2002 4Runner dies when put in a gear, HELP!

[polvadis]

Good evening.

And evening it is, it's almost midnight in Los Angeles and I just got towed back to my home. TOWED!!!

I never thought I'd see this.
I got off the highway and as soon as I came to a stop my car died. Tried to start it, the engine turned, but nothing.
Pushed it to the side and waited with the emergencies on.

First I thought it was the low fuel level, 8 miles earlier the Reserve light came on (I reset the tripodometer as soon as it came on). So I got a gallon of gas, put it in, sure enough the Reserve Light was gone, BUT the car still didn't want to start.

When it did it after few more tries, it idled very low, and as soon as I put it in gear it dies. It's two hours later now, I was towed behind my dad's Tacoma all the way home, the engine was turned on but it was in Neutral. Even now when I put it in gear it instantly dies. And when idleing at Park on Neutral it stays at very low RPM, belowe 1,000. (~700) and the engines makes funky noise at that RPM, noise goes away when I rev the engine a little but when put in gear it dies again.

Any ideas? I've got 8 hours before any shops open up and I begin my cry for help with them, so If there is something I should know, Please Help.

Thank You.

 

[peter78]

Something is definatley wrong. My best guess is the fuel pump. The shop will hook it up to the computer and find out what is wrong. My second guess is the fuel filter. Let us know what happened. That is pretty much a bummer the engine quitting on you.

 

[trd_style]

Could it be a spark plug/wire? One spark plug/wire goes wrong might doesn't give a good start when you tap the gas. No other idea but you can get it checked and see what's wrong with it at the shop. Good luck.

 

[Just_Me69]

Has anyone thought about a locked up torque converter?? I know it's not a regular occurance, but it's just one more thing to consider.

 

[polvadis]

Hello all,

so the news so far is not a happy one.

The first shop I took my car too said that it was a transmission problem and would cost me $2,000. So I towed it to another shop where they told me it was simply a Transmission Solenoid (computer error code something), untill they took off the transmission oil pan and found a bearing and bunch of metal parts in there. That's when they said it was also a re-build scale job and also around $2,000.

On top of all that, Toyota powertrain warranty covers it up to 60,000 miles, mine has 63,000. After a few calls to Toyota Of North America office I was told to take it to a Toyota Dealership and have them inspect it before they can take any action, that's of course if they will take any action at all. It seems that they will go by what the dealership will have to say about my car.

I've had 4 Toyotas in my family and this is a first time I am having problems of this magnitude with one of their cars.

So what went wrong? Everyone says this couldn't have happened just like that and must have been boiling up over time, but I literally came to a stop after just another day of NOTHING wrong and that was it.

We'll see what comes out of this.

[EDIT]
Had to modify some grammar do to faster mind then typing skills.

 

[Jay]

Hello all,

so the news so far is not a happy one.

The first shop I took my car too said that it was a transmission problem and would cost me $2,000. So I towed it to another shop where they told me it was simply a Transmission Solenoid (computer error code something), untill they took off the transmission oil pan and found a bearing and bunch of metal parts in there. That's when they said it was also a re-build scale job and also around $2,000.

On top of all that, Toyota powertrain warranty covers it up to 60,000 miles, mine has 63,000. After a few calls to Toyota Of North America office I was told to take it to a Toyota Dealership and have them inspect it before they can take any action, that's of course if they will take any action at all. It seems that they will go by what the dealership will have to say about my car.

I've had 4 Toyotas in my family, fist time am I having problems of this magnitude with one of their cars.

So what went wrong? Everyone says this couldn't have happened over time, but I literally came to a stop after just another day of NOTHING wrong and that was it.

We'll see what comes out of this.

I have to say, the warranty from toyota is pretty good. Ive had to call Toyota USA to get somethings fixed when a dealership tried to screw me over on a burnt out CAT on my 1997 Tacoma. They said it would cost me $800 for a new one, and i heard that there is a federaly mandated warranty on all cars to have an 8 year 80K mile warranty on emissions. Toyota was on the phone with me while i was at the dealership, and the dealer said they didnt see anything in the warranty books about it. So the person from Toyota USA said, "Tell them to look on page 24, paragraph 5". I told them, and the look on the service guys face was priceless, like he was a dumbass for not seeing it. If you own a few toyotas, or have in the past, they will usualy get the work done at no charge since your a loyal Toyota customer. Lucky my faimly has owned 7 toyotas in the past 15 years.

 

[Just_Me69]

told you. It's not always fuel pumps, plugs, and wires.

 

[polvadis]

Hello,

Well, it seems that Toyota is taking care of my transmission problem. The dealer called and said it would be covered and that they're waiting for parts that are due in today. They did mention a fee for something but weren't too specific, I'll find out soon enough. But I bet it beats $2k for a new transmission.

So it seems to be working out somehow.




By the way, when I told me co-workers that I needed a new Tranny for $2 grand they told me to go to Hollywood Blvd. where I can pick one up for $50 bucks.
(Mind in the gutter humor).

 

[peter78]

On top of all that, Toyota powertrain warranty covers it up to 60,000 miles, mine has 63,000.

I am glad they are covering it. I guess they didn't have to. I thought they might, even though it was technically out of warranty. Good luck with the repair.

 

[polvadis]

A Happy Ending

Hello All,

To conclude my post here, my local Toyota dealership has exchanged my transmission for a "new" rebuilt unit. In other words, I got a whole different rebuilt transmission from some Toyota remanufacture facility in the mid-west. It got covered under the warranty and has also received a new additional warranty on it. Back on the road it doesn't feel any different, and of course it shouldn't. Shifting the lever is a little stiffer, from P to D used to be a little smoother, but maybe that will work itself out with time.

Well, I'm back to being a happy Toyota owner once again.

:

 

[croman]

Re: A Happy Ending

Hello All,

To conclude my post here, my local Toyota dealership has exchanged my transmission for a "new" rebuilt unit. In other words, I got a whole different rebuilt transmission from some Toyota remanufacture facility in the mid-west. It got covered under the warranty and has also received a new additional warranty on it. Back on the road it doesn't feel any different, and of course it shouldn't. Shifting the lever is a little stiffer, from P to D used to be a little smoother, but maybe that will work itself out with time.

Well, I'm back to being a happy Toyota owner once again.

:

Wow is this how long it's gonna take to get mine back?