Driving from CA to OH: tranny just died in KS?

[John7M7]

Hi guys,

My wife, our two dogs and I were in the 4Runner for a 4 days road trip from Los Angeles to Columbus, since we're actually moving there!

On our third day, the orange engine light popped up. After inspection, I thought it was due to lower octane gas, and after an extra 100 miles, the A/T oil temperature light came too...

I stopped and waited a little, checked a couple things after reading it on the forum, then it disappeared and we resumed our trip.

Less than an hour after, at 3am in the middle of Kansas, it came back along with a sudden nasty smell... we stopped as soon as we could and will be taking it to a garage at 8am.

I'm pissed, especially since two weeks ago I had a reputable garage service the A/T and flush it, along with other maintenance such as installing a tranny fluid cooler....

When we parked in front of a motel, I couldn't really drive the truck anymore, reverse was non responsive and Drive was very slow.

So.... the tranny is dead, right? Is it because despite the preventive maintenance, it is part of the life of a 17 years old and 170k miles truck, or was it a mistake to drive 1,000 miles in three days?
Also, how much should i expect to pay to fix it?

Now begins a very expensive and messy process (we need a rental to resume our move, and will need to figure out how to get the truck back). What a mess

Best,
John

 

[Yukon4Runner]

Maybe the recent transmission flush and subsequent transmission failure are related?

Lot of people say you don't flush it, just drain and replace regularly.

Good luck getting out of dodge.

 

[meRockboost]

Did they flush or drain and fill the trans?

Flushes usually will dislodge all the gunk in the trans causing it fail.

Have you checked the fluid? Does it have coolant in it?

 

[sambishop]

The transmission flush you did killed it.

 

[Cree]

Where in Kansas did it die?

 

[Lastplace]

Maybe somebody here can suggest a local tranny repair shop? As someone said above, check the coolant. Is it pink?

 

[amalik]

Did they flush or drain and fill the trans?

Flushes usually will dislodge all the gunk in the trans causing it fail.

Have you checked the fluid? Does it have coolant in it?

The transmission flush you did killed it.

Why are you two spreading misinformation? Your statement essentially reads "Every tranny flush will kill the transmission". Not true.

 

[meRockboost]

Why are you two spreading misinformation? Your statement essentially reads "Every tranny flush will kill the transmission". Not true.

It can and does happen, never said every time. Some people have good luck with moog lbj's....others do not.

 

[amalik]

It can and does happen, never said every time. Some people have good luck with moog lbj's....others do not.

I didn't flush until after 200k miles on my 3rd gen and it's fine.

Anyway, let's try to help OP.

OP, have you looked at the fluid? What color is it, are you low or at the proper level? Have you checked your coolant, is it pink milkshake or normal color?

Do you have any engine codes?

This is a bit of an odd situation. Something tells me something went wrong with the 'reputable shop', but we need more data in order to try to advise.

All you've really told us so far is you drove a lot of miles, it's dead now, and you want to know how much it's gonna be to fix. Not enough info.

 

[Rock_Rat]

Hi guys,

My wife, our two dogs and I were in the 4Runner for a 4 days road trip from Los Angeles to Columbus, since we're actually moving there!

On our third day, the orange engine light popped up. After inspection, I thought it was due to lower octane gas, and after an extra 100 miles, the A/T oil temperature light came too...

I stopped and waited a little, checked a couple things after reading it on the forum, then it disappeared and we resumed our trip.

Less than an hour after, at 3am in the middle of Kansas, it came back along with a sudden nasty smell... we stopped as soon as we could and will be taking it to a garage at 8am.

I'm pissed, especially since two weeks ago I had a reputable garage service the A/T and flush it, along with other maintenance such as installing a tranny fluid cooler....

When we parked in front of a motel, I couldn't really drive the truck anymore, reverse was non responsive and Drive was very slow.

So.... the tranny is dead, right? Is it because despite the preventive maintenance, it is part of the life of a 17 years old and 170k miles truck, or was it a mistake to drive 1,000 miles in three days?
Also, how much should i expect to pay to fix it?

Now begins a very expensive and messy process (we need a rental to resume our move, and will need to figure out how to get the truck back). What a mess

Best,
John

Hey John, nobody on here can console you and "would've, could've, should've" does nothing for the situation you're in.

Driving 1000 miles in 3 days with only 170K miles on your rig is completely acceptable. Don't beat yourself up on that decision. Many on here have done that. Once you get to Ohio, you need to invest in a scan gauge so you can monitor the health of your rig a little better. The "idiot" lights. unfortunately, come on when it's too late. Deal with that later.

