1985 4runner Automatic shift troubles
 

Hello everyone, so i bought a 1985 4runner a while back, its 22re with the automatic transmission and solid front axle. I took it to a mechanic to have a valve adjustment done, he took a look for me and apparently it needed a new head. So he installed the new head for me. On my way home after he replaced the head the vehicle kept overheating, so i called the mechanic and took it back to him, he said the thermostat was stuck so he replaced it for me free of charge. Then the second time when i got it back from him it didn't shift properly. Essentially what it does is as soon as you put your foot down expecting it to downshift, gain some rpms and move a little faster, all it does is bog down and shift straight from 1 to O/D. If you shift it sort of like a manual, using first, moving to second, then drive, then turn O/D back on, it shifts just fine. So i took it back to him and he told me it looked like the shift cable was improperly adjusted and stretched out. I tried to find a replacement shift cable to no avail Toyota discontinued the part. I did some looking on here and some people suggested i check the O/D button, the Norm/PWR button, and the throttle position sensor. I did some simple checking on the first two and found no problems, then i had my more mechanically inclined brother help me out with checking the TPS, between the two of us we used a manual we found online to check it out. The TPS seems to be working just fine. Since then I found a new career path and am down in 29 Palms California, and need a vehicle down here, So i need to figure out precisely what might be wrong with it so i can get it working again to either sell or keep driving it, id prefer to get it fixed because i enjoy the vehicle. Someone had mentioned to me checking to see if all 4 solenoids inside the valve body (i think) are working, i'm wondering how that might be tested? I'd appreciate any suggestions or help that you can give me. IF you have any other suggestions as to what may be my issue, let me know. Also if anyone has any links to transmission manuals or anything, please send em this way. Thanks!

The only problem I have had with my automatic is when the engine runs too cool it will have problems shifting to OD until it warms up. I had a thermostat stick open which kept the motor from warming up and after fixing that she was back to normal. While the thermostat was stuck open the engine would take about 15 miles of highway driving to get to this point.

Seems you have the opposite problem but just thought I'd put that out there for your consideration.

mine did that exact same thing with a bad tps with a few dead spots. when i would take a hard right turn sometimes it would work but the pins inside the sesnsor itself were coming apart and momentarily make a connection especially when i gad my meter on it

Hey guys,
I've decided to go ahead and replace the solenoids in the valve body. I'll be doing that coming up here in about 2 weeks and i'll let you know what happens and if that fixes the problem.

Did you check that the TPS connector was plugged all the way in place?

I did check the connector. I finally got around to replacing the solenoids in the transmission, it shifted just fine after that for about 45 minutes to an hour and now its back to just the way it was.