dblcabmn
New member
Incoming wall of text! (with pictures at the bottom)
So i bought a 1999 California emissions built-02/99 4WD Automatic 4Runner Limited with known transmission problems the other day. I knew that swapping the trans was going to be the end result, but i’m a curious guy and like to at least try some simple fixes before going whole hog and throwing the book at the problem. I’m also looking to get a better understand of how the A340F functions and what these symptoms mean has failed for my own edification. So yes, i could have used the cash spent troubleshooting towards the replacement trans, but that’s not how i do.
Symptoms when bought:
-On startup, can shift to R or D and transmission grabs strong and moves vehicle 5ft. (all that was tested)
-Shift through gears a few more times or go back to Park and idle for 30 seconds, all gears non-functional.
-Trans fluid dark dark brown to black with strong burnt smell. (see pic)
-Screeching/howling/weird sound from general torque converter area
-Seem’d over filled. Obviously burnt.
-Fine, paid next to nothing for it, had it towed home, started diagnosing.
-Only CEL code thrown was P0330 for a knock sensor 2 circuit.
First thing i did was drop the pan.
-Nice ~1/8” coating of dark brown/black sludge on bottom. magnets coated in very fine greasy sludge but no chunks.
-Very burnt fluid as expected, paint seems to have burnt/peeled a bit inside pan.
-Filter was tarnished brown and burnt, screen clogged, solenoids the same way. (See pic)
Ordered OEM filter, aftermarket solenoid kit.
-Installed new OEM filter and eBay solenoid kit. (see pic)
-Threw a NAPA Raybestos Magnafine chinese knock off filter on return line for giggles.
(Theory being, it would filter the other 7+ qts of burnt fluid prior to hitting my new OEM filter.)
-New FIPG
-Put ~5qts of Valvoline Maxlife ATF in there, measured and ran through the gears 15 seconds at a time.
-At start up, most of the TC area sounds are gone!
Test drive
-Let it sit and idle while I shifted through the gears for a bit with foot on brake, check levels a few times.
-Put in D and… it moves! (usually would ‘fully slip’ after 30 seconds of idle or sitting in a gear)
-Drive down the block and back… it’s still moving!
-Well shoot. Do a 10 point turn while chatting with my neighbor. Shifts from R to D and back fine
-Getting excited now. My hail mary shot in the dark might have worked…
-Truck has now been running and moving for 30-45 minutes, driven 1-2 miles around the neighbor hood. WOW!
-Ok, main road test time. Get up to 50Mph, drive 2-3+ miles. Stop, turn, accelerate a few times. Shifts through gears well OMG DID IT REALLY WORK!?
-Mile ~7 or so hits and… RPMs rise, truck coasts… truck not moving when throttle applied, RPMs… no. noooooooooo.
-Pull over, Shift to P count to 15, shift to D, nothing. RPMs rise and truck doesn’t move.
-Shut down truck. Hmmm, maybe fluid level low? No leaks on ground, fittings tight, check level: right between hot hashes. Huh. 3-5 minutes pass
-Start truck, shift D, It goes! Ok, let’s get home. Annnnd 6 blocks later, slip slip slip.
-Repeat process, coast to slow speed, pull over, shift P, shut down, wait 3-5 minutes. Start, shift D drive 4-6 blocks slipping returns.
-Repeat until i get home. Clean up, drink beer, ponder life, go to sleep.
Thought process/next day.
-Ok, I read about knock off chinese Raybestos Magnefines being junk. Let’s pull that out.
-Start truck, back to symptoms when bought. No movement after ~30 seconds.
-Ok, i read about a long shot faulty TPS causing slipping. Off-brand cheapo is installed, replace with OEM i had laying around.
-Start truck, same symptoms when bought. No movement after ~30 seconds.
Things that strike me as odd/general assumptions/questions:
-I figured that with the condition of the trans filter and solenoids, at start, the trans could build just enough pressure for a few shifts and minor movement, after that, the sludge would be packed into the strainer, flow would drop, no pressure, leads to burning out the TC and possibly pump. Shutting it down for a few minutes would release some sludge, repeat. Initially, it had to sit for 15-30+ minutes to return to brief operation.
