Transmission problems.. need some input please

C

chopper

New member
I'd like to start off by saying I love my 3rd gen T4R and cant accept that she is dead. I have a lot of plans for my T4R within the next couple of years that is for another post another time.

Here's the issue at hand and the progression prior to today.

for about a week and a half to two weeks during very cold starts (single digits with -20's windchill) my trans has been acting strange. When I would go to drive after a few minutes of warming up, while in Drive the truck would slowly inch forward and the same in reverse. After checking out a thread on here (cant remember the name or OP) someone said that it could be low fluid or just the extreme cold and they had similar issues but after a few mins of driving in 4L and then switching to 2WD they would be fine. I have tried this method twice today was the second time and it had worked again. However, when I went back out about 1.5 hours later to get food for the family I got about a mile down the road before my truck broke down (luckily just past a friends driveway where it is now sitting. On this second trip I didnt need to put the truck in 4L I just kept in in 2WD from the start.

When I lost power to my wheels it was not instant is was gradual(over about 100 or so feet of driving and it was until I stopped in a randoms driveway that I lost all power to the wheels 2WD/4H/4L. Nothing, dead, kaput.

Is my worst fear a reality? I dont know an awful lot about trans. I want to remain hopeful that it could be a quick fix or at least cheap and relatively easy.

Again scenario was very cold weather start-up little to no power to wheels until a few mins of driving, 1.5weeks +, today it died, on the few warm days we had in between the cold power to wheels was a non issue.

97 T4R SR5, 180k birthday recently. Suggestions please! Good news preferred an bad news not necessarily wanted but all input welcome.
 
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Sounds like you're due for a rebuild at some point soon.

Sometimes you can extend xmsn life some with additives that swell the old seals. Lubegard is a brand I've used in a couple of passenger cars for that purpose.

But if clutch material is burned/used up, additives don't help, or at least not for long. How does the transmission fluid look and smell? If it smells burned or looks really dark, you're most likely looking at R&R.
 
Sounds like a cooler failure. How long have you owned the truck? These transmissions are pretty bullet proof they usually just don't go out unless your towing a lot. I would just find some one who rebuilds em on the side and pull the trans yourself it's not as bad as it sounds and you could probably get out of this for under a grand and the thing would be good for another 200k
 
fluid looked darker. I have owned it since i wanna say jan or feb 2011. i recently flushed the trans about 6 months ago when I went through a pretty large puddle and got water in my trans. The reason I am hopeful that it may not be a total loss of the trans is because it only started becoming an issue in the single digit temps. No issues when it was warmer out. It had been jumpy when putting it into reverse in colder weather for some time but nothing too bad. Again I don't know much about trans so I'm basing my hope for a swift a speedy recovery off of the hope that its not going to be parked for a while until I can start doing the work I wanna do on it. Thanks for the comments so far.
 
The cooler is part of the radiator. When the truck is cold pop your radiator cap or look in the coolant resivor and check for the pink milky residue. If there is any pink milkshake in either this means the trans cooler mixed with your anti-freeze.
 
It will only fix it if thats the source of the problem. If it did mix then you need to have the transmission flushed 2 times minimum asap for any hope of reviving it. Even then there is no guarantee its gonna be ok.
 
**UPDATE**
The temperature is anywhere in the range of 35-45 degrees F. I went to go move my truck up into my friends driveway with a tire and another friends truck. For shits and gigs when I started up I put my truck in drive and to my surprise and delight i was able to drive it to the top of their driveway (approximately 12 feet) with out much of an issue in 2 wheel drive. It was a little sluggish at first but then I had good power to the wheels for the small amount of throttle applied. Checked the trans fluid again and it did appear a little milky and also has a slight but not over powering smell to it. Im gonna go out and check some fresh fluid and give it a whiff before i say it smelled burnt. Radiator reservoir was below the L when the truck wasn't running. To be honest I am learning more and more about vehicles and their operation and it has all been with this truck. I can learn with advice. What I am thinking is what was posted earlier about the cooler crapping out.

Would this require a radiator replacement? totally fine with that and would rather replace the radiator than take out the damn trans again.

FEELING OPTIMISTIC!
 
My 2001 SR5 4x4, 290K miles was having a similar issue as yours; the shifting wasn't smooth and not shifting at proper RPMs. I replace my radiator some time back for reasons detailed on T4D.org. My transmission problems started when someone texting hit be from behind at a red light. I took the 4Runner to AAMCO and the truck had it second tranny flush. Well a few weeks later the transmission gave up the ghost. Metal and dark fluid leaking from a blown transmission seal.

Probably the end of life for my 4Runner.
 
well hopefully the flush x2 works after the radiator replace otherwise I will put mine into a medically induced coma for revival at a later date.
 
Ckooyers said:
Sounds like a cooler failure. How long have you owned the truck? These transmissions are pretty bullet proof they usually just don't go out unless your towing a lot. I would just find some one who rebuilds em on the side and pull the trans yourself it's not as bad as it sounds and you could probably get out of this for under a grand and the thing would be good for another 200k
Click to expand...

So is it wise for me to be hopeful that if I change the radiator and flush 2 or 3x that it will be ok? I know you said there is no guarantee but seeing as though the trans is not totally dead since it moved today I wanted to get your opinion. Gonna do it either way I just wanted to get an idea.
 
Don't just do a flush drop the pan and replace the filter if you can tow it to a shop with a trans flush machine and flush it till the fluids clean!! Happened to my '97 it survived but I cought it before it started slipping driving a 2001 right now that I bought with the cooler failure did rad replacement and flush 1500 mi and no problems yet
 
What was the end of the story

Hello! What was the end of this situation? This sounds very familiar with the gradual loss of transmission but I don't notice any foamy fluid in my transmission or radiator.

Did the flush x2 help?
 
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