It never ends with this car

[Riders of Lohan]

I must have the worst ****ing luck with this truck

had it for almost 2 years. It was pretty solid for the first year.

This spring the trans went out, along with the TQ and I replaced the radiator. $3600, in shop probably 4 weeks.

The transfer case was leaking within a weak of that. Took it back to the same mechanic. He rebuilt all 3 seals for $300. Sure enough, one of them was defective and it was immediately leaking. Took it back. In shop probably 2 weeks.

Trans was popping into neutral when shifting from 2-3. Took it back to him, it was the valve body. Had it covered under warranty. in shop 2 weeks.

check engine light came on for torque converter not locking. Took it back to him, claims it was the ECU connectors. Cleans them and problem goes away. In shop 2 weeks.

Car starts whining in drive and reverse. I immediately take it back to the guy knowing it's the tranny and it's under warranty. It's the planetary gear that has failed and is replaced.

I ask him to look at the brakes while he has the car. It has been wobbling under braking. They're in rough shape. front rotors are warped of course, pads are shot of course, calipers are seized up.

Rear drums wont come off. when they do, everything is original. 162k miles on them. need new drums, shoes, and the little piston things. $1100 total for front and rear. In shop 2 weeks.

Get the car back, it still wobbles under braking. Driving it last night and notice it squeaking from the rear as well. Pull over to get gas, passenger side drum is hot as hell. Hot enough to melt plastic, the other side is fine. In fact, the passenger side RIM is hotter than the driver side DRUM. :gun4:

drive it home and cost the rest of the way. Car smells like burning brakes.

Mechanic wants me to bring it back to get them "adjusted" and he's like 50 miles away.

TLDR: spent 6k on repairs on a 3rd gen this year. no longer enjoy driving it or trust it.

 

[IBallEngineer]

I must have the worst ****ing luck with this truck

had it for almost 2 years. It was pretty solid for the first year.

This spring the trans went out, along with the TQ and I replaced the radiator. $3600, in shop probably 4 weeks.

The transfer case was leaking within a weak of that. Took it back to the same mechanic. He rebuilt all 3 seals for $300. Sure enough, one of them was defective and it was immediately leaking. Took it back. In shop probably 2 weeks.

Trans was popping into neutral when shifting from 2-3. Took it back to him, it was the valve body. Had it covered under warranty. in shop 2 weeks.

check engine light came on for torque converter not locking. Took it back to him, claims it was the ECU connectors. Cleans them and problem goes away. In shop 2 weeks.

Car starts whining in drive and reverse. I immediately take it back to the guy knowing it's the tranny and it's under warranty. It's the planetary gear that has failed and is replaced.

I ask him to look at the brakes while he has the car. It has been wobbling under braking. They're in rough shape. front rotors are warped of course, pads are shot of course, calipers are seized up.

Rear drums wont come off. when they do, everything is original. 162k miles on them. need new drums, shoes, and the little piston things. $1100 total for front and rear. In shop 2 weeks.

Get the car back, it still wobbles under braking. Driving it last night and notice it squeaking from the rear as well. Pull over to get gas, passenger side drum is hot as hell. Hot enough to melt plastic, the other side is fine. In fact, the passenger side RIM is hotter than the driver side DRUM. :gun4:

drive it home and cost the rest of the way. Car smells like burning brakes.

Mechanic wants me to bring it back to get them "adjusted" and he's like 50 miles away.

TLDR: spent 6k on repairs on a 3rd gen this year. no longer enjoy driving it or trust it.

You need to find an auto technician!

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

I must have the worst ****ing luck with this truck

had it for almost 2 years. It was pretty solid for the first year.

This spring the trans went out, along with the TQ and I replaced the radiator. $3600, in shop probably 4 weeks.

The transfer case was leaking within a weak of that. Took it back to the same mechanic. He rebuilt all 3 seals for $300. Sure enough, one of them was defective and it was immediately leaking. Took it back. In shop probably 2 weeks.

Trans was popping into neutral when shifting from 2-3. Took it back to him, it was the valve body. Had it covered under warranty. in shop 2 weeks.

check engine light came on for torque converter not locking. Took it back to him, claims it was the ECU connectors. Cleans them and problem goes away. In shop 2 weeks.

