More transmission woes: How hot are your cupholders?

[Qyota]

Took a trip to Iowa this weekend. Weather was nice...about 72 degrees while driving. On the return trip, I noticed the drink in my cupholder was getting warm in the hurry. Then I felt the bottom of the cupholder with my hand, and it was very warm to the touch (and no, I wasn't drinking coffee!). The entire console over the transmission is quite warm, especially near the t-case shifter.
Any reason for this? Anyone ever tested how warm theirs gets?

Also, I'm still having this wacky problem when coming off the brake from a complete stop. When I lift my foot off the pedal, the truck lurches forward 4 or 5 times just under idle power (no accelerator input from me). It's like I'm getting tugged along by something (or bumped from the back repeatedly). The RPMs are fine, and the engine is not lugging. As soon as I transition my foot to the gas pedal, it's smooth sailing. What's up with this?

Lastly, after coming down from about an hour at 65 mph, rolling to a stop light (coasting in gear), I anticipate the light changing to green. Once it does, I'm still coasting at about 15 mph. So then I lightly get back on the gas to speed back up. At first, nothing happened...then BANG! It was like we were rear-ended. The truck lurched forward like it had slipped out of gear, and then thrown back into gear. It didn't happen again the rest of the drive home.

WTF is going on?

OH, and one OTHER thing. :rant:

How much does your gear shifter and t-case shifter move while driving? When going over rough or gravel road surfaces, or driving through a field, both of my shifters move around quite a bit. Should there be this much slop in them?

:violin:

 

[KellyJ]

Took a trip to Iowa this weekend. Weather was nice...about 72 degrees while driving. On the return trip, I noticed the drink in my cupholder was getting warm in the hurry. Then I felt the bottom of the cupholder with my hand, and it was very warm to the touch (and no, I wasn't drinking coffee!). The entire console over the transmission is quite warm, especially near the t-case shifter.
Any reason for this? Anyone ever tested how warm theirs gets?

Also, I'm still having this wacky problem when coming off the brake from a complete stop. When I lift my foot off the pedal, the truck lurches forward 4 or 5 times just under idle power (no accelerator input from me). It's like I'm getting tugged along by something (or bumped from the back repeatedly). The RPMs are fine, and the engine is not lugging. As soon as I transition my foot to the gas pedal, it's smooth sailing. What's up with this?

Lastly, after coming down from about an hour at 65 mph, rolling to a stop light (coasting in gear), I anticipate the light changing to green. Once it does, I'm still coasting at about 15 mph. So then I lightly get back on the gas to speed back up. At first, nothing happened...then BANG! It was like we were rear-ended. The truck lurched forward like it had slipped out of gear, and then thrown back into gear. It didn't happen again the rest of the drive home.

WTF is going on?

OH, and one OTHER thing. :rant:

How much does your gear shifter and t-case shifter move while driving? When going over rough or gravel road surfaces, or driving through a field, both of my shifters move around quite a bit. Should there be this much slop in them?

:violin:

Hmm, that doesn't sound like much fun. Excessive heat being thrown out by the transmission could mean that it's not properly lubricated. Have you had a transmission fluid flush lately? I would do that and see what happens afterwards. It sounds like your torque converter is slipping, which is why you're getting the delay when trying to accelerate from a stop. The slipping could also be caused by dirty trans. fluid or even a lack of trans. fluid. Also, my transfer case and shifter move around a good bit when driving; I always thought that was normal. Good luck and let us know if the situation improves or gets worse.

 

[theizzardking]

Hmm, that doesn't sound like much fun. Excessive heat being thrown out by the transmission could mean that it's not properly lubricated. Have you had a transmission fluid flush lately? I would do that and see what happens afterwards. It sounds like your torque converter is slipping, which is why you're getting the delay when trying to accelerate from a stop. The slipping could also be caused by dirty trans. fluid or even a lack of trans. fluid. Also, my transfer case and shifter move around a good bit when driving; I always thought that was normal. Good luck and let us know if the situation improves or gets worse.

i'm not an expert on these tranmission but depending on your milage i'd just change the fluid a flush can clog the screen in you valve body in the trans and case even more problems, as a general rule unless it's a new trans or has had it's service done routinely and flushed everytime from new you don;t want to flush it, it's almost as much to rebuild a trans as it is to remove and replace the valve body and if your there you might as well go with a trasns-go kit and a new torq converter lol.

just my thoughts i know nothing of the 4runner trans just the 727 series of transmissions and the generations from them.

