Lost Power 96 SR5 4WD

Patrick4R

Patrick4R

New member
1996 SR5 with 141K. I was heading home, about 1/3 mile away, and had a sudden power loss, no heat, and a bad smell. It's been super cold here in PA and I went outside to warm up the 4runner. Everything was fine until we went to leave about 15 mins later. It sounded like it was missing, the transmission wasn't totally engaging, and it stalled a couple times on the way home. It was hard to turn over after it stalled as well. I got it home, but I noticed a leak were the transmission cooler enters the radiator. The leaking fluid wasn't the usual red that you get from transmission fluid...it was kinda milky. I'm thinking transmission cooler blew and mixed with coolant. Would that cause the symptoms that I'm having? Head gasket? I also noticed smoke from the rear of the engine behind the throttle body. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Patrick
 
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Took a better look at things today. I have clean oil, but I have a strawberry milk colored tranny fluid. I'm going to change out the radiator, flush the block, flush the tranny as much as possibile and see what shakes loose. I only drove it about 1/3 mi with the bad fluid. I can only hope that there wasn't much damage.
 
I'll bet the tranny is ok since you caught it early. Radiator and built in tranny cooler will need to be replaced it sounds like.
 
Wow, another strawberry milkshake victim?!

Sorry, man. Hope you can get your T4R fixed up and running again. But yeah, definitely add in a external tranny cooler. I would recommend the Tru-Cool 4454, since it isn't expensive and has an internal bypass for cold weather. I had one of these installed on my 98 and things are running smooth so far.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions...I priced out the radiator...only 200 bucks so I'm going to pull her into the garage as soon as the thaw happens this week. I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome. The 4runner will live again!!!!
 
Interestingly enough....my mechanic says that he had 3 toyotas in Pittsburgh with the same problem this week. 2/3 were fixable! Maybe there is hope! hehehe
 
Update on the 4runner! My buddy and I pulled the old radiator last night and drained what was left in the engine block. After several flushes and 2 of the most rusted bolts I have ever seen...the old radiator is gone. We pulled the thermostat and flushed several gallons of hot water through the engine till it ran clear. Next up is the new radiator and thermostat and on to the transmission. I'll try to get some pics.

Fingers are crossed!
 
Just an update for everyone who has had a similar problem with the strawberry quick. I have installed the new radiator and filled the system. No leaks yet. We dropped the transmission pan last night. Fluid was dark, but on the bright side...nothing bad in the filter or on the magnets attached to the pan. We cleaned everything up, replaced the filter, and resealed the pan...tonight I turn the key. Update tomorrow!
 
I'm curious--how long have you had the truck (time and miles) and how did the coolant look when you got it? I'm just wondering if 'milkshake' trucks are those with poor coolant maintenance or if it is random.
 
The 4runner took 8 quarts of transmission fluid. It ran perfectly with no leaks or hesitation. Low speed shifting was smooth and predictable. We then took it on the interstate and it preformed perfectly there too. It locked up the converter on the highway like it did everyday before the breakdown. I'm still going to drain the pan later this week, but I'm feeling very lucky tonight.

For the guy who asked about the condition of the coolant.... It was horrible but I changed it the week I got it. It was a dark dirty green. I bought the 4runner with 134K on it and it had been poorly maintained. I drove it for about 6 months and 6K miles before I had this problem. I check the transmission fluid when I bought it...it was great! I'm guessing the cooling system was neglected ... leading to corrosion of the transmission cooler in the radiator. In hindsight...I would recommend anyone who lives in the rust belt (PA, OH...etc) to change your radiator...espically if you have an older one like me. It's an easy swap when you're not flushing oil from your cooling system.

UPDATE: I drove it work today...15 miles of mixed back roads/interstate. Ran great!
 
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