Car starts whining in drive and reverse. I immediately take it back to the guy knowing it's the tranny and it's under warranty. It's the planetary gear that has failed and is replaced.

I ask him to look at the brakes while he has the car. It has been wobbling under braking. They're in rough shape. front rotors are warped of course, pads are shot of course, calipers are seized up.

Rear drums wont come off. when they do, everything is original. 162k miles on them. need new drums, shoes, and the little piston things. $1100 total for front and rear. In shop 2 weeks.

Get the car back, it still wobbles under braking. Driving it last night and notice it squeaking from the rear as well. Pull over to get gas, passenger side drum is hot as hell. Hot enough to melt plastic, the other side is fine. In fact, the passenger side RIM is hotter than the driver side DRUM. :gun4:

drive it home and cost the rest of the way. Car smells like burning brakes.

Mechanic wants me to bring it back to get them "adjusted" and he's like 50 miles away.

TLDR: spent 6k on repairs on a 3rd gen this year. no longer enjoy driving it or trust it.

I would find a new mechanic. 2 weeks to replace drums and rotors etc?? 2 weeks to clean connectors on transmission??? That probably wasn't even the problem, that's just what they told you. 2 weeks to replace 3 seals in the TC then 2 weeks to replace 1 "defective" (yea right installed wrong) seal????? WTF!!

Hopefully the locked up drum didn't affect your rear axle seal because you'll probably be without your truck for a month for that repair.

 

[Riders of Lohan]

I would find a new mechanic. 2 weeks to replace drums and rotors etc?? 2 weeks to clean connectors on transmission??? That probably wasn't even the problem, that's just what they told you. 2 weeks to replace 3 seals in the TC then 2 weeks to replace 1 "defective" (yea right installed wrong) seal????? WTF!!

Hopefully the locked up drum didn't affect your rear axle seal because you'll probably be without your truck for a month for that repair.

You need to find an auto technician!

I know...but he was the transmission guy who was driving the car after the milkshake and it totally broke down on him, had to tow it to his shop. At that point I had no choice other than fix it. He offered to fix it for cheap to sell or fix it to keep. I told him I wanted to keep it.

At that point, I had a warranty with him which he's honored every time and seems like a real stand up guy. That's why I keep brining it back to him.

If this new issue was anything other than something he worked on, I would be finding someone close to me.

this is what happens when I love a vehicle I guess.

 

[Riders of Lohan]

my entire summer of road trips were 100% canceled because I either 1.) didn't have the truck, 2.) just got it back and didn't trust it or 3.) knew I would be needing to shop it again

 

[Riders of Lohan]

Every time I do something nice for the truck I get burned. If I detail it or put a full tank in, something goes wrong and I immediately can't enjoy the clean car or gas. It goes in the shop and and I get it back dirty and on half a tank.

Never washing or filling it up again

 

[mxer]

Probably could have prevented the tranny problems by installing a cheap ass cooler. The rest sounds like an incompetent mechanic.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

You obviously made a wise decision not taking any road trips.

I assume he warrantied all the tranny problems., but you paid for the TC repair and the brake repair. It just sucks because every repair this person's done has comeback AND taken waaaay too much time when it comes back. I would think comebacks would be top priority especially how many you've had.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Every time I do something nice for the truck I get burned. If I detail it or put a full tank in, something goes wrong and I immediately can't enjoy the clean car or gas. It goes in the shop and and I get it back dirty and on half a tank.
Never washing or filling it up again

WTF!!!!!!! Where's the gas going? DIRTY!! Yet another sign of complete incompetence and unprofessionalism.

 

[Riders of Lohan]

WTF!!!!!!! Where's the gas going? DIRTY!! Yet another sign of complete incompetence and unprofessionalism.

sits outside...he had to drive it to test some things, prove to a supplier it was defective, etc.

1/2 a tank is maybe an exaggeration but....not by much

 

[Riders of Lohan]

You obviously made a wise decision not taking any road trips.

I assume he warrantied all the tranny problems., but you paid for the TC repair and the brake repair. It just sucks because every repair this person's done has comeback AND taken waaaay too much time when it comes back. I would think comebacks would be top priority especially how many you've had.

