need some opinions from my fellow runner fanatics.

C

camjake2119

New member
If this gets long winded go grab a beer come back and keep reading :hatsoff:

I have 3 4runners now as the wife's highlander was t-boned back in may this year. The 90 is my 16 year olds and its just an old slow lil piggy perfect for a new driver like him. Then theres the 03 limited which is mine. love it. wont give it up for anything or anyone :hunter: Then theres the 97 which was purchased to be the wifes grocery getter. It needs work and here's where my quandry begins.

The 97 is very darn near perfect cosmetically other than the drivers seat being worn (its a limited so the leather has its issues as i am sure you are all aware.) It has no and i mean literally ZERO door dings in it. the paint still glosses up nice. The interior carpet looks as if it never saw a grain of sand.
The problems are mechanical. And the wife is now aggrivated so please feel my pain. It has developed a significant rear bump and loss of throttle control.
First thought no big deal this is somewhat typical for 3rd gens just let it warm up in the morning and she'll be fine. Uh No. That doesnt solve the issue. I have been round and round with the stalership. They think cuz i'm a civilian i have no clue so they diagnose it as the tranny. Its not the tranny. we all know this by now yet the techs want you to see it their way. The problem can be chased and chased and if i follow all the blog entries on here about this problem it could end up costing me thousands by the time i figure it out IF i figure it out.

SOOO this is my quandry. The trucks got 170k on it and that in it self is not too hateful and the PP blue book on it is about 5k but its more like $4800 imo. Would it be better to just cut my losses and let it go to the highest bidder or because its a rust free 3rd gen with alot still going for it to sink 2500 to 3k into and hopefully solve the problem. winter is coming and i have considered that but i am still on the fence about keeping it. I see some pro's and con's in either scenario.

Opinions? remarks? jokes? any imput would be helpful. I dont have any pics of this one on here yet but i will try and get some on friday and give you guys a visual to see what you think.

thanks guys,

Mike T.

Hanover, PA.
 
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camjake2119 said:
It has developed a significant rear bump and loss of throttle control.

First thought no big deal this is somewhat typical for 3rd gens just let it warm up in the morning and she'll be fine. Uh No. That doesnt solve the issue. I have been round and round with the stalership. They think cuz i'm a civilian i have no clue so they diagnose it as the tranny. Its not the tranny. we all know this by now yet the techs want you to see it their way. The problem can be chased and chased and if i follow all the blog entries on here about this problem it could end up costing me thousands by the time i figure it out IF i figure it out.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but what is the problem with the truck? What do you mean by "a significant rear bump"?
 
The best way i can describe it is that it sounds and feels as if the rear brake drums are seizing up. only does it when cold and only does it in drive. now every now and then it will do it while stopping after driving for some time but its worst when its first started in the morning. brakes were inspected by toyota and told they were fine. Was informed by a "seasoned tech that it was more than likely the tranny. this "bump" for lack of a better word is sharp and usettleing to the driver because when it happens you also lose throttle control. there have been numerous posts about this on here and several suggestions were presented. from the brakes to the e-brake cable, the abs fuse, the rear axle seals leaking, and of course the solenoid, the ecu and even the battery all being possible culprits. now the big question is is it worth trying to fix or letting the thing go. Mind you everything else on the vehicle is in very good condition. so that s where i am.
 
only does it when cold and only does it in drive

Mine did this and it was leaking axle seals contaminating the brake pads. It got so bad a tire would actually skid before breaking free. The rear bump could also mean you need to lube the slip yoke on the driveshaft.

For the throttle, check the linkage at the throttle body. Make sure the TB is clean on the inside and operates smoothly. Then the standard stuff, clean MAF sensor, new spark plugs (Denso only), Also, only use Denso O2 sensors if you get those.

Good luck
 
Have you checked the tranny fluid level? It almost sounds as if there isn't enough fluid in the torque converter when cold. Sorry if that's too obvious but probably worth checking if you haven't.

Not sure where Hanover is but I'm right outside Philly in Glenside. You're welcome to come by one day and see if we can't figure it out.
 
camjake2119 said:
The best way i can describe it is that it sounds and feels as if the rear brake drums are seizing up. only does it when cold and only does it in drive. now every now and then it will do it while stopping after driving for some time but its worst when its first started in the morning. brakes were inspected by toyota and told they were fine. Was informed by a "seasoned tech that it was more than likely the tranny. this "bump" for lack of a better word is sharp and usettleing to the driver because when it happens you also lose throttle control. there have been numerous posts about this on here and several suggestions were presented. from the brakes to the e-brake cable, the abs fuse, the rear axle seals leaking, and of course the solenoid, the ecu and even the battery all being possible culprits. now the big question is is it worth trying to fix or letting the thing go. Mind you everything else on the vehicle is in very good condition. so that s where i am.
Click to expand...
Check the rear drum covers, make sure the fluid isn't leaking out of the wheel cylinder. Its hard to see if I'm not there, but thats what I have. Oh, and make sure the E Brake is disengaging all the way.
 
thats why i love this site!! keep the ideas coming fellas but i am wondering if i am going to have to hire a pit crew to help go through all these steps!! I was talking to a guy todaythat has been a mechanic a long time. He is a family friend and i trust his opinion so i asked him and after i described what was going on he emphatically agreed with the service techs that it was the tranny and this is what he thought.

