stockyoda

It's a 98 2WD Limited with 130K Miles. I bought it from Texas this summer and drove it to Calgary. I had a full inspection done by a Toyota dealer before making the drive and dealer didn't find anything wrong. I always warm it up for at least 5 minutes before driving. Shifting from P to R works everytime regardless of weather. It's when it's cold and snowing outside that the truck does'nt shift from P to D. Engine runs like new, it's a beautiful truck. The truck is aways parked outside, so it has snow around it when weather is snowing. I'll describe the tranny action under the various weather conditions, I'm hoping it won't be an expensive fix.

The tranny lock up happens only when weather is cold. Here's the problem:

Weather Cold / Snow or Ice on road / parked on incline ( ECT turned ON)

- During start up, shift from P to D, tranny won't shift and front wheels lock up when there is snow under it. Shift from P to R and it'll reverse. I have to keep on shifting several times from P to D before tranny shifts. As long as I'm driving down hill, the front wheels will eventually turn.

When there is snow on the road and I'm driving up an incline, even a small incline and I put brakes to stop the truck at the stop sign, the tranny locks up and front wheels lock up every time. I have to put the truck into reverse and then try to put it into D, when I do this several times it'll eventually shift to D. But then locks up on the next stop sign. Shifting from P - R works perfectly all the time. I've tried it with ECT off OD off, ECT on and OD off, and ECT on OD on. Doesn't make a difference.

Weather Cold / No Snow or Ice on road / parked on incline

- Shift from P to D , tranny locks up. Front wheels will not move. I then have to shift to R , back the truck up and when I put to D again, Front tires will be released with the truck strongly jerking forward.
- Once it's in gear it drives perfectly on the road. Just like new.


Tranny shifting in warm weather conditions:

When Weather summer/warm + Parked on incline
- Shift from P to D, tranny turns over right away but there is a slight 1 second grind sound from lower passenger side area.
- Once it's in gear it drives perfectly

When Weather summer/warm + Parked on flat area
-Shift from P to D, tranny turns over perfectly. Runs like a new truck.
- Once it's in gear it drives perfectly

d0ubledown

im not really understanding your 1st scenarios. front wheels not turning..? as if the brakes were on while you were trying to drive...or? 2wd's dont turn front wheels.
tranny locks up? dont understand this part either. so when you shift out of P, past R & N to D...1st gear doesnt engage? you can blip the throttle in D and motor just revs and the truck doesnt move?

have you checked the tranny fluids? maybe have a go at a full tranny flush. see if that does anything....

SLC97SR5

Are you setting the emergency/park brake BEFORE you put the transmission into PARK when on an incline? If not that will cause a tremendous bind on the little PARK pawl. It's a good practice to always use your park brake regardless of the situation because it keeps the rear shoes adjusted and less wear on the tranny.

CyMoN

bleeding your brakes might help.
also try pressing in the brake in a little harder when trying to shift, the switch that is on the brake that allows you to shift as a safty may be out of wack.
good luck

the reason i say bleed the brakes is you may have water in the lines and if this water is frozen then it could keep the tires locked up.

stockyoda

Thanks for the suggestions. The sun should be up tomorrow here and I'll try and take it for a spin. Bleeding the brakes was one thing I had planned, but first I need to see if the problem replicates itself in warmer weather. It'll be interesting finding out why it's doing this, I'll update after the drive tomorrow.

stockyoda

Doubledown, yeah this is exactly whats happening

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when you shift out of P, past R & N to D...1st gear doesnt engage? you can blip the throttle in D and motor just revs and the truck doesnt move?
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Shifting from P to D, the front wheels won't turn after I press the brakes. I have to shift P to N to R, then reverse the truck, then shift P to N to D several times and throttle it to get it going forward. The funny thing is I can drive it in reverse around the block all day in the snow with no problem. Front wheels lock up only when I stop at a stop sign and then try and go forward on the icey road. Thinking has to do somthing with the anti-lock braking when the front wheels spin on the ice, thought maybe changing to studded wheels could solve that, but then it goes in reverse with no prob. Checked the fluids, looks clean. I had tranny pan dropped and changed the oil and filter before driving up here from Texas. Interesting.

stockyoda

hey SLC, yeah parking brakes are always on. They're good too cause the truck won't move much forward when parking brakes are on. Thanks for the tip on keeping the rear shoes adjusted.

