transmission probs and questions on a 94 4r

[ade]

hello fellers
as this is my first post here let me introduce myself..........

my name is ade and im a biker from the uk originally and i have lived in L.A for the last 10years,i work as head motorcycle tech at a honda/triumph/suzuki dealer and know motorcycles very well but im not a car guy so im not too familiar with truck procedures!!
anyway 2 years ago i bought my 1994 4R v6 4WD from a neighbour who was the original owner and had looked after the truck very well.it has 170,000 miles but still drives perfectly and has great compression!!
about a year ago on a long run on the freeway the A.T. overheating light came on,cheecked fluid etc and found no probs and over the last 3000 mile has started to come on more regular after 40- 50 miles on the freeway which i dont do very often................anyway this weekend i was on my way to a wedding and the AT light came on after 30 miles,i checked the fluid leval in park when hot and it looked a little low and there was trans fluid under the truck,i put half a quart in and continued ............i started to think that it had overheated and blown some excess fluid out of a breather and maybe the sensor was bad as the trans has always driven perfectly so i continued at 75-80 mph for about 50 miles when smoke started to come throught the tunnel.................shit,....pulled over and there was trans fluid everwhere.........i decided to go to the next garage which was 10 miles away.............checked the fluid leval and found it very hard to get a reading on the stick,it appeared to be full but a little dry on one side of the stick.......put 2 quarts in thinking that its better to have too much in and maybe its better to cool it...........parked up and made the wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!yayyyyyyyyyyyye

in the morning checked it cold and it was way above the high mark cold without starting the motor.......drained excess fliud off and made the return journey at 55mph with light throttle with no probs.....and no at light?........................but on starting off in low now the truck judders but apart from that shifts fine around town,it is going to have to be repaired as it is no use not being able to do distance

so my questions for the knowlagable are

is there a breather for the trans?if so where is it and does it breath to atmosphere and why is there no catch can????

do they have any known probs with the sensor?

i presume it was slipping?

will you get a false leval reading when checkin the leval just after the at light comes on?

could a blocked filter cause this?

can you buy a crate trans from toyota?

any recommendations of a shop or technition to get a good diagnosis and estimate

any ideas on a fair price for the job

is there any recommended rebuild parts??

thank a lot fellas,any input would be welcome as i am in unknown territorry with the transmision sharks!!!!!!!!!

 

[fourwd1]

Not familiar w/Toy auto trannys, but in general they all have a breather.
The fluid should be cherry red and not smell burned.

I'm on the east coast so can't reccommend a tranny shop, but do KEEP AWAY from the chains like AAMCO and Cottman. If you take it to a tranny shop and the first thing they say is "we'll have to pull it out and tear it apart before we can give you an estimate", RUN AWAY FAST. A good tranny guy can listen to it and drive it and have a real accurate idea what is up. The chain shops want to pull it first becuse once it's out, they have you, you're screwed. If you decide their estimate is too high and don't want the work done, they'll still charge you $500-1500 to put it back together and reinstall.

Around here (MD) a legit shop might charge anywhere from $1500-2500 for the whole job (pull, repair, reinstall), depending on what's wrong. Then again it could be something real minor and be $50.

Get several written, detailed estimates.

 

[Gryphon]

Welcome to the boards!

Ironic, my wife is from LA and her folks live 1/2 year on the canals in the UK!

BTW: Triumphs rock!

Ok, Auto Trannies: I am also not really up on Toyota auto trannies (ours is a 5 speed) but we can sure try!

Yes, it sounds like you could be having a filter problem. I have seen similar things before. I would defiently pull the pan and swap in a new filter and fresh fluid after that ordeal!

I also echo fourwd1's advice about finding a shop. As usual, he knows his stuff.

I don't know about a breather. I'll check my manuals tonight and post if I find anything.

False readings: if the filter is choked, yes, I would think it could. Also if the fluid is hot, you may get bad readings too. Come to think about it, you may want to look for the trans cooler and see if it is clogged with dirt, or too close to an exhaust pipe or such.

Yes, it sounds like slippage. Fresh fluid may help it...maybe not. I would park it and get it looked at first. The fluid's condition may help the tech diagnose it.

I would avoid Toyota dealerships. Too much $$. Look locally for a tranny shop. Maybe try contacting Downey or one of the other Toyota shops and see who they would use. Now if you had a VW, I would send you to my brother-in-law's shop in Santa Barbara. Weddle Industries makes killer racing trannies for VW based race rigs...but no Toyotas, sorry!

Let us know it turns out!

 

[ade]

ok thanks,this may sound a bit thick !!!but also can anyone explain the difference between checking the fluid cold [which is obvious]and checking hot,i understand the procedure but what is actually going on inside the trans when it is running and the leval is so much higher ? and also is there a given temp range.............my dipstick appears to pull fluid of the tube when removing it making it hard to get a obvious reading...........