-After my OEM strainer and eBay solenoid kit replacement, i was able to ‘drive it normally’ for quite awhile! Then problems returned. Why did i get a glimmer of hope?
-I noticed that when i pulled the fake-nafine filter out, the fluid at that location (return lines from cooler) was dark brown/nasty. (though slightly less nasty than when i first serviced it, leading me to believe that the new ATF was able to mingle with the old at least for a little bit.) BUT the fluid on the dip stick was still pretty dang new looking (though it did have some brownish hues/coloration.) and now my levels are off. (reading at hot hashes when fully cold/idling for less than 2 minutes and a shift through the gears. Air temp 38*F)
-Several times after the symptoms returned, i would start it, shift to R, move 2 feet, shift to D, move 2 feet, until it slipped/under 30 seconds. If i shift to P, shut down, and turn right back on (within 10 seconds) i could repeat the process for about the same amount of time. What gives?
-When it does work, i get nice solid gear engagement and can feel the drive line tense. And it shifted smoothly for the few miles it did run. When it fails it goes from working to not almost instantly. There’s very little in-between.
-My shifter is super sloppy. Meaning, when selecting a gear, it’s very easy to pull D into 2 for instance. It won’t actually move there on the shifter until you depress the thumb button, but, on the gauge cluster, the light will either go dark or 2 will illuminate. Similarly R has a lot of play as well. I’ve read about replacing a few bushings in the shifter mechanism but unless there’s a chance of it solving my root problem, i’m not going to bother at this point.
-I notice that both the cooler send and return lines are quite compressible (i can pinch them nearly closed with a little force) even after idling the truck for 15+ minutes. Shouldn’t these be firm when the truck is running?
TL;DR - 4Runner with A340F wants to grab a gear and go, but seems to get bored quickly and decide to stop engaging any gears after a short time until truck is power cycled. What does this mean?
And because everyone likes pictures:
Original Fluid
Sludgy sludge sludge
Nasty strainer
Nice and fresh
So i bought a 1999 California emissions built-02/99 4WD Automatic 4Runner Limited with known transmission problems the other day. I knew that swapping the trans was going to be the end result, but i’m a curious guy and like to at least try some simple fixes before going whole hog and throwing the book at the problem. I’m also looking to get a better understand of how the A340F functions and what these symptoms mean has failed for my own edification. So yes, i could have used the cash spent troubleshooting towards the replacement trans, but that’s not how i do.
Symptoms when bought:
-On startup, can shift to R or D and transmission grabs strong and moves vehicle 5ft. (all that was tested)
-Shift through gears a few more times or go back to Park and idle for 30 seconds, all gears non-functional.
-Trans fluid dark dark brown to black with strong burnt smell. (see pic)
-Screeching/howling/weird sound from general torque converter area
-Seem’d over filled. Obviously burnt.
-Fine, paid next to nothing for it, had it towed home, started diagnosing.
-Only CEL code thrown was P0330 for a knock sensor 2 circuit.
First thing i did was drop the pan.
-Nice ~1/8” coating of dark brown/black sludge on bottom. magnets coated in very fine greasy sludge but no chunks.
-Very burnt fluid as expected, paint seems to have burnt/peeled a bit inside pan.
-Filter was tarnished brown and burnt, screen clogged, solenoids the same way. (See pic)
Ordered OEM filter, aftermarket solenoid kit.
-Installed new OEM filter and eBay solenoid kit. (see pic)
-Threw a NAPA Raybestos Magnafine chinese knock off filter on return line for giggles.
(Theory being, it would filter the other 7+ qts of burnt fluid prior to hitting my new OEM filter.)
-New FIPG
-Put ~5qts of Valvoline Maxlife ATF in there, measured and ran through the gears 15 seconds at a time.
-At start up, most of the TC area sounds are gone!
Test drive
-Let it sit and idle while I shifted through the gears for a bit with foot on brake, check levels a few times.
