Fellow toyota nut in need

brother is finally getting his life together, so i decided to buy him a truck to get to work and back. here i am trying to do something good for someone and the truck is messing up. that being said, i am at a dead end in trying to fix the problem.

1990 toyota 4Runner 3VZ-E A340H tranny 4x4

has speedo cable, tach and trip

THE PROBLEM:
starts and runs great,
put it in gear, drive it around my block, shifts perfect,
about the second time or third, it will start to shift irraticly.... it will sputter in a way, feels like the trans in slippin, but not really a slip, more a soft surge or jump from second to overdrive, and back to third and back and forth from third to overdrive. now, come to a stop sign, go to take off, its like the tranny is in 3rd gear, then it tries to shift down and back up and finally it makes it back down and straightens it self out. then as im going down the road, it will start working fine again for a while, then back to messing up.

THINGS I HAVE DONE:
man. shift, works great, pulls hard.

diag. codes first time got code 61, changed the #2 speed sensor, still have the problem. had to take the bat out to jump a car, now no more codes.

checked the TPS, it tested out fine, and now i am getting code 41 off the check engine light, which is TPS.


in conclusion, i dont know what the hell to do. please anyinfo is greatly app. personal e-mail is joearagona@hotmail.com thanks alot guys and gals.

 

Check the fluid?

 

yes, all fluids are good, im just not sure where to look, i know about the no. 1 and 2 speed sensors, what they do and where they are, i just changed the no. 2 and it did nothging, and befor i spend 180 $ for the no.1 speed sensor, i thought i woudl ask the fourm.

seeeems to be an electrical problem, seeing that it only does it sometimes! and that it works fine when i shift it manually.

 

as for the TPS, if you started the truck with the TPS disconnected that's why you have the code. it's a sticky code that'll be there until you clear the ECU by disconnecting the EFI fuse or battery for a few minutes, so it may not mean anything that you're seeing it now.

I'd check the detent cable (downshift) is adjusted properly too.

 

Detent adj. or the valve body is sticky.Try some Sea Foam in the tranny fluid or something of the such.Detent should be at max travel when you have the gas pedal on the floor.Engine off of course!
Bigblock

 

cable is adjusted and is working properly

 

still nothing doing on the problem for the tranny, i cant figure it out.

 

without more to go on, I'm just gonna throw this out there:
there is an issue with the engine, i.e. it needs a tune up in a major way. even a slight timing adjustment to my 91 would cause the trans to not shift properly.

any transmission trouble codes?

 

i am going to try and be more specific on what its doing. ok, this is what happens. i get in the truck(cold) start it up, it runs perfect, and take off. everything is working fine. then after about a mile or two when the truck starts to get hot, and im going about 35 to 40, the truck will go back and forth from 3rd to overdrive or 3 to 4. now that the truck is nice and hot, i come up to a stop sign, go to take off, and its like the truck is stuck in 2 or 3rd gear, ill let of the gas and then accelerate a second after, it will go back down to fisrt and shift fine up to 3 and then start the back and forth from 3 to 4 or 3 to O/D. also sometimes, when i go to take off it will work fine. also it will quick shift into second, or sometimes it willgo first second fine then surge a few times.

as for codes, i got code 61(no. 2 speed sensor) so i was happy to change it thinking it was the problem. but it wasnt. as far as that, i cleared the codes and drove it 15 miles and havent seen another.

other things i have done. new transmission fluid(AGAIN) and some Trans X trying to maybe unstick a silonoid. no such luck. i also adjusted the shift cable on the throttle body. all fluids are good, the engine runs perfect. set a glass of water on the intake and see no ripples.

thanks alot for taking the time to read this and help.