 

[regularguy412]

my only A/T light experience

the one and only time my A/T dashborad light has ever come on,, i found that i had OVERFILLED the tranny. evidently this caused foaming,, and led to the overheating. i parked it for 20 minutes and restarted. light didnt come on. this occurred approximately one year ago,, in early May. it gets warm in ARkansas in May ( 20 C ) during the day time, but begins to cool off at night. i was driving home in late afternoon from an out of town trip. the ambient air temp began to cool and was only 20 miles from home at the time of the light event.
After getting the fluid filled to the proper level,,, i have towed a small trailer , in the height of summer ( 30 C ) with no other dash light events.

I also put in some Trans X ( it swells the seals to help prevent internal pressure loss and also cleans up any varnish in the valve body ). Partially sticking valves can cause the shudder you mentioned. Some mechanics 'may' advise against using Trans X, but I have found it to work well in older auto trannies. I have an old 1976 Chevy pickup automatic that sits a lot and the seals get hard. this causes external leakage of fluid and the thing won't move until i put in more ATF. The Trans X helps keep these seals soft and 'sealing' the fluid in. Just dont use too much of the stuff, and DONT allow what you put in to overfill the transmission.

Hope this helps

Mike in ARkansas

 

[Gryphon]

ok thanks,this may sound a bit thick !!!but also can anyone explain the difference between checking the fluid cold [which is obvious]and checking hot,i understand the procedure but what is actually going on inside the trans when it is running and the leval is so much higher ? and also is there a given temp range.............my dipstick appears to pull fluid of the tube when removing it making it hard to get a obvious reading...........

Checking it cold, you are getting only the oil level in the pan, minus whatever os still in the torque converter and scattered elsewhere in the trans. Checking it hot, the fluid is distributed to where it needs to be and the resultant level should then be correct.

On the other hand, engine oil drains all into the pan when the engine is off, save for a nominal amount that remains scattered throughout the assembly (I am sure you know this, I am just illustrating)

Yes, there is a standard operating temperature for the trans. I cannot tell you definitively what it is as I don't know specifics, but it should be around 180 degrees F. As the temp builds, it degrades the effectiveness of your trans fluid. I forget the exact parameters, but it is something around for every 100 degrees or so increase over normal operating temp, you half the lifespan of your trans. Heat kills auto trannies....I may be off on the specific parameters, but the result is the same.

 

[TSP-MIKE]

Ok lets see, When you check your transmission fluid in an automatic, you must check it while the engine is running. You can check it either hot or cold, but preferbably the best time to check it is after a good 10-15 min drive. When the transmission fluid is nice and hot. Transmission Fluid expands when it gets hot, that's why there are two levels on the dipstick so you can check Hot or Cold. If you overfill the transmission, or overheat it, then the fluid will leak out through the breather valve.

The problem you are having with your transmission is a slipping clutch caused by low line pressure or worn clutches. Usually once it overheats as explained, it's time for a rebuild because the clutches are probably gone and burnt. It only takes a second to burn the clutch.

The rebuild usually costs around $1800 plus hard parts, because they have to rebuild the transmission and the transfercase. Being the transfercase is hydraulic, it shares the transmission fluid.

Besides that there isn't much more you can do. If you continue to drive it an overheat it, you will have to spend more money on the rebuild bacause your probably tearing up the hard parts on the transmission.

Mike

 

[4runner4you]

94 4Runner Transmission Issue

Hello There!

I also have a 94 4Runner and when I drive it shifts fine but when I speed up it revs high and in drive and then goes back to normal. I don't drive far with it but it does go on the freeway and around town put 300 miles on it in a year

I was thinking I need to replace it since it seems to rev high when in drive or it is starting slip. The odd thing is everything shift fine the problem is when accelerating the speed it revs high then goes to normal

Any suggestions.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Sounds pretty typical, when you let off the gas, the trans "unlocks". When you touch the throttle again, it will rev higher for a second then transmission will go into lockup and drop a few hundred rpm. If you press down a little harder, it will rev slightly higher, if you press down a lot harder, it will rev up then kick down to the next gear.

If that's what its doing, that's pretty typical of an auto transmission. If its doing it all on its own without you fluctuation the throttle, then it may be time for a service.

 

[4runner4you]

Hello There!

Yes I see what you mean however, when in drive the RPM goes very high to 4 or 5 when driving at a speed of 25 mph it doesn't seem normal seem to rev high when accelerating to speed up. the 4Runner has about 136,000 miles on it and when I drive it shifts fine I also notice it driving slow sometimes to get the accelerating to kick in.

Maybe it is time to take it in