 

[trokedawg]

Can't help you with the specific problems. My tranny seems fine (knock on wood), but my shifters do move quite a bit during drivers and I've heard that from other 3rd genners too so that shouldn't be part of your issue.

 

[OU4x4]

unless you're starting to boil your drinks heat shouldn't be an issue. my cup holders have gotten warm to the touch since day 1.
and yes the shifters move a lot, no biggie

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

I notice my girlfriend always telling me that her purse gets hot when she leaves it in the passenger footwell. I figured it was because my transmission or my catalytic converter... didn't really think past that.

It's a common thing from what it sounds like.

 

[Qyota]

OK, it happened again last night. I was on the highway doing 60-ish for about 15 minutes. I get to my exit, and stop at the intersection. About 1 second after I stop, there is a HUGE bang, and again it feels like I got rear-ended. This is NOT good! I can't believe something that jolts the entire vehicle like that isn't doing some sort of major damage every time it happens. However, it didn't do it on the way home, with a similar trip on the highway. ARRGGG!

So when I pulled into the garage, I ran it through the gears, left it running, and opened the hood. I pulled out the tranny dipstick, wiped it clean, re-inserted and pulled it back out. I was shocked to see that the fluid level was BELOW the "cold" mark! I checked it again, with the same result. Also, the fluid is about the color of new motor oil (tan)...not pink or red. But, it's not DARK, and it doesn't smell burned. Where did all the fluid go? I checked it about a month ago (on a cold engine/tranny), and it was right in the middle of the cold mark...so I thought nothing of it.

Needless to say, I'm not driving this thing until I can drain and refill the fluid. Hopefully that clears some of this up, but I can't help but think I've already done some damage.

Anyway, the dipstick says "Dexron II" on it. Should I stick with that, or go with something else? It has 136,000 miles on it.

Thanks!

 

[theizzardking]

I am almost certain you need Dexron III...check your manual. Get that fluid level back to normal and see if that helps...I had problems with my '99 after Toyota shorted me quite a bit of tranny fluid. I have this stuff sitting in the garage ready for when I start driving my t4r again (I've put maybe 500 miles on this year). http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/atd.aspx Sounds like it would be good for us living in the north.

any atf+4 will work dexron is a brand name, look on the bottle anything that says atf+4 will work. dex 3 is the same as atf+3 but just a brand name and tens to break down after about 30JK where you can get 80-100K from the +4 stuff but keep in mind that ATF+4 is formulated for transmissions with lockup converter clutches and overdrive, if you have neither the +4 is an added expense that you don't really need. like i said above i'm unaware as to what sort of trannies these things run but general shop expeince dictates that you may need teh 4 as it is a newer vehicle and most of them have been spec'd to teh new +4 fluid since it's inception back in early 2000's

if you must stick to the dexron use the new +4 not the 3. note that when the +4 came out it retro actively covers every fluid before it.

here's some reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEXRON
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Number=5065202
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_proper_transmission_fluid_for_your_car

 

[Qyota]

Thanks for the info!

But get this. I just checked the fluid level (I haven't driven the truck today at all), and it's ABOVE where it was last night while running in park in the garage! What's up with that? As before, it's right at the "cold" level. So, why is it BELOW the cold level when it's been running (engine hot)?

Something's fishy here.

And I'm still confused about which fluid to use. I don't have an owners manual, but I'll look through the hacked up PDFs I've gleaned off the internet to see what I can learn.

It's a '99 Limited with overdrive, I assume it has a locking clutch in the TC.

 

[LINY4Runner]

Use anything that says Dexron III or above.

DexIII is just the newer version of DexII and it replaces it.

Every oil brand on the planet makes a Dexron III fluid, so it'll be simple to find. Go into any auto parts store and ask for Dexron III fluid. You'll need a little more than 4 quarts for a drain and fill.

Stay away from synthetic/synthetic blends, especially with mileage and disappearing fluid...

 

[rmjaquith]

Took a trip to Iowa this weekend. Weather was nice...about 72 degrees while driving. On the return trip, I noticed the drink in my cupholder was getting warm in the hurry. Then I felt the bottom of the cupholder with my hand, and it was very warm to the touch (and no, I wasn't drinking coffee!). The entire console over the transmission is quite warm, especially near the t-case shifter.
Any reason for this? Anyone ever tested how warm theirs gets?