If the vehicle will not engage the drive gear but the throttle will wind up the RPM's and once the rpms are up the vehicle will bump abruptly into drive then its the transmission. He was referring to something called the "valve body" and that was also the reason that i was getting the significant and abrupt "bump" when the gearing was changing from second to first when coming to a stop. he also suggested 2 ways to check this; one. drive the car like normal on any backroad around town. you neighbor hood would work fine. first have the car in drive to replicate the "bump" upon decelerating and coming to a stop. then start again before coming to another stop, while the vehicle is still rolling well put the vehicle in neutral. If the "bump" is replicated then its a rear braking issue. If the "bump" is not replicated then it is a trans issue. Second: while at a complete stop put the car in neutral and step on the brake with your left foot. then with you right foot attempt to "power brake" by stepping on the gas and dropping the car into drive. What this does if the there is a braking problem and the rear drums or shoes are seized up then the car wont move. but by loading up the torque converter if you still get the bump at high rpm's then more than likely its the tranny. Now not being a mechanic i cannot be sure that this is true and relevant. but i trust this guy and he has worked on my cars in the past all with good results. Any thoughts?
 
I'm still unsure if your problem is upon braking or just decelerating? But if it's upon braking I would suggest you jack up one side of your rear at a time, take off the tire, break the drum cover loose, and inspect the shoes for oil. Even if you can't physically SEE the baked on oil, you may be able to feel the slickness on the shoes.

Just an idea that solved my problem grabbiness problem.
 
I know you don't know what the issue is just yet, but even if you have to replace the transmission, you will have a great vehicle with a good (new) transmission. With the vehicle in such good shape, you should be able to keep this Runner for a long time and get lots more use out of it. If you can afford to fix it...Keep It! And if you don't owe on it...definitely keep it! Just my 2 cents...

Let us know what you find out!
 
Ok here's the long and short of it. Friday i spent all day pinning down the problem. Definately in the rear and definately brakes. What we are gonna try now is the following:

1. New rear drums. (originals still on at 170k so its time.)
2. New shoes springs and pins. (shoes were replaced other hardware we're not sure but they look beat up.)
3. while everythings off we're inspecting the rear axle seals. (we also believe this may be contributing to the problem.)
4. New emergency brake cable. ( while the current one still works it has never been replaced either so what the heck!)
5. not sure if the diff oil has been replaced so we're gonna do that too.
6. New soft lines on the rear brakes. (at least i think their soft lines, i am so used to disc systems its been a long long time since i messed with drums.
7. inspecting rear shocks as well. (bushings and links were replaced last year.)

That will hopefully do the trick. Meanwhile the wife has hijacked my 03 and has determined it suits her better than me so this one may end up being my DD at least for awhile.

Thanks for the imput guys .....wish me luck!!
 
Ebrake cable seems like a waste, it either works or it doesn't. Otherwise it sounds like you're on the right track.
 
i say do work, and keep it, and stop going to the dealership to diagnosis stuff, most other shops are quite capable of figuring out what is wrong and won't charge half as much, only go to the dealer for jobs that you already know need to be done and only ones that would require the upmost skill to accomplish, you have already wasted enough money that you could have fixed alot of this if you just came here first or went to another shop instead, ok now that's out of the way.


i could very well be your valve body, and if anything at this point if your still getting all of the gears and there is no major thump or thud when changing gear with out moving i would say the over all state of the tranny is good, and the worst case is that the valve body just needs to be cleaned, which is labour intensive but not the cost of a complete rebuild like mentioned above, maybe in the $500-800 range, but def not 1.5-3k, if your holding gears, no slipping, they move freely and the only thud that happens is when changing gears moving or coming to a stop, is most likely the clutch discs are fine and probably just a clogged valve body,
the test scenario your mech laid out for you is decent but not full proof, drive line binding could still cause the bump your feeling in every scenario he laid out, so that test isn't 100% but still a good way to narrow it down a bit as it would rule out the brakes but not other components that could simulate the same thing.

so with all of that said, it could be a trans issue, but this really doesn't feel like it from what i'm hearing and fixing the other things people suggested is far far cheaper, trying to fix drive line binding will cost you about $20-30 and about 45 mins of your time, my 8 year old nephew could do it, it's just greasing some zerks.

my rear axle seal has been leaking for ages and i'm in need of this as well, i've driven about 5k with this going on and is just now getting bad enough to saturate my brakes and cause some minor problems.

it really sounds like you need to offer up some beer and get one of the forums guys to cruise by and check it out for you, also your mech isn't 1/2 bad either, seems at least he thinks before speaking, and like everybody even my dumb a$$ has the capability of being wrong so start with the cheapest possibilities and work your way up the price list as it goes.

greasing zerks 20-30 bucks
rear brakes and seals $150-400 depending on labour
valve body cleaning $300-600 or anything around there, really depends as this is basically 100% labour based.

or

drive it till it brakes and keep an eye for something like this and swap it in.
***2001 TOYOTA TACOMA/4RUNNER TRANSMISSION***
 
All this may have been for naught....lol, I have been looking at the standard SR-5's alot more and they seem to suit my tastes and needs more than this limited does. So i think i am gonna sell it and start over. If i can find the right SR-5 that is. LOL Thanks for all the imput guys!!
 
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