Towing, towing, towing...

R

robstibz

New member
Hey folks! So today I towed my project benz about 100 miles from north east PA down to Philly. I was pulling a flatbed from uhaul. I know that I'm pulling more than the 4runner is rated for, but I had to get this car down here and now i'm kicking myself in the ass.......I pulled into a gas station to fuel up about 10 miles from Philly and notice some oil residue on the front of the trailer...

I looked under my truck and the transmission pan was about half covered in oil, and dripping about a drop or 2 per minute. I'm hoping that it just overheated and leaked because of fluid expansion. I'm letting it cool down for a few hours and then I have to pull the car another few miles. Man, I hope I didn't f*ck anything up! It's shifting/driving fine.

Anybody else do this? Anything I should look for? TIA
 
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Yea I had the overdrive off the whole way. I probably won't add a cooler only because I don't plan on towing with it again...but if I do then i'll definitely look into it. This is only the second time i've towed anything with the truck. I've never done a trans/filter flush on it b/c I bought the truck with 60k on it and it was never changed, so I just left it. Think it would be a good idea to change the fluid at this point? She's got 155k on her.
 
the aux tranny cooler is to prevent the common strawberry milkshake of death
 
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WOW...

so what actually happened there?? did the tranny get so hot the fluid viscosity got so thin it was able to leak out of the tranny??

thats crazy... I never thought of the consequences of pulling too big a load with the 4runner,

heres another question, so do the manuals and the automatics have different load ratings since towing in a manual I would think wouldnt put as much stress on the tranny??
 
Elton H said:
the aux tranny cooler is to prevent the common strawberry milkshake of death
Click to expand...

Well then that set-up in the link above looks like it's gonna be on my truck sooner than later! The fluid that came out was reddish-brown, same color it usually is.

Duhockey said:
WOW...

so what actually happened there?? did the tranny get so hot the fluid viscosity got so thin it was able to leak out of the tranny??

thats crazy... I never thought of the consequences of pulling too big a load with the 4runner,

heres another question, so do the manuals and the automatics have different load ratings since towing in a manual I would think wouldnt put as much stress on the tranny??
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, that's what I want I'm hoping someone can confirm. I think that's what happend, hopefully without toasting a gasket.

I'm gonna wipe everything down and take her for a ride in a few and check things out again.
 
Update

After wiping everything down and dumping the car/trailer in-tow, I drove the truck around for about 30 minutes. It's shifting/driving perfect. I parked it and then looked under it after it sat for nearly 2 hours, there wasn't a drop underneath! I'm feeling a little better about it...

Wierd thing is, I checked the oil and trans fluid levels and everything is on the money, but earlier today a good part of my undercarriage had a coat of oil???? I was thinking my ATF would be low. I'm pretty sure it wasn't gear oil...no stink like gear oil, and it was the color of ATF.

Also, I'm pretty sure I should changed the fluid after cooking it like that...any input on doing the first trans flush/filter-change at 155k?
 
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thanks for the link! I have an auto though, I think I found the write-up for that. I do all the work on all my family's cars. The 4runner used to be my daily, driver but it's been used about 3 times a month since my old man bought a new TDI in January of 2009, and I started driving his 2000 TDI for the fuel savings; I average 18mpg in the yota and 39mpg in the TDI.
 
Update:

Day 2 after the incident, transmission is still shifting perfect, fluid level is good. No signs of leaks.

Do you guys think I should drain or flush the fluid, and change the filter? Or just leave it?Considering it has 155k on it and it's never been changed, and I'm pretty sure I cooked it the other day. Again, fluid color is reddish/brown, more reddish, looks good.
 
robstibz said:
Update:

Day 2 after the incident, transmission is still shifting perfect, fluid level is good. No signs of leaks.

Do you guys think I should drain or flush the fluid, and change the filter? Or just leave it?Considering it has 155k on it and it's never been changed, and I'm pretty sure I cooked it the other day. Again, fluid color is reddish/brown, more reddish, looks good.
Click to expand...

I would do a drain and fill if anything. I definitely would not flush it at this point. There will be many differing opinions on this, so do what you are comfortable with.
 
Yea i'm probably going to do a drain and refill, i'll drop the pan to clean it out and inspect. Does the A340F take regular ATF? Heading to the yota dealer to pick up a few things later today.
 
robstibz said:
Yea i'm probably going to do a drain and refill, i'll drop the pan to clean it out and inspect. Does the A340F take regular ATF? Heading to the yota dealer to pick up a few things later today.
Click to expand...

Oh boy, your jetta is almost doubled my milage. Is it 5 speed?
 
So I went to the dealer today to pick up some stuff and I asked them which ATF to use for my 2000 4runner 3.4 Auto...they said to use the Toyota IV fluid...when I told them that the Dexron III and Toyota Fluid aren't compatible, he just said that the Toyota Fluid supercedes it, and that they would use the Toyota fluid if it came in for a drain/flush. I held off 'till I do some more reading.

I did find a toyota TSB in another thread, it said that the A340F was to run Dexron fluid...
 
JohnsD90 said:
Oh boy, your jetta is almost doubled my milage. Is it 5 speed?
Click to expand...

It's an auto, and the 3rd transmission in that car...lol. VW 01M's are pretty weak, it's the only flaw in the car. Luckily I had a source for new OEM VW transmissions and I've gotten to the point where I can drop the trans and replace it in about 7 hours alone :).
 
Transmission fluid doesn't really have a service life as long as you don't overheat it. In other words if you never tax the tranny and get the fluid hot it will not do any damage to the trans. But if you get it hot and overheat the fluid, even just once, the fluid will not function properly and it may damage the trans. Change it right away. I would use Dexron, its fine.

BTW, mine didn't have a filter, just a screen and the dealer told me I don't need to replace it.
 
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