So I went to Azusa Canyon OHV park this past Saturday and beat the everloving piss out of the Runner with water crossings, hill climbs, etc. Now it seems it's time to pay for my sins. On my drive to work this morning in stop and go traffic, I noticed the truck acting funny. Whenever I would slowly accelerate from a stop, the truck would shudder to the point where i thought the engine would die. After it shuddered, it would accelerate as normal. I also noticed that it's been shifting into second at very slow speeds, like, 6 mph. I'm suspecting the early stages of torque converter troubles but I could be wrong. It's also still having the problem where it clunks a few seconds after coming to a stop. The truck has 230K miles on it and I'm not exactly easy on it so I wouldn't be too surprised if the transmission is finally kicking the bucket. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be the problem? Could I maybe be an automotive hypochondriac and be freaking out over nothing? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Transmission might be dying sooner than i expected
- Thread starter yotatake2
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JayRolla
New member
Any auto trans that Ive had shudder like that ended up dieing pretty quickly. I would maybe suspect Pink Milkshake?
Check the radiator fluid and see if its got auto trans fluid mixed in, should look milky pink, also check trans. That really sucks but im sure you can find a good used trans pretty cheap.
I routed my trans fluid to a separate cooler so it shouldn't be a pink milkshake, unless it somehow got water in it, which is entirely possible after Saturday's aquatic shenanigans.
JayRolla
New member
Have you checked the fluid for water and or low fluid level?
Still need to check it properly for level. Checked it real quick for water and it looked okay. but there was a loose bolt on the pan that i recently found and it was leaking alot of fluid from that spot so it might be low.
SpidermanGeek
New member
I don't have a whole lot of experience/knowledge with these things, but when reading "Clunks and Shudders after Water".. the first things that pops to mind for me is driveline lubrication.
I've read that it's pretty imperitive to regrease all your driveline parts (basically anything with zerk fittings found in the undercarriage) after wheeling in water/mud. Could the problems you'rer having be related to "washed-out" grease in the U-Joints/Double Cardans/DriveShafts?
What about your Rear Axle. Is your axle breather valve functioning properly? Maybe some water got into the rear end?
I've read that it's pretty imperitive to regrease all your driveline parts (basically anything with zerk fittings found in the undercarriage) after wheeling in water/mud. Could the problems you'rer having be related to "washed-out" grease in the U-Joints/Double Cardans/DriveShafts?
What about your Rear Axle. Is your axle breather valve functioning properly? Maybe some water got into the rear end?
MStudt
official vendor
Sounds like water in the transmission. It gives the same symptoms as a pink milkshake since the water is thinning the ATF. When the ATF is thinned it'll start slipping, and then other things will fail. You can try flushing it, but I'd do this ASAP. The longer you wait the more damage you'll have.
I regreased everything last night but it still has the problem. I know there's water in my front diff, so i'm going to drain that tonight. Pretty sure there's no water in the rear diff since i relocated the breather to the gas door, but i'll check it along with the transfer case tonight just to be safe.