Hopefully you've had a chance to sit down and regain your composure after being pissed. I can only imagine what was going through your head. You only have about 900 miles to go so I wouldn't even consider doing any troubleshooting or maintenance on it.

Get yourself to a U-Haul place and rent a U-Haul with a car dolly and get it to Columbus first. I'm pretty sure the cost would be cheaper than trying to find a used transmission in Kansas and having it installed. You're looking at around $3500 for a transmission and an install on top of food and lodging.

Once you're in Ohio, you'll have time to look at the coolant, the transmission etc and then weigh out your options. But I think you need to get it to your new home first. Post up in the midwest section of the forum and tell them what's going on. Someone on there from Ohio may have you all set up when you arrive.

Before you tow it, start a new thread on here to find out what you need to do to prep the rig for towing. I'm pretty sure you need to disconnect the driveshafts but I would let those who have towed their rigs before answer that question for you.

To answer your question about the transmission. A340F's are a weak link on our year rigs. For some reason, the temps went way up in the high 200's and stayed there for quite some time for the light to come on. More than likely you smelled burnt transmission fluid. I know that Toyota will not do transmission flushes on our rigs but only drain and fills just for this reason. However, guys do successfully flush their transmissions. I'm not sure if you've looked under your rig yet, but another possibility is the transmission line for the newly installed cooler may not have been tightened correctly or may have become disconnected. Most are installed with hose clamps. You might have been losing fluid along the drive.

My suggestion is to put it behind you and get your family to your new home in Ohio!

 

[Rock_Rat]

... Something tells me something went wrong with the 'reputable shop', but we need more data in order to try to advise.

I'm leaning towards this ^^^^Tranny cooler install?? Anyway you look at it, he's going to have to get it home.

BTW I didn't see your post until after I posted. Yes, some are successful with full transmission flushes such as yourself but, unfortunately, many are not. Toyota will not do them because of the age of our rigs and higher level of failures associated with a full flush.

 

[mtbtim]

Based off what the OP said, I don't think the flush was the problem. A high mileage flush is usually not recommended when the transmission was abused by the original owner and the fluid is dark. Because the fluid wasn't changed on a regular basis, excessive wear occurred with the clutch plates. The dark fluid is holding clutch material that the transmission was relying on to make the shifts and not slip. Once you change out all the fluid with new fluid, that suspended clutch material is gone. Also, the new transmission fluid has detergents in it and could loosen up sludge buildup between the clutches which could contribute to the trans slipping after a flush. A DIY flush like [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I've made uses the tranny pump to move the fluid so no abnormal fluid pressure is introduced to the system causing deposits to get dislodged.

The OP had an overheating issue. Like some have already mentioned, I'm guessing the shop screwed up and didn't tighten something properly and he was slowly losing trans fluid during his drive. One of the hose connections related to the trans cooler install probably wasn't tight enough. If the OP was using some type of monitoring device like a scan gauge or Blue Tooth OBD II reader to an app like Torque Pro, he would have seen his trans temps rising. The dash light (affectionately known as an idiot light) for the trans doesn't come on until around 300 degrees F. At 300 degrees, your transmission fluid is completely cooked and you should stop and not drive your vehicle any further until you figure out what's wrong. Again, like others mentioned, the OP was smelling burnt transmission fluid.

There's a chance this is a pink milkshake situation, but it's my guess when the OP checks the trans fluid, he's going to find the fluid doesn't even register on the dipstick because a lot leaked out causing the overheating.

For anyone reading this thread, this is why it's really helpful to monitor your vehicle with an accessory device like a scan gauge or phone app because it will allow you to catch a problem much sooner than the gauges or dash lights will. I'm pretty sure years 96-98 don't allow you to monitor trans temps but you could always add an aftermarket temp sending unit into one of the trans lines and run it to an aftermarket gauge you mount somewhere in your cab.

Renting a truck and trailer is good advice. Get it to your destination and then find a shop with good Yelp reviews to take a look at it.

 

[thegipper]

Start with the basics. You need to check the fluid level and the condition of the fluid. Is it black and burnt smelling? Is it low?

Does your coolant or tranny fluid look pink and milky?

My guess is the shop screwed up the tranny cooler install and for one reason or another, the tranny overheated and cooked the fluid like Tim said.

If you have some tools, you can try removing all of the old fluid and put some new stuff in it. The only problem with this is, what is going to stop this new fluid from overheating like the old stuff?

Maybe you are just better off towing it back to Ohio so you can diagnose it there. Rent a Uhaul truck with a hitch and rent a one of those car dollys. You will need to disconnect the rear drive shaft before you tow it though.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[mtbtim]

It can and does happen, never said every time. Some people have good luck with moog lbj's....others do not.

