Help please... AT stuck in Drive and 4hi. ('99 sport ed))

[Donovan99]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster (for some reason I'm unable to post under my usual handle which doesn't have the 99).

I have a '99 4R SR5 4wd highlander model w/ 187k miles.

Tonight I drove to the mountains (South Lake Tahoe, CA) to go skiing with a bunch of friends. The last 30 miles where covered in snow and chain control was set up so I shifted to 4hi. When I pulled up to my driveway I realized I could't shift out of Drive.

Here's what I did in this order:
- circled the block and tried disengaging 4hi but it would stay in 4hi b/c the green indicator was still on (although I can move the 4wd shift lever to the 2hi position, it was still in 4hi)
- looked up the manual and tried to do the manual override switch (per the manual, it is specific for AT stuck in Park but I tried anyway).
- in the end, I pulled into my driveway because the city tows cars left on the street on snow clearing nights. It now won't start up b/c it's in Drive and the key won't pull out of the ignition


Here's what I did leading up to it the problem:
- Drove 150 freeway miles until I reached the chain control, where I shifted it to 4hi. About 10 miles from my destination, there's a long steep decline with a lot of cars, so I downshifted to 2 for engine braking as there was a long line of slow cars. (This was the last time the truck shifted normally)
- When I got to my neighborhood, I gunned it up a long steepish hill with fresh snow partly for fun and to test the grip of the new set of Toyo A/T tires that was newly installed.


I also noticed that in the past few months, the AT seemed to be acting up- when I'm stopped at the lights I would feel like I get rear-ended from behind but it was the AT being jumpy. I had the AT fluid flushed and changed a month ago and that seemed to reduce it.

Any advice appreciated. Apologies in advance if this is a repeat topic. I tried searching for a similar thread but couldn't come up with any.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Donovan

 

[pat161]

To eliminate the slight bump at a stop I would lube your drive shaft real well, paying close attention to the zerk closest to the rear diff. If you have a grease gun just pump fluid in until you see the old squeezing out. As for the tranny that is a very weird issue indeed. As these are ECT trannies I would try disconnecting the battery to reset the computer first. That probably won't work so assuming the fluid level is good and you haven't encountered the dreaded strawberry milkshake I would then drain and drop the pan to get at the shift solenoids and check the filter as probably the second easiest thing to check. Perhaps someone else can chime in on how to test the solenoids as I have never had this issue, my 02 is the first auto I've ever owned. You say you had it flushed, was it the first time, how many miles do you have. I bought my 02 at 54k and as it had never been flushed I decided to stick with drain and fills, I've heard many horror stories when older trannies are flushed for the first time. There is also a way to jump the 4wd actuator and force it into 2wd, I would search for that and try that as well, I thought my tranny went out at 100k and it ended up being the transfer case.

 

[Donovan99]

Thanks Pat. I'll try those tips.

It has 187k miles now and the last flush was around 135k

I checked it this morning again and found it can shift to N, so at least I can start her up now and just push it out of the driveway.

 

[Donovan99]

Update in case anyone else ever experiences this. The problem appears to have fixed itself. I think some snow/slush jammed the linkage on Friday night, and when it melted over the next couple days, the shifter worked again.

I read of another guy who experienced this exact problem:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/61474-will-not-shift-into-reverse-park.html

On Sat afternoon, when I was tooling between D and N, I realized one of my brake lights were out. I replaced it and (coincidentally or not) was immediately able to get into Reverse. Still no Park though.

Checked the ATF fluid. looks clear and healthy (no milkshake).

On Sun, I checked again and now I can get into Park. The only lingering problem is that sometimes I have to press the override switch to get out of P. I read that this is a safety feature if a stop/brake light or fuse is out. My front side markers are both dead and I haven't yet isolated whether it is a bulb or fuse that is out.