Transmission slipping :(

T

tofu

New member
after reading through different threads it looks like this is not a common problem I'm having.

history, milkshake happened about a year ago. replaced radiator and flushed fluids. Ran like a champ until last night and threw up a CEL. 180k

problem, returning from a 6hr road trip with NO problems on the highway or gas pumps I ran into the transmission slipping at lights when arriving into town. There's also a tinkering noise at the bottom of the tranny near the bottom passenger pully. Again, I know this exact scenario has happened to a lot of others.

So far I've came up with the following to things that could be wrong, milkshake #2, bad solenoid, low ATF, or a trashed tranny :(

Tomorrow I plan to drain and fill ATF, check the CEL code, flush the radiator with toyo-red this time, and order a cooler(if it's not too late). If there is anything I'm missing please let me know as I plan to do majority of the work myself tomorrow.


Here are pictures to help diagnosis my situation.
dipstick measures center of Cold and Hot
C360_2012-01-05-16-40-34.jpg~original

Fluids, it looks creamy in the picture but it's watery
C360_2012-01-05-16-38-44.jpg~original

radiator cap, i see a LITTLE bit of milkshake forming at the top. VERY minimal. scary thing is, I forgot to check my reservoir before the trip and i was on 2"
C360_2012-01-05-16-36-47.jpg~original
 
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tbst said:
My tranny fluid has the same color. You think it's pink milkshake round #2?
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i highly doubt it. The dipstick had no sign of clunks and it didn't smell burnt at all.I'm leaning towards an electrical issue because fluids wouldn't cause the tranny to slip at a given moment. I find out tomorrow when I can get my hands on a scanner.
 
So far I've came up with the following to things that could be wrong, milkshake #2, bad solenoid, low ATF, or a trashed tranny
Click to expand...

My guess (I'm no expert) is that it is the delayed failure from your original pink milkshake.

Your story is the same as countless others on this forum. I have read of many guys with long delayed trans failures. The main thing they all have in common is the trans totally fails within 20,000 miles of a pink-milkshake. That is why people sell the truck. New owners test drive it and it drives fine until a year later.


This is how it usually goes:

1) Detect pink milkshake
2) flush it, repeat several times
3) truck drives mostly fine again
3) owner drives for 10-20K miles and then it suddenly slips bad or totally fails.

There are very specific technical reasons for why it happens this way but I will let someone more knowledgeable explain.

Sorry dude. I would start hunting CL or calling junkyards. I don't think swapping out the trans is that labor intensive. If you fine a good one w/ < 100,000 miles I would have it swapped out.


:hatsoff:
 
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I have had a tranny cooler sitting in the back for the 4runner for 2 months. Really REALLY need to install.
 
tofu- your fluid does not look to me like there is any engine coolant in it. It does look slightly old/burned but that may just be the color of the pics. I would pull a cooler line off and do the flush and fill technique by running the engine to pump out the fluid a few quarts at a time.

Then, since you have 1 cooler line off, pull the other one off and install an ext cooler. I'm surprised you didn't after the first milkshake.

Bigmike- bypass that radiator cooler and never worry again.

tbst- DO IT!
 
Bigmikelakers said:
Yeah man, I'm going to get a B&M 70264 installed next week. I'm just worried that the pink milkshake happened to my 4runner before and now my tranny is a ticking timebomb.
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I'm in that boat too, but we have no real way of knowing. All we can do is preventative measures until something does or does not happen. Personally, I'm driving the sh1t out of mine.
 
Bigmikelakers said:
Yeah man, I'm going to get a B&M 70264 installed next week. I'm just worried that the pink milkshake happened to my 4runner before and now my tranny is a ticking timebomb.
Click to expand...

Does it look like the rad has been replaced, or is orginal? If original, I think you can pretty well rule out a pink milkshake event unless it was repaired with another used rad, but at the same time all the more reason to bypass the factory cooler ASAP.
 
thanks for all the info guys. Hopefully a drain and fill today will at least allow me to drive the truck a couple weeks until I can find a tranny....I was stressed about it all day but I'm seeing this as an opportunity to finally buy a sti

what is the range these trucks sell for with a bad tranny? 2-3k I'm assuming?
 
tofu said:
thanks for all the info guys. Hopefully a drain and fill today will at least allow me to drive the truck a couple weeks until I can find a tranny....I was stressed about it all day but I'm seeing this as an opportunity to finally buy a sti

what is the range these trucks sell for with a bad tranny? 2-3k I'm assuming?
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Nice!! what year? GD? GR?
 
tofu said:
I would love a GR but it's way out of my price range but I can settle for a nice hawkeye.
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Sick, I had a peanut eye. Miss the hell out of it. although the GR/Hatch looks enticing. I know a lot of people hate the hatch but to me, looks better than the GR Sedan.
PS: Sorry to derail your thread here.
 
IanB said:
Does it look like the rad has been replaced, or is orginal? If original, I think you can pretty well rule out a pink milkshake event unless it was repaired with another used rad, but at the same time all the more reason to bypass the factory cooler ASAP.
Click to expand...

is there a way to tell if the radiator is original? I looked at it today and its obviously not brand new but I can't tell though.
 
Today, I went to a mechanic where I used to take my other car to. He showed me that the radiator is original thank God so I know my truck hasn't had the milkshake. He also told me that he would feel bad taking my money to install a tranny cooler because he said the lines from the radiator look excellent. Is the pink milkshake less common for 4runners in California since cars here are less likely to get lots of rust?
 
Bigmikelakers said:
Today, I went to a mechanic where I used to take my other car to. He showed me that the radiator is original thank God so I know my truck hasn't had the milkshake. He also told me that he would feel bad taking my money to install a tranny cooler because he said the lines from the radiator look excellent. Is the pink milkshake less common for 4runners in California since cars here are less likely to get lots of rust?
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No, because the radiator fails internally. It needs to be done. There is a reason why everyone on this forum that owns an auto does this mod.
 
Kurtis said:
No, because the radiator fails internally. It needs to be done. There is a reason why everyone on this forum that owns an auto does this mod.
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Yeah, I'm gonna end up doing it asap anyway. Seems like a cheap insurance policy. I'm surprised Toyota hasn't done a recall because of this. Or is it really not that common? I think the 05-08 Pathfinders, Frontiers, and Xterra's suffered from the same problem and Nissan issued a recall for that.
 
Bigmikelakers said:
Yeah, I'm gonna end up doing it asap anyway. Seems like a cheap insurance policy. I'm surprised Toyota hasn't done a recall because of this. Or is it really not that common? I think the 05-08 Pathfinders, Frontiers, and Xterra's suffered from the same problem and Nissan issued a recall for that.
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It's not that it is overly common... Eventually it will happen. Some people get 200k before it happens. Some get 90k. The result for not doing it is a destroyed transmission. Which, just, sucks. It will save your transmission down the road.
 
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