Hello,
I'm new to this site, and also new to owning a 4Runner and unfortunately I've already run into problems with the transmission. I purchased the truck about a month ago as a winter 4X4 work vehicle because I live in Ontario, Canada and have to travel down many snow covered roads in order to get to job sites. The truck is nineteen years old and has 194 000 km or 120 000 miles and I purchased it as-is for $500 (Can.). I fully expected issues like this to arise... I was just hoping it would take more than a month to happen! The truck is otherwise in very solid shape. The engine and suspension seem strong and there is an inch of rubber on all four (five including the full sized spare on the back) tires.
I was just looking for some opinions on my best route for fixing the problem I'm having. Here's a rundown on what's going on,
A week ago I was on my way to work, in 2 wheel drive, when suddenly a vibrational noise (grinding??) started out of the blue and was quite loud. I stopped the vehicle, got out and did a visual inspection, didn't see anything, got back in and tried to drive it and when I first started to drive there was no noise, but when I reached 25mph and started to release the gas pedal the noise happened again. I switched between 2wd and 4wd during this time but it seemed to have no effect. I was able to get it back home by driving for 4 to 5 min intervals in-between the noise happening, I would stop the vehicle, the noise would stop, then I would continue on my way.
Two days ago I took the vehicle in to a local mechanic and they are saying that they think it is the bearing on the rear output shaft from the transfer case. They don't do alot of work on transmissions and the closest specialized transmission shop is 60 miles and a $150 tow away from here.
I called the shop that the mechanic recommended and they are telling me that the repair will take about a full day's worth of shop hours, which I think is true because I looked up the procedure online, so I'm looking at between $1500 to $2000 ($1250 to $1650 USD).
There are 3 questions that I have:
The first question is should I go this route for repair or would I be better off to just find a used/rebuilt tranny and switch it out?
The second question is are there any other things that I should be looking at replacing as well while I have this thing ripped apart?
The last question is does anybody know if that bearing can be replaced through the rear of the transfer case without the whole tranny coming down and being taken apart? The mechanic that I took it to wasn't sure.
Thanks for any help.
I'm new to this site, and also new to owning a 4Runner and unfortunately I've already run into problems with the transmission. I purchased the truck about a month ago as a winter 4X4 work vehicle because I live in Ontario, Canada and have to travel down many snow covered roads in order to get to job sites. The truck is nineteen years old and has 194 000 km or 120 000 miles and I purchased it as-is for $500 (Can.). I fully expected issues like this to arise... I was just hoping it would take more than a month to happen! The truck is otherwise in very solid shape. The engine and suspension seem strong and there is an inch of rubber on all four (five including the full sized spare on the back) tires.
I was just looking for some opinions on my best route for fixing the problem I'm having. Here's a rundown on what's going on,
A week ago I was on my way to work, in 2 wheel drive, when suddenly a vibrational noise (grinding??) started out of the blue and was quite loud. I stopped the vehicle, got out and did a visual inspection, didn't see anything, got back in and tried to drive it and when I first started to drive there was no noise, but when I reached 25mph and started to release the gas pedal the noise happened again. I switched between 2wd and 4wd during this time but it seemed to have no effect. I was able to get it back home by driving for 4 to 5 min intervals in-between the noise happening, I would stop the vehicle, the noise would stop, then I would continue on my way.
Two days ago I took the vehicle in to a local mechanic and they are saying that they think it is the bearing on the rear output shaft from the transfer case. They don't do alot of work on transmissions and the closest specialized transmission shop is 60 miles and a $150 tow away from here.
I called the shop that the mechanic recommended and they are telling me that the repair will take about a full day's worth of shop hours, which I think is true because I looked up the procedure online, so I'm looking at between $1500 to $2000 ($1250 to $1650 USD).
There are 3 questions that I have:
The first question is should I go this route for repair or would I be better off to just find a used/rebuilt tranny and switch it out?
The second question is are there any other things that I should be looking at replacing as well while I have this thing ripped apart?
The last question is does anybody know if that bearing can be replaced through the rear of the transfer case without the whole tranny coming down and being taken apart? The mechanic that I took it to wasn't sure.
Thanks for any help.
