A week ago my transmission cooler lines broke and I did not notice this till I was about 20 miles from the house and luckily the Toyota dealership was within a walking distance. At the time I was leaking fluid I was unsure really to what exactly was leaking.
I walked to the dealership and the mechanic was nice enough to walk down the road to take a look at my vehicle and my vehicle was just a few blocks down the road. He was able to confirm it was transmission fluid leaking and stated I needed to remove the skid plate to see where it's leaking from. It happens to be I had my tools in the rear cargo area of the truck so I got up underneath and took the skid plate off. I started the vehicle back up to allow pressure so we could tell where the fluid was coming from and it was coming from the transmission cooler lines. So I bolted the skid plate back up and walked back with the mechanic to the dealership.
Once back at the dealership the mechanic and parts guy helped pull the part I needed on the computer up but they did not have one in stock within the area. I would not be able to get the part till 4-5 days later. Plus the part was $75 and I hated the idea of paying that for two small metal tubes. So the mechanic pulled me aside outside and gave me some information and a cheap fix that would work.
He said for me to go to the local parts store and buy two metal brake lines, a pipe bender, clamps and plastic ties. He said to remove the old metal tubes that are broken and leaking transmission fluid and replace them with the metal brake lines. He said they would be the same size and length and just bend the pipes and use the old pipes for a close match in bend. Next slide the rubber hoses over the nipple ends of the pipes, clamp the rubber hoses down with clamps and zip tie the new metal pipes to the frame.
So I bought some transmission fluid from Toyota and went back the truck and checked the level and noticed I was down about a quart or so and filled it up just to get to the parts store and back home.
For two metal brake lines, clamps, pipe bender and plastic ties I payed $18 vs $75.
Once home I removed the metal transmission cooler lines with are clamped to the rubber hoses going to and from the transmission and radiator. Next I unbolted the metal lines which are welded to a bracket onto the frame of the truck. But of course the bracket will not be needed because its welded to the broken pipes and instead I will be using plastic ties to tie the new metal pipes to the frame. Next I laid the old pipes on the ground and took the new pipes and pipe bender to match exactly the bends I needed to make. Make sure to not get a kink in the pipe while bending and if so buy another pipe. Once the pipes were bent to match the old pipes I connected them to the rubber hoses and used the new clamps to secure the hold over the nipple end of the metal pipes. Next I zipped tied the cables to the frame. After this was all complete I drained the old transmission fluid and replaced with new transmission fluid and checked everything over twice. I started the truck and watched for any leaks. Nothing leaks and I took it for a quick test and everything is running smooth and no issues.
This was a simple and quick fix. Much cheaper than $75 and only took a couple hours. And a big thanks to the Toyota mechanic for looking at my vehicle which was not in the parking lot and for recommending the cheap and easy fix he did. I don't know if this will be a help to anyone or if it has been wrote up already but just thought I would share. Thanks
I walked to the dealership and the mechanic was nice enough to walk down the road to take a look at my vehicle and my vehicle was just a few blocks down the road. He was able to confirm it was transmission fluid leaking and stated I needed to remove the skid plate to see where it's leaking from. It happens to be I had my tools in the rear cargo area of the truck so I got up underneath and took the skid plate off. I started the vehicle back up to allow pressure so we could tell where the fluid was coming from and it was coming from the transmission cooler lines. So I bolted the skid plate back up and walked back with the mechanic to the dealership.
Once back at the dealership the mechanic and parts guy helped pull the part I needed on the computer up but they did not have one in stock within the area. I would not be able to get the part till 4-5 days later. Plus the part was $75 and I hated the idea of paying that for two small metal tubes. So the mechanic pulled me aside outside and gave me some information and a cheap fix that would work.
He said for me to go to the local parts store and buy two metal brake lines, a pipe bender, clamps and plastic ties. He said to remove the old metal tubes that are broken and leaking transmission fluid and replace them with the metal brake lines. He said they would be the same size and length and just bend the pipes and use the old pipes for a close match in bend. Next slide the rubber hoses over the nipple ends of the pipes, clamp the rubber hoses down with clamps and zip tie the new metal pipes to the frame.
So I bought some transmission fluid from Toyota and went back the truck and checked the level and noticed I was down about a quart or so and filled it up just to get to the parts store and back home.
For two metal brake lines, clamps, pipe bender and plastic ties I payed $18 vs $75.
Once home I removed the metal transmission cooler lines with are clamped to the rubber hoses going to and from the transmission and radiator. Next I unbolted the metal lines which are welded to a bracket onto the frame of the truck. But of course the bracket will not be needed because its welded to the broken pipes and instead I will be using plastic ties to tie the new metal pipes to the frame. Next I laid the old pipes on the ground and took the new pipes and pipe bender to match exactly the bends I needed to make. Make sure to not get a kink in the pipe while bending and if so buy another pipe. Once the pipes were bent to match the old pipes I connected them to the rubber hoses and used the new clamps to secure the hold over the nipple end of the metal pipes. Next I zipped tied the cables to the frame. After this was all complete I drained the old transmission fluid and replaced with new transmission fluid and checked everything over twice. I started the truck and watched for any leaks. Nothing leaks and I took it for a quick test and everything is running smooth and no issues.
This was a simple and quick fix. Much cheaper than $75 and only took a couple hours. And a big thanks to the Toyota mechanic for looking at my vehicle which was not in the parking lot and for recommending the cheap and easy fix he did. I don't know if this will be a help to anyone or if it has been wrote up already but just thought I would share. Thanks