I think a lot depends on the way it was flushed and how abused the transmission was before the flush. If the fluid was really dark and there's an unknown service history, I wouldn't recommend a full flush. If the fluid looks good and the trans has a good service history, a full flush isn't going to hurt anything if it's done right. I'm not familiar with the power machines shops use, but it's my understanding that they something force the fluid reverse of the normal flow direction and with a fluid pressure higher than the system normally operates at. If you do a DIY flush by removing the trans cooler return line to drain and refill one quart at a time to renew your fluid, it's not going to dislodge anything because it's using the same fluid pressure the system normally operates at and the fluid is also flowing in the same direction too.

There's lots of dudes on this forum that only do complete flushes and don't like the pan drain and refills because it's not a full renewal but a dilution process. I personally like the drain and refills but I don't wait 30,000 miles to do it. I do drain and refills every 10,000 miles because it's easy and probably one of the best things you can do to increase the life of your auto trans.

 

[spazzyone]

Man.. i just wrote my own thread just like this. Similar situation but it happened to me right before our cross country move. Wife and 2 dogs. Hope it all works out for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[amalik]

Start with the basics. You need to check the fluid level and the condition of the fluid. Is it black and burnt smelling? Is it low?

Does your coolant or tranny fluid look pink and milky?

My guess is the shop screwed up the tranny cooler install and for one reason or another, the tranny overheated and cooked the fluid like Tim said.

If you have some tools, you can try removing all of the old fluid and put some new stuff in it. The only problem with this is, what is going to stop this new fluid from overheating like the old stuff?

Maybe you are just better off towing it back to Ohio so you can diagnose it there. Rent a Uhaul truck with a hitch and rent a one of those car dollys. You will need to disconnect the rear drive shaft before you tow it though.

Good luck and keep us posted

Good advice. [MENTION=116467]Rock_Rat[/MENTION] basically said the same above except he deferred the towing procedure to others.

Why is removal of rear DS necessary? I thought people tow after putting the Transfer Case and trans shifter both in N or something like that?

OP, you're in pretty good hands here. As you can see, 3rd gen section is a big family and full of knowledgeable folks.

Please read all these posts, you basically need to tow her home and troubleshoot from there; don't even worry about it until you're home.

 

[thegipper]

If he isn't trying to save his tranny, then he doesn't have to disconnect the rear drive shaft. If you leave the drive shaft connected and use one of those towing dolly's, it can burn up your tranny. I forget the exact details but there are posts on here about it.

 

[Rock_Rat]

Hey [MENTION=65101]BrianSD_42[/MENTION] can you chime in here for the OP? I believe he's looking at towing his rig from Kansas to Ohio. If I'm not mistaken, I think I read about the towing procedures in your thread after you're knuckle failure.

 

[mtbtim]

Good advice. [MENTION=116467]Rock_Rat[/MENTION] basically said the same above except he deferred the towing procedure to others.

Why is removal of rear DS necessary? I thought people tow after putting the Transfer Case and trans shifter both in N or something like that?

OP, you're in pretty good hands here. As you can see, 3rd gen section is a big family and full of knowledgeable folks.

Please read all these posts, you basically need to tow her home and troubleshoot from there; don't even worry about it until you're home.

If the rear wheels are on the ground during towing, the rear driveshaft is turning the transfer case which in turn is turning the auto transmission. The transfer case doesn't rely on a oil pump for proper lubrication but the auto transmission does. When the engine is off, the transmission fluid pump is not operating sending the ATF to all the areas that need it. So, what you end up doing is frying the transmission because it's turning without proper lubrication.

If you're only towing for a short distance and not driving highway speeds, you can get away without removing the rear driveshaft. When towing long distances, or at highway speeds for a decent distance, it's either recommended to tow it on a flatbed (best option), tow it with a dolly under the rear wheels when lifting from the front, tow it with the front wheels on the ground (or a dolly under the front wheels) when lifting from the rear or remove the rear driveshaft if you're towing it lifting from the front with the rear wheels on the ground.

 

[diverscale]

Maybe the recent transmission flush and subsequent transmission failure are related?

Lot of people say you don't flush it, just drain and replace regularly.

Good luck getting out of dodge.

Did they flush or drain and fill the trans?

Flushes usually will dislodge all the gunk in the trans causing it fail.

Have you checked the fluid? Does it have coolant in it?

The transmission flush you did killed it.

False information again.

There is much, much more chance that there was a mistake in the transmission service job, or the transmission cooler installation by the garage, than the transmission blowing out because of ''dislodged particles''.