YotaFun

This is first time post for helo!!!

We have to 4Runners in the family-
mine is a 97' SR5 4WD
stepdad's is a 02' Sports edition SR5 4WD

Just recently he was coming home from a trip when the tranny started to make some I presume grinding noises, and I guess about 20 mile or so later while he was heading up a hill it finally died.

The trans has 124K on it,
mostly highway,
been off-raoding once,
but it was a simple back trail that barely required any effort.
The trans has never shown any other signs of an issue.
Both me and stepdad do regular fluid changes, oil, axels, and tranny.

So I guess my questions are:
Is this a common issue among the 02' Runners?
or
Is it a common issue with the 96-02 generation Runners?
Also,
Toyota is asking for 4k to put a refurbished one in, which frankly just make me ill.
So, if it is a common problem or if I can find any other cases, does anyone think we can haggle toyota down on the price or maybe get a new one for the price of a refurbished one?

My 97' is just about to roll over to 98k and I am worried mine may be next.

Any input would be greatly appriciated.
We love are 4Runners, and the entire family drives Toyota vehicles..
And latly is seems that we are having as many problems with them as we did with our GM vehicles.....not that I am comparing Toyota to GM, thats just twisted and wrong...

Thanks

Localmotion

actually, our trans are known to be bulletproof...well almost.

Was there fluid in there?

I havent changed my fluid in over 100k..yea i know stupid. But im still going strong. Im going to get it flushed on friday.

It seems to me that something definately must of gone wrong, instead of the usual wear and tear.

YotaFun

Yeah
Fluid was it
Didn't Seem Burnt
Or low.
I would presume there is now metal shavings because of the grinding gears.

We have also done alot of towing, but never anything extreme.
And there was never any signs durnign towing of a problem.

I have towed with a overful cargo area and an overful trailer at once just fine. My stepdad has never exceeded the limit in his.
So... I would think my tranny would have gone first.
I also purchased my rig from Northern Jersey, so it was more exposed to stop and go traffic.

arjan

The 02 has the tranny with the all wheel drive option, yours has an regular automatic. I remember reading some other issues with the newer (awd) auto trannies.

arjan

By the way, check junkyards for a tranny. They shouldn't be more then I couple of hundred bucks I would think. I paid $350 CDN for a 2000 5spd with 20K Km on it.

YotaFun

Do you remember by any chance what those issues were in the (AWD) option tranny?

I was considering the junkyard, but like you said it is a (AWD) option so I think finding another 4Runner with that particular tranny might be hard to come by, espeacilally in this area....

arjan

All the 02's had the all wheel drive option, I just can't remember what was the deal. It might have been a transfercase issue at the time. I did some searching but couldn't find the info. It must have been 04/05 when that came up.

Search junkyards for 02 4runners, and you should be able to get a hold of one. I am pretty sure the local yard here has one or two, but shipping accross the border is a major ripoff.

aowRS

Yota Fun,
I don't think there are many problems with these (I certainly hope not) based on what I've read here over the years. I would investigate purchasing a low-mileage used tranny. Check www.car-parts.com. If you type in what you need, you can specify a radius from where you live and the site will search hundreds of recyclers around the country.

Andreas

MTL_4runner

It is tough to say what actually killed the tranny unless you tear it apart and look. As for getting a new unit in there, a used tranny will be a far better option than getting one from the dealer. Both http://car-part.com/ and www.eBay.com will be a huge help in finding a decent price on a low mile tranny for your specific year (often you see JDM parts coming over with less than 60k on them.....need to be careful with 4WD units because the x-fer case will be reversed on foreign models), but you may need to pay some freight shipping to get it sent to your location.

pat161

I would verify that AWD issue before putting much stock in it. I always understood that the center diff, which allows full time 4wd, was part of the transfer case, not the transmission. From all my reading the auto trannies in 3rd gens are built very well, I switched from an 00 5 speed to an 02 Sport auto and I was very concerned about the longevity of an auto. While I still feel a manual will last longer I would say w/ proper care these autos should be good for at least 200k.

