Okay doc...what's the prognosis? "Tranny issue"

[jsukey]

Currently sitting at 248,000 miles in my '00 Supercharged 4Runner. The transmission has been serviced before. I decided to go ahead and have the trans and transfer case fluid changed a few weeks ago, since I already had it in the shop for a new power steering pump. All they did was drop the pan, and drain the trans. They didn't do a full flush. I know for a fact that the fluid was still red, and wasn't burned. I let a buddy pick it up and drive it for a couple of days since I wasn't using it. He put around 125 miles on it before I first drive it. I noticed on occasion, that the transmission won't really engage at very low speed. "From a start, and occasionally in reverse". It only lasts for about a second before it grabs hard. I just put a little over 300 miles on it, without an issue. I ran between 90-100 mph for a little over 3 hours without a single issue. I noticed it again this morning though. It doesn't do it every time when starting, just on occasion. I know that trans fluid is a detergent, and will dislodge trash in the trans. Could it be that bad, where it is basically starving the trans of fluid? Any thoughts?

Note: The S/C was installed by the dealer when it was brand new, and the valve body was built to handle the additional power.

 

[soupkitchen]

not sure what fluid they used...my wife's 96 at around 170k use to shift just like that....I serviced it with Royal Purple and it hasn't done it since...now has 246k.

 

[jsukey]

I'm really not sure. They did the same service in my '02 4Runner a couple of years ago, and I didn't have any issues.

 

[T4R2014]

Go back to them and tell them what's up. They should have used Dexron III or equivalent, although shops tell me that Toyota considers Type IV to be the successor to the now-unlicensed Dexron III spec products. There could be a small chance they put in Toyota WS. Do you have any idea what fluid was in it before?

 

[mtbtim]

This comment is not meant to be insulting, but did you confirm that the fluid is at the proper level? If it is, I'd be thinking the same thing as the comment above. Maybe they added the wrong fluid.

There is a product that I heard is good for an auto trans. It's called Lubegard. It's an automatic transmission fluid additive that helps with hard shifting and other issues. Maybe this product could help.

 

[jsukey]

I did check the level on it. There's no way for me to know if he put Dexron III in it until I call him tomorrow. I'm a little leary on adding anything other than trans fluid to it though. This trans is supposed to shift a little harder, due to the valve body upgrade done for the supercharger. I'm afraid that he's just going to tell me: "I told you not to change the fluid in it because of the high miles" though.