I've got a 93 4