Everything has been warrantied so far. The TC repair was done at the same time as the trans, and I didn't pay to have him diagnose or repair why it failed to lock a few times.

Paying him for the brakes is on me but he seems real nice. I am at wits end after this last repair. Someone has bad luck, either me or him.

 

[rcrick]

I was having similar problems with my drum brakes. I adjusted them until I was driving myself insane. The final solution was to install a set of oem brake shoes. When I went to put the oem shoes in, I compared the way they mated with the drum surface against how the parts store shoes mated against the surface. The parts store shoes would rock back and forth and did not sit in there properly. I believe this rocking action causes the adjust lever to rachet down on the adjustment screw while you are driving and thus eventually locking up the drum as you and I have experienced.

 

[Riders of Lohan]

Probably could have prevented the tranny problems by installing a cheap ass cooler. The rest sounds like an incompetent mechanic.

yeah. to elaborate, I do not personally believe the car milkshaked on me. I believe it happened to the previous owner and was repaired with a flush. When I bought it, it had a newish radiator.

It did not foam up like you see in the pictures online. I was well aware of the issue so was confused, but that transmission was 100% ****ed.

I think it was a ticking time bomb personally

 

[Riders of Lohan]

I was having similar problems with my drum brakes. I adjusted them until I was driving myself insane. The final solution was to install a set of oem brake shoes. When I went to put the oem shoes in, I compared the way they mated with the drum surface against how the parts store shoes mated against the surface. The parts store shoes would rock back and forth and did not sit in there properly. I believe this rocking action causes the adjust lever to rachet down on the adjustment screw while you are driving and thus eventually locking up the drum as you and I have experienced.

This sounds plausible...the wobbling under braking doesn't happen in the pedal or the steering wheel, but you can feel the car slowing more/less and it results in your head/neck moving forward...

 

[rcrick]

This sounds plausible...the wobbling under braking doesn't happen in the pedal or the steering wheel, but you can feel the car slowing more/less and it results in your head/neck moving forward...

The wobbling that you feel is probably due to warped drums I would think. Even if they were already replaced or turned, as hot as it sounds like it got it could be warped again.

 

[95yotarunner619]

what you need to do is stop backing up this crappy tech and go to a auto transmission specialist. stop wasting time and money with a crappy tech taking your money. or better yet, take it to a toyota stealship and have them do it, if your spending that kind of money

 

[Riders of Lohan]

what you need to do is stop backing up this crappy tech and go to a auto transmission specialist. stop wasting time and money with a crappy tech taking your money. or better yet, take it to a toyota stealship and have them do it, if your spending that kind of money

hindsight is 20/20

 

[ajonesnv]

I wouldn't blame the truck, sounds like the "mechanic" induced the majority of the problems while sticking it to you on the cost. 3600 for tranny work!!!!!! You can get a low milage one for under a grand and have it swapped out in two afternoons, even at a high shop rate you should be under 2000.00 w/labor. 1100.00 for brakes, when (by the sound of it) he didn't replace the rotors.

 

[1985taylor1925]

yeah. to elaborate, I do not personally believe the car milkshaked on me. I believe it happened to the previous owner and was repaired with a flush. When I bought it, it had a newish radiator.

It did not foam up like you see in the pictures online. I was well aware of the issue so was confused, but that transmission was 100% ****ed.

I think it was a ticking time bomb personally

Youre probably right. And the majority of the other issues you've had are probably due to poor maintenance or simply a lack thereof from the previous owner/s. The big issues you've had are more uncommon, which is why these are typically great trucks. The smaller issues are maintenance related, and would need to be done on any high mileage vehicle. Though, ie my truck has 230k miles, and Im still on the original rear drums. They need replaced, but still work properly. Again, your truck sounds like issues due to more maintenance or maybe someone who beat the crap out of it. And as mentioned, your mechanic seems untrustworthy, or unskilled.

 

[Doc2012]

where you went wrong was REBUILDING the transmissions.

You could've gotten a new transmission, or a used one from a place, added a cooler and been perfectly fine.

Too bad you're in Chicago.

I would've done it for the parts.