Long time lurker and love the forum guys! I need some major advice if anybody can help. I spent the last couple hours searching and could not find a similar problem to what I am experiencing and forgive me if I'm wrong. I'll try to keep this short but there is ALOT of weird things happening here and even my mechanic is perplexed right now.
I have a 99 4Runner Limited v6 automatic 12K post strawberry milkshake with the following situation:
237K Miles Today - Last week I had the rear breaks and drums done, rear parking brake disconnected, rear axle seal done, differential inspected and new fluid. Greased everything up also. Tranny fluid like new, maybe a little above the "full" side.
224K - Strawberry Milkshake - New radiator, super flushing, drove 1K and tranny flushed/drained again.
179K - New used tranny with 80K on it installed, trans filter kit, etc...
Prior to getting rear brakes done, I was experiencing problems going in reverse when the truck was hot after a longer drive, like a throbbing going backwards and I would have to give it extra gas. At first, it was minor and and I thought it had to do with my parking brake and rear brake probs, but last night it was wicked and getting worse plus I just got my rear brakes done.
My wife got home from a 65 mile drive and could not back into the parking spot. It was also super hot and humid here. I drove the truck around the block and tried but it would not go backwards in reverse - it felt like brakes are on tight/loaded down and I didn't force it then. I shifted from D to R to Neutral and heard the normal minor clunking between the shifting while not moving. When doing this in Neutral the truck would not roll backwards (or disengage out of gear) which would happen when things first started weeks ago and then you'd hear a click sometimes or let it cool down and then it would finally go in reverse again. This time when I put it in Neutral I gave it some gas and the truck started driving like it was in Drive still like neutral was completly gone!?!? RPMs are fine and engine revs fine so I forced it backwards in Reverse and heard a horrible grinding coming from the transfer case/rear differential area and it went backwards. I'm guessing transfer case (maybe tranny) because my mechanic inspected rear differential and gears last week and all gears were fine. Truck feels really loaded down in the rear when this happens and in drive idle it throbs a lot lurking forward without using the gas pedal. When shifting between gears you could also hear a clicking like sound coming from maybe the tranny area/underneath the truck.
So this morning, I check things out and everything works fine again while cold. I also took a 25 mile drive to get it heated up good and everything was smooth even reverse when I got home. Tranny seems very strong and up shifts super smooth. I have the normal clunking when stopped and shifting from Drive to Reverse like many others and have had more down shift probs when coming up to a stop but that is basically gone right now. Another weird thing that happens is the warmer/hotter the truck gets, after a complete stop when I let off the brake in Drive idle there is a minor throbbing/pulsating almost like it is loaded down some what. This is usually the start of things happening prior getting it really hot and before the reverse problem happens. I'm also starting to get a starter issue more and more where it doesn't start the first try and then will the 2nd or 3rd attempt about once per week maybe...could this or a bad battery cause this bad of shifting problems?
So I need to get my truck back to my mechanic and see what is going on, he is a Toyota certified mechanic and treats me good. But if I can do it myself and save some money in trouble shooting I need to because I am broke right now. From looking over the forum where should I even start?!? Should I start with a new battery, u-joints, tranny flush and filter, then shift solenoids, starter solenoid, tranny linkage (I don't even know what this is)?
I could go on and on but this has gotten pretty long already and any input is appreciated!
I have a 99 4Runner Limited v6 automatic 12K post strawberry milkshake with the following situation:
237K Miles Today - Last week I had the rear breaks and drums done, rear parking brake disconnected, rear axle seal done, differential inspected and new fluid. Greased everything up also. Tranny fluid like new, maybe a little above the "full" side.
224K - Strawberry Milkshake - New radiator, super flushing, drove 1K and tranny flushed/drained again.
179K - New used tranny with 80K on it installed, trans filter kit, etc...
Prior to getting rear brakes done, I was experiencing problems going in reverse when the truck was hot after a longer drive, like a throbbing going backwards and I would have to give it extra gas. At first, it was minor and and I thought it had to do with my parking brake and rear brake probs, but last night it was wicked and getting worse plus I just got my rear brakes done.
My wife got home from a 65 mile drive and could not back into the parking spot. It was also super hot and humid here. I drove the truck around the block and tried but it would not go backwards in reverse - it felt like brakes are on tight/loaded down and I didn't force it then. I shifted from D to R to Neutral and heard the normal minor clunking between the shifting while not moving. When doing this in Neutral the truck would not roll backwards (or disengage out of gear) which would happen when things first started weeks ago and then you'd hear a click sometimes or let it cool down and then it would finally go in reverse again. This time when I put it in Neutral I gave it some gas and the truck started driving like it was in Drive still like neutral was completly gone!?!? RPMs are fine and engine revs fine so I forced it backwards in Reverse and heard a horrible grinding coming from the transfer case/rear differential area and it went backwards. I'm guessing transfer case (maybe tranny) because my mechanic inspected rear differential and gears last week and all gears were fine. Truck feels really loaded down in the rear when this happens and in drive idle it throbs a lot lurking forward without using the gas pedal. When shifting between gears you could also hear a clicking like sound coming from maybe the tranny area/underneath the truck.
So this morning, I check things out and everything works fine again while cold. I also took a 25 mile drive to get it heated up good and everything was smooth even reverse when I got home. Tranny seems very strong and up shifts super smooth. I have the normal clunking when stopped and shifting from Drive to Reverse like many others and have had more down shift probs when coming up to a stop but that is basically gone right now. Another weird thing that happens is the warmer/hotter the truck gets, after a complete stop when I let off the brake in Drive idle there is a minor throbbing/pulsating almost like it is loaded down some what. This is usually the start of things happening prior getting it really hot and before the reverse problem happens. I'm also starting to get a starter issue more and more where it doesn't start the first try and then will the 2nd or 3rd attempt about once per week maybe...could this or a bad battery cause this bad of shifting problems?
So I need to get my truck back to my mechanic and see what is going on, he is a Toyota certified mechanic and treats me good. But if I can do it myself and save some money in trouble shooting I need to because I am broke right now. From looking over the forum where should I even start?!? Should I start with a new battery, u-joints, tranny flush and filter, then shift solenoids, starter solenoid, tranny linkage (I don't even know what this is)?
I could go on and on but this has gotten pretty long already and any input is appreciated!
