WestEnd

OK. I bought a 4runner from Oakbrook Toyota in Chicago who was less than honest with me. 2000 SR5, with the 3.4 and automatic, 4X4. 150,000 miles. Great Rig, but as I drove it 500 miles home to Nebraska, the check engine light came on. Code 770... Shift Solenoid E.
Did my research, and decided to tackle it myself. This is a list of what I've replaced so far:

• Radiator
• Hoses
• Thermostat
• flushed green coolant out until it ran clear and replaced with Toyota red.
• Transmission Filter (It had recently been changed)
• Flushed transmission (took 18 quarts til it was all clear again)
• Replaced the "forward most" shift solenoid. Identified as shift solenoid "SL" for torque converter lockup.

Right before I changed all of this, the transmission would shudder (like it was going to stall the engine) as you slowed from speed to a stoplight, and at the last second it would shift and stay running. I thought for sure the tranny flush would sort this out. No luck. If anything, it's worse. It shifts and drives great as you increase speed, and downshifting is good until the tranny wants to shift from 2nd to 1st.

Any ideas?

BTW, this forum was fantastic for researching the tranny flush, and info about the A340F transmission!!

kball

What color was the tranny fluid before the flush?

HighLux

I'd be willing to bet this thing had milkshaked the tranny at one point.

Warranty?

Was it the original radiator in it?

By flush...you mean hooked to a machine flush?

WestEnd

Kball - The tranny fluid was bright, clear red. Someone had obviously changed it recently.

HighLux - There was definitley evidence of the milkshake after I got it home. I just think this F'n Toyota dealer tried to band aid it and get it gone, and I was the sucker.
I looked at the fluid before I left the dealership, and it was clear red, and looked good. The coolant was green and clear, but it was also about 9:00 at night when i looked at it under their lights. I didn't see any milkshake evidence then. But I think it had happened and they cleaned it up enough to sell it.

I followed the exact tranny and coolant flush procedures you see here on the Forum for at home procedures, but did not have it machine flushed. I did see a big improvement in the color of the tranny fluid as it flushed out though. I put in Valvoline High Mileage Dexron for replacement.
Same for the Coolant. I flushed distilled water through the system, ran the engine for 10 minutes, and drained. Repeated procedure 8 times, until what drained out was clear water. Then replaced the radiator (which i think had already been replaced), and then refilled with Toyota red coolant.

Thanks for your help guys! This is my first Toyota... always did Silverados before, so this is unchartered territory for me.

kball

Your descriptions aren't making sense to me. You keep saying the fluid looked better after the flush but before the flush it looked clear and bright red..? That's how it's supposed to look so I'm not sure how it could look better. No biggie. Sucks you may have been ripped off like that. If it had been milkshaked previously I would think they already replaced the radiator but you said -you- replaced it. Did the one you replaced look old? As far as the solenoids go, I'm no expert. There's 3 of them and you say one is for TC lockup. I would think that's for overdrive. There should be one for reverse and maybe the third is for the lower gears?? Maybe that's the one you should have replaced? If it was milkshaked though, you could have any number of problems...

HighLux

Makes perfect sense if ya read it.

Yeah...as I suspected...milkshaker.
Ill be honest. It's a goner. Maybe not today...next week, or a month...but it will go. They don't survive this.

I'd start planning on getting it rebuilt.
I'd be scared to death to buy a used one of these...maybe it got pulled for the same thing.

If you must get a used one...make 100% for sure its from a wrecked one. I always say.. "It had to be running when it got wrecked"