podzhopnik
New member
Hey there,
here's a link to my first post: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34742
Well, i took my truck to another mechanic who at first looked around the transmision area,not sure where exactly, and found that a wire that runs from transmision fluid thermostat to transmision computer was corroded, thus sending poor signal for computer to turn on torque converter.
Apparently, in order for overdrive to engage, not only the speed of travel but temparature of fluid matters too.
He replaced the wire cleaned up the area, but the solution lasted one evening.
After much scrutinizing he suggested to change the engine thermostat. When he removed the existing one it was no there, well, the sealing gasket part was there, but the mechanizm with the spring and all that was cut off.
He explained that without this the thermostat the coolent would immideatly go to the radiator, get cooled off, and overdrive would not engage because of low temperature.
I told him the the previous mechanic told me thathe had an overheating problem after replacing the head gasket, but somehow remedied this problem. this was the solution.
My second mechanic installed a new thermostat and, of course, the overheating problem came back. Also, the coolant was constantly dirty.
He removed the radiator and tried to flush out the dirt, but could not succeed so ended up replacing my radiator too. Ka-ching!
This improved but did not eliminate overheating. Although, my overdrive started to work fine!
After much investigating he finally found out the culprit of everything.
Drum roll.......
My previous mechanic INSTALLED THE HEAD GASKET BACKWARDS.
apparently, there's a right and a left side!
Because of that some holes for the coolant were blocked off, not cooling the engine and it would over heat. By cutting out the thermostat the fluid was able to go throught the radiator to get to other parts of the engine.
Before i posted my problem here i looked for an answer on another general automotive forum.
There i searched for posts about overdrive problems and found one post that a mechanic posted. He said he did many head gssket replacments and every once in a while would install one backwards and that in turn would creat problems like overheating and overdrive problems.
I took this information to my previous mechanic who told me that the head gaskets are made so that they install only one way. He told me he did it correctly.
BTW, can't get a hold of him now, his phone is disconnected too
here's a link to my first post: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34742
Well, i took my truck to another mechanic who at first looked around the transmision area,not sure where exactly, and found that a wire that runs from transmision fluid thermostat to transmision computer was corroded, thus sending poor signal for computer to turn on torque converter.
Apparently, in order for overdrive to engage, not only the speed of travel but temparature of fluid matters too.
He replaced the wire cleaned up the area, but the solution lasted one evening.
After much scrutinizing he suggested to change the engine thermostat. When he removed the existing one it was no there, well, the sealing gasket part was there, but the mechanizm with the spring and all that was cut off.
He explained that without this the thermostat the coolent would immideatly go to the radiator, get cooled off, and overdrive would not engage because of low temperature.
I told him the the previous mechanic told me thathe had an overheating problem after replacing the head gasket, but somehow remedied this problem. this was the solution.
My second mechanic installed a new thermostat and, of course, the overheating problem came back. Also, the coolant was constantly dirty.
He removed the radiator and tried to flush out the dirt, but could not succeed so ended up replacing my radiator too. Ka-ching!
This improved but did not eliminate overheating. Although, my overdrive started to work fine!
After much investigating he finally found out the culprit of everything.
Drum roll.......
My previous mechanic INSTALLED THE HEAD GASKET BACKWARDS.
apparently, there's a right and a left side!
Because of that some holes for the coolant were blocked off, not cooling the engine and it would over heat. By cutting out the thermostat the fluid was able to go throught the radiator to get to other parts of the engine.
Before i posted my problem here i looked for an answer on another general automotive forum.
There i searched for posts about overdrive problems and found one post that a mechanic posted. He said he did many head gssket replacments and every once in a while would install one backwards and that in turn would creat problems like overheating and overdrive problems.
I took this information to my previous mechanic who told me that the head gaskets are made so that they install only one way. He told me he did it correctly.
BTW, can't get a hold of him now, his phone is disconnected too
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