Also, I'm still having this wacky problem when coming off the brake from a complete stop. When I lift my foot off the pedal, the truck lurches forward 4 or 5 times just under idle power (no accelerator input from me). It's like I'm getting tugged along by something (or bumped from the back repeatedly). The RPMs are fine, and the engine is not lugging. As soon as I transition my foot to the gas pedal, it's smooth sailing. What's up with this?

Lastly, after coming down from about an hour at 65 mph, rolling to a stop light (coasting in gear), I anticipate the light changing to green. Once it does, I'm still coasting at about 15 mph. So then I lightly get back on the gas to speed back up. At first, nothing happened...then BANG! It was like we were rear-ended. The truck lurched forward like it had slipped out of gear, and then thrown back into gear. It didn't happen again the rest of the drive home.

WTF is going on?

OH, and one OTHER thing. :rant:

How much does your gear shifter and t-case shifter move while driving? When going over rough or gravel road surfaces, or driving through a field, both of my shifters move around quite a bit. Should there be this much slop in them?

:violin:

My wifes 4Runner seems to be having the EXACT same problem. didn't know about it until we were driving around town and noticed the puttering from the stop sign while in idle or with a very little amount of gas.

We've been noticing the occasional "lurch" while on the freeway or in town when we need a quick boost in power, but nothing too excessive, in my opinion.

All I could figure is that it was something transmission related, so I figured I'd log on here and see what I could find out about this problem. Low and behold, we're not the only one's...

We just had an issue with our radiator (in December) and had to have it replaced because (apparently) some lines wore down and ended up combining the coolant and the transmission fluids (or so they said at the shop that fixed the problem).

...haven't checked the fluids yet, but I'll definitely be doing that first thing in the morning, especially since we're bringing the truck (back to the same shop, in fact) in to get the power steering fluid flushed (they recommended that it get done when we had the oil changed there in June).

Hoping that it's just the fluid that's low and there isn't any major damage that has been caused...(since we're going to pick up a new-to-us GX470 this next weekend). :dancin:

p.s. Our Runster has 173k on it

 

[rmjaquith]

Quick update on MY transmission slipage situation: took my 4Runner into the shop today (to get the Power steering system flushed) and asked them to look at why we get the stop, to idle, to gas "sputtering"...turns out the read diff. is pretty much shot (except, it doesn't make any noise yet, so apparently that's a good thing)...the last time I had a rear diff. go out on me was on my 81 Fiat Brava (which I remember taking it out of the fluid fill/check hole piece-by-piece). :/ I'm thinking as positively as possible about this...but I have to say, I did see it coming...I was just hoping it wouldn't be RIGHT now. Oh well...we still love our Runster and still plan on keep 'er forever!

 

[theizzardking]

Quick update on MY transmission slipage situation: took my 4Runner into the shop today (to get the Power steering system flushed) and asked them to look at why we get the stop, to idle, to gas "sputtering"...turns out the read diff. is pretty much shot (except, it doesn't make any noise yet, so apparently that's a good thing)...the last time I had a rear diff. go out on me was on my 81 Fiat Brava (which I remember taking it out of the fluid fill/check hole piece-by-piece). :/ I'm thinking as positively as possible about this...but I have to say, I did see it coming...I was just hoping it wouldn't be RIGHT now. Oh well...we still love our Runster and still plan on keep 'er forever!

good chance to change the gearing lol ;-) too bad hope it doesn't kill you wallet to quickly. :happens: take care buddy and good luck!:driving:

 

[Qyota]

Just wanted to follow up on this problem. I swapped the rear diff fluid for new 80W-90. I also drained and filled my transmission fluid twice, and I'm going to do it a third time this weekend (after some more driving) since the old fluid was so nasty, and because I have 5 quarts on fluid to use up!

Things are MUCH better! The shifting has never been so smooth, and so far no "hit from behind" experiences. Haven't done anything as far as prolonged highway use, but I will this weekend, so it'll be a good test. I hope this does the trick!

Thanks much for your help, all.

 

[Galaxy541]

Mine doesn't the same thing, console gets crazy hot. I just had my tranny and transfer case replaced and it still does it? Did you ever get your figured out?