-Put in D and… it moves! (usually would ‘fully slip’ after 30 seconds of idle or sitting in a gear)
-Drive down the block and back… it’s still moving!
-Well shoot. Do a 10 point turn while chatting with my neighbor. Shifts from R to D and back fine
-Getting excited now. My hail mary shot in the dark might have worked…
-Truck has now been running and moving for 30-45 minutes, driven 1-2 miles around the neighbor hood. WOW!
-Ok, main road test time. Get up to 50Mph, drive 2-3+ miles. Stop, turn, accelerate a few times. Shifts through gears well OMG DID IT REALLY WORK!?
-Mile ~7 or so hits and… RPMs rise, truck coasts… truck not moving when throttle applied, RPMs… no. noooooooooo.
-Pull over, Shift to P count to 15, shift to D, nothing. RPMs rise and truck doesn’t move.
-Shut down truck. Hmmm, maybe fluid level low? No leaks on ground, fittings tight, check level: right between hot hashes. Huh. 3-5 minutes pass
-Start truck, shift D, It goes! Ok, let’s get home. Annnnd 6 blocks later, slip slip slip.
-Repeat process, coast to slow speed, pull over, shift P, shut down, wait 3-5 minutes. Start, shift D drive 4-6 blocks slipping returns.
-Repeat until i get home. Clean up, drink beer, ponder life, go to sleep.
Thought process/next day.
-Ok, I read about knock off chinese Raybestos Magnefines being junk. Let’s pull that out.
-Start truck, back to symptoms when bought. No movement after ~30 seconds.
-Ok, i read about a long shot faulty TPS causing slipping. Off-brand cheapo is installed, replace with OEM i had laying around.
-Start truck, same symptoms when bought. No movement after ~30 seconds.
Things that strike me as odd/general assumptions/questions:
-I figured that with the condition of the trans filter and solenoids, at start, the trans could build just enough pressure for a few shifts and minor movement, after that, the sludge would be packed into the strainer, flow would drop, no pressure, leads to burning out the TC and possibly pump. Shutting it down for a few minutes would release some sludge, repeat. Initially, it had to sit for 15-30+ minutes to return to brief operation.
-After my OEM strainer and eBay solenoid kit replacement, i was able to ‘drive it normally’ for quite awhile! Then problems returned. Why did i get a glimmer of hope?
-I noticed that when i pulled the fake-nafine filter out, the fluid at that location (return lines from cooler) was dark brown/nasty. (though slightly less nasty than when i first serviced it, leading me to believe that the new ATF was able to mingle with the old at least for a little bit.) BUT the fluid on the dip stick was still pretty dang new looking (though it did have some brownish hues/coloration.) and now my levels are off. (reading at hot hashes when fully cold/idling for less than 2 minutes and a shift through the gears. Air temp 38*F)
-Several times after the symptoms returned, i would start it, shift to R, move 2 feet, shift to D, move 2 feet, until it slipped/under 30 seconds. If i shift to P, shut down, and turn right back on (within 10 seconds) i could repeat the process for about the same amount of time. What gives?
-When it does work, i get nice solid gear engagement and can feel the drive line tense. And it shifted smoothly for the few miles it did run. When it fails it goes from working to not almost instantly. There’s very little in-between.
-My shifter is super sloppy. Meaning, when selecting a gear, it’s very easy to pull D into 2 for instance. It won’t actually move there on the shifter until you depress the thumb button, but, on the gauge cluster, the light will either go dark or 2 will illuminate. Similarly R has a lot of play as well. I’ve read about replacing a few bushings in the shifter mechanism but unless there’s a chance of it solving my root problem, i’m not going to bother at this point.
-I notice that both the cooler send and return lines are quite compressible (i can pinch them nearly closed with a little force) even after idling the truck for 15+ minutes. Shouldn’t these be firm when the truck is running?
TL;DR - 4Runner with A340F wants to grab a gear and go, but seems to get bored quickly and decide to stop engaging any gears after a short time until truck is power cycled. What does this mean?
And because everyone likes pictures:
Original Fluid
Sludgy sludge sludge
Nasty strainer
Nice and fresh
