Beeps and shutoffs

[blkexp98]

I was curious if any of you have these problems.

First one is beeps if i jump a curb or have any kind of sudden jar to the wheel. The last time it happened i jumped a curb out of a tight exit in a parking lot. It was also followed by a big time loss in power for a few seconds. After it calmed down i was able to accelerate out of the incoming traffic.

The second is shifting from drive to reverse i suppose too fast while trying to turn around. Ive had this happen twice and the car shuts down and you have to let it sit for a couple seconds and put it back in park before it will restart. So you make your first turn and then put it in reverse and bam all the dash lights cut on and everything goes quiet.

I see on the second one i have to slow it down but man what kind of delay does it need. It seems like i have to stop...pause....shift to reverse stop.... pause..... shift to drive. Ive never had it happen in a parking space though so maybe speed is involved?

What do yall think? Any fixes other than the obvious?

 

[galactic_04]

Tht'as your traction control beeping at you trying to straghten out the vehicle. Yours seems a lot more sensative than mine though.

I'm not sure why you'd have to restart the car when it happens either though... that's not necessary

 

[blkexp98]

I haven't had to restart on the first issue but on the second one it turns itself off so i have to turn it back on.

 

[cabowally]

The second is shifting from drive to reverse i suppose too fast while trying to turn around.

This is unclear.

Is the vehicle moving when you shift?

 

[blkexp98]

The two times i had it cut off i was doing a 3 point turn. During this i shift from drive to reverse apparently too fast. I always think the car is stopped but who knows if my timing is very slightly off. I never had the problem on my explorer and i probably shifted faster with that so thats why it bothers me.

I hope noone is using a 4 runner for executive protection because that would be a serious liability. I assume its a built in protection for the transmission but there has to be a better way.

BTW: I do take responsibility for some user error as well. I'm not just blaming the 4runner because i still like it.

 

[Trevloc]

not really a useful comment that i am making but i just wanted to state something.

i have noticed that if i shift out of park and into drive too fast (right after turning the key) my gas guage doesnt read right. i will have a full tank, and it will say im on dead empty. then the next time i start her up it will go back to normal.

kinda like i didnt give it enough time to load?

idk. just adding that to the convo.

 

[DC runner]

It isn't an issue of shifting TOO fast. It is an issue of shifting before a complete stop, you are conflating the two. The car doesn't a crap how fast your shifting is, as the actual shifting is done by computer 1000 times faster than your hand response.

What it is getting pissed at, is you attempting to shift from one gear to the other WHILE THE VEHICLE is moving. My guess is, you are hot rodding a bit, slamming the brake and throw shifting before the transmission comes to a stop and it yells at you.

It yells at you, because of the damage kinetic energy can have on your truck. A transmission and drive axle represent a lot of weight and if you were able to simply sift from one to the other, you would destroy your transmission and engine. You said you did this before, in another vehicle. It appears the only common denominator is you.

Maybe... slow down.. just a hair. We are talking a millisecond of time here. Come to a complete stop before you THROW the shifter. Unless you are running from the cops, what do you need to put that much stress on your vehicle anyway?

 

[DC runner]

not really a useful comment that i am making but i just wanted to state something.

i have noticed that if i shift out of park and into drive too fast (right after turning the key) my gas guage doesnt read right. i will have a full tank, and it will say im on dead empty. then the next time i start her up it will go back to normal.

kinda like i didnt give it enough time to load?

idk. just adding that to the convo.

Sounds like either a. an electrical short between your gas tank sensor or the sensor itself is going bad.

 

[galactic_04]

Here's some install info I wrote up. Look at the info in the end of the first post.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/77183-leveled-her-weekend.html

 

[blkexp98]

DC runner: I think your probably right that what i do is an issue but i wouldn't really say im hot rodding it. Lets say for example im on a two lane road and i need to turn around. I'm not slamming on the brakes but i may come down from say 40 mph and when i'm almost stopped turn to the left. Then i shift into reverse. Thinking back on it it may be from shifting from reverse to drive. The thing is any movement i'm talking about would be the car settling from stopping, not really rolling.

On my explorer i didn't have any warnings come up or hear any noises. I make the same kind of turn i do with this and drove it for 11 or 12 years with no issue. It just seems like the 4runner is a little too sensitive. The curb deal is a good example. It wasn't like i drove off a 10" curb and fell to the road. I rolled off of probably a 4" curb from a stop while turning out of a parking lot. I wouldn't consider that allot of stress for a vehicle.

 

[DC runner]

Obviously, I wasn't in the car when you did it and I am only guessing from how you described it. I have no idea how old you are, or your personal driving style.

What I might call "hot rodding" because I am a wee bit older and less aggressive on my components, could easily be called "grandpa" slow by someone else.

Really all I meant was, it sounded like you were trying to shift from D to R too fast and it was made at ya!

As for why you got away with it on an older truck vs. new, well that is simple. Cars are getting smarter to make up for less smart drivers.

I had an old Subaru, 80's, and it was a 5 speed. You could physically move the gear shifter from 5th gear (highway at 80) to R and it would have let me release the clutch. I think we ALL know what would have happened, had I done that. My car would have exploded.

Nowadays, I haven't seen a manual that lets you do that. They all have some block or beeper or physical restraint in the transmission that won't allow you to move the shifter to R while the car is moving forward.

Auto transmissions continue to get more and more complex. Less giving, tighter tolerances. Have you ever drive a 3 speed, on the column manual?

That is a BEAST. Grandfather owned a 64' Ford Truck, 3 speed. WOW. Ever heard the phrase, if you can't find it, grind it? Yea. The gearing was HUGE and incredibly hard to find the gears. You just mashed it around till it worked... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR until you finally felt it slip into another gear. It was a horrifying experience to a new driver. That transmission couldn't care less..but then again, it needed to be rebuilt every 25k miles and got horrible gas mileage. My grandpa and his buddies were working on it all the dang time.


Newer transmissions are much more sensitive. Lighter. Smarter. Faster, all around better. That comes with a price. You can't just mash it around till it works. It has all these intricate pieces that are sensitive....

Miss that truck. If you could drive it, you could drive anything.... no pump on the clutch. It was all manual strength. At 15, it took every ounce of strength to push the clutch in.