SLC97SR5

I wonder if the screen/filter didn't get put on square and it's sucking air or if the linkage got maladjusted when removing the pan? That's really all I can think of mechanically wrong unless it's an electronic gremlin with the ECT and ABS. Keep us posted. You can watch the linkage move under the truck if you look underneath on the driver side while an assistant moves the lever inside the truck. Look for the bolt not being tight or wearing on a different spot on the adjustment arm. Feel for the proper detent sequence...a solid lock in P,R,D etc...

stockyoda

It warmed up some last week and the runner drove great. Then it got really cold this weekend and the wheel locking started back up again. I take it out on the iced roads and the wheels lock up at the stop sign when I press the brakes to make a full stop. I took it to a local shop. The guys say it's the right rear wheel that's locking up. They took it apart and the axle seal is busted,leaking a little oil. tells me they need to change the seals and bearings, will cost me $700 CAD.

Now my question to them was why would the runner drive great in non-icy road and then lock up in icy road? He couldn't figure that out, says he needs to change the R.R. wheel bearings and seals and then check to see if the wheel still locks up. Could a clogged or damaged differential breather be a problem? maybe some moisture went into the differential and the drop in temperature freezes the moisture inside the differential causing a pressure imbalance. Would this lock up the differential? I asked the guy to check the R.R diffrential oil to check for moisture, he says the differential and axle oil is the same? I'm a little confused cause I thought the differential has it's own oil housing.

I got frustrated once when it stopped at a turn and pressed the gas hard. The road was real icy, the R.R. wheel spun and tire was smoking some but the runner didn't go into gear. I had to put it in R and then gently rock it into D. Reversing the truck seems to unlock whatever is keeping the wheel from getting into gear. I'm wondering if I damaged the axle there and now spending money fixing something that wasn't the cause of the problem.

Any suggestions? guy starts work on the runner tommorrow and I'm wondering if I'm fixing the root problem instead of the damage caused by the root problem.

yota_krazy

are you sure that your truck isnt losing traction when your driving? your last post is just screaming operator error. When its icy with an open diff the tire with the least resistance is gettng all the power if i remember right so your just doing a good old burn out. Try taking it easy on the roads and see if anything changes.

SLC97SR5

Here's what I think is happening:

You only notice the sticking, not in gear feeling when on ice/slick surfaces because there is no traction for the tire to grab thus freeing itsef from the stuck rear shoe.

Yes, axle seals leaking and contaminating the shoes is extremely common on our axles.

Differential oil and axle oil/lube is the same; it's all 75w90 hypoid gear oil.

The differential/pumpkin is where the diff gears are held and the oil is mostly contained there. It does however partially fill the axle housing on either end, lubricating the carrier bearings and dissapating heat.

It sounds like you are fixing the problem. I don't know what 700 CDN comes out to in US but it sounds like WAAAY to much. You can do this yourself for about $90.00 US!

stockyoda

Hey guys, the garage changed both rear axle seals, and bearings. As John mentioned in his post, looks like the reason why the runner couldn't get into gear was lack of traction, it being a 2WD. It cost $720 CAD ( about $650 USD) to get both sides done. So far it's back to running like new, once roads ice up again I'll know for sure.

Thanks for all the replies. Not being a gearhead, this was a great learning experience for me. I'm trying to move to a place that'll give me access to a covered garage, rear shocks need to be changed and I want to do those myself. A Happy Merry Christmas to everyone!

Tanto

Did you recently put grease in your driveshaft zerks?

GSGALLANT

Let's keep the terminology straight here. It sounds like you were getting in gear fine (no tranny problems), but you couldn't get moving because tires were spinning on ice. If you have a tire spinning, then you are in gear (any position other than 'P' or 'N'). If you are not in gear ('P' or 'N'), power from the engine makes it to the tranny, but there is no connection made from the tranny to the driveshaft, thus when you press the accelerator, the engine will rev, but no power gets to the wheels.

It's important to be concise with your description of a problem when you're asking a question here. The more accurately you can describe the symptoms, than the better the answers will be.

Good to hear the problem is gone.