YotaFun

Update!
Well....What a trip....
Toyota obviously "looked" at the transmission and said we needed a new transmission.....
This next point just strengthens my hatred towards the dealership.....
Stepdad is getting the Runner towed to Cottman Transission to get LOOKED at....
When he went to sign the papers he noticed that The Runner stills at in the exact same spot exactly like the tow truck had left it last Monday....
All they did was turned the car on, try to put it in gear, looked underneath for leaks, and thats it.....
I am not suprised, cause one they don;t want to spend the time and effort looking at it and two, I wouldn't expect a single mechanic to know squat about Toyotas...
I get more information from this forum and all the weekend warriors here then I do out of 30 mechanics at Toyota....
So we will see if Cottman can rebuild it, if they can't then we will have to submit to a new or refurbished Transmission...

Thank you all for your help.

bigacuralvr

Exactly what happened to my sisters 01. She has the same 4WD button as you do.

She started having a whirring/metallic sound in hers, pass front side. Tranny took a crap in KS...check out the thread. She had 105k on it too.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/topeka-ks-dealership-help-87542/

She ended up having toyota do a new tranny with a warranty for about $4k too.

I have a 99 with 109k on it, and still runnin strong!! (Knock on wood...)

Brett

YotaFun

Well isn't this freakin irronic.....
Cottman is going to have to charge $3,700.....
But there not replaicng the transmission....
Stepdad blew the overdrive....
So he needs a list of things to be replaced that I think at this point he is to annoyed to share, I do beleive he mumbled torque converter and so on....
So yeah....
Now here;'s my question. We use are overdrive all the time, and toyota even states in the user manual that you can use it for engine breaking, and since the transmission is electronically contorlled, it usually dosen't shift down till the speed was in range and the rpms wouldn't red line....
We have never had any problems untill obviously now., has anyone else?

rimpainter.com

Did/does your stepdad tow a lot? I know leaving OD on while towing can fry a tranny...but this is just strange. What's the maintenance history like on the vehicle, most notably the AT?

You don't hear about ATs going out on these very often unless someone has added a bunch of power without beefing up the trans or something...or just completely ignored any and all maintenance intervals.

MTL_4runner

Like Christian said, heavy towing can damage the tranny if you leave it in OD.
Did your dad have a tranny cooler on it at the time?

My suggestion is to start looking for a used tranny as a replacement, it will be considerably cheaper than a rebuild and just as reliable since it has already been road tested for a few miles.

You can try www.car-part.com to locate trannys for shipping and even what year vehicle or mileage they were pulled at. Says they have one for $950 at http://www.alsautopa.com/ in PA off a 2002 4runner 4WD with 64k mi.

YotaFun

I wouldn't say he tows alot.
Most of the mileage is Highway, and if were were towing that long distance it was usually nothing heavier then the max capcity of the rear of the Runner which I believe is about 300 pounds.
He dosen't drive with it on.
Though I know that he uses the o/d to downshift and even if the load seems like it might strain he will shift into second gear.
But the tranny of course is electronic and only shifts down when it is in ph and rpm range.
The maintenece history is the same as me, the tranny was every 30k and the transfer cases and differentials are every 15k.

There is no added power. He might have let the maitence slip by a thousand or so, but usually he was good, which reminds me I am do soon....

Christian, I saw your myspace and see that your Runner is supercharged, I too would liek to get mine there, any suggestions as to what to do to the tranny if I do.
The last thing this family needs is another transmission issue....

YotaFun

I myself am looking for a replacement transmission for mine to have jsut incase I run into the same problem.
We never towed with the the O/D on.
Only to downshift and then back to Normal driving.

MTL_4runner

Doesn't sound like it was abused at all, but there is really no way to know for sure without disassembling the tranny for inspection. Like I said, if it were my truck and I heard grinding noises and I was sure the tranny was the culprit, I would take the easiest way out.....a used tranny because I guarantee the rebuild will be big $$$$. You may also consider taking it to another tranny shop if you think the current one is misdiagnosing the situation.

naksukow

My Planetary OD Gear exploded on me @ 102,000 miles... no other problems or warnings. It is a weakness in the 01 and 02 models. I had the tranny drained 4 times but not flushed before the failure. After pricing around I went with a fully built IPT transmission. I have around 24,000 miles on it and am happy. Best warranty and IPT offers great tech support.

Find out if you have the A340F or A340H Transmission. The H model shares fluid with the transfer case and you may have some more problems.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ission+failure

BTW you have to use an 01 or 02 model tranny.

naksukow

http://www.importperformancetrans.com/toyotaauto.shtml