesitant off the line when cold for a good 15min till it warmed up. It wouldn't crawl forward like it should in an auto. When I parked it for 16+ hours it would make a slight snapping sound from the rear when first pulling the car out of the garage. This was the rear shoes breaking their seal against the drums. There was some thick oil coating parts of the drums when I took them off, which leads me to believe I have a rear axle seal failure, which will leak fluid that can make the shoes caustic and seal to the drums. I cleaned the oil away and it hasn't come back in 3 months, so we'll see what happens.


This problem agravated itself and when it was -20 Celsius they froze themselves to the rear drum causing the wheel to lock. I tried everything from adjusting them, cleaning them completely, sanding them, adjusting the ebrake cable, bleeding brakes etc. All it did was temporarily fix the problem at best. I eventually decided to say f*ck it and I took the rears apart and replaced the shoes which I was hesitant to do since if the axle seal is failing, the shoes will just get soaked in oil again. I then cleaned and lubed all the other parts and put em back together. This has fixed the problem for a month now with no issues at all.

Worst case scenario you do this, spend 3 hours and $50 on some new shoes and won't have to touch your rear brakes for years. Best case, you solve your problem and don't pay some lazy mechanic to do it for you.

edit: add sentence
 
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Where I live is ofter below -20 C during winter time and I've replaced 3 or 4 ecu's in Runners to fix this problem and it fixed it every time...

Choose what you want to do but you have the answer here...
 
Charlee78 said:
Where I live is ofter below -20 C during winter time and I've replaced 3 or 4 ecu's in Runners to fix this problem and it fixed it every time...
Click to expand...

-20 C is about -4 F, which isn't uncommon for many US locations (including Wisconsin).

My point is that the ECU isn't an inexpensive thing to replace. And with no codes, there is no reason to suspect the ECU in the first place. Really, cold temperatures should have no effect on the operation of the ECU, other than low voltage, which would be a battery/charging issue. Check the fluids first...as that will many times indicate a problem.
 
Have you checked the fluids yet (trans, coolant)? Do you know how to check the trans fluid level properly? Get the truck up to temp (drive around for a long while), park on a level surface with the engine running. With your foot on the brake, slowly move the shift lever through all gears, then back up to park. With the engine running and the truck in park, take out the trans dipstick, wipe it off, then insert it fully. Then pull it out again and look at the level. Wipe on a white napkin to check the color and clarity.

For coolant, make sure the level in the reservoir is between the L and H marks (you can do this hot or cold). When cold, open the radiator cap and make sure the fluid is at or near the top, and that it's in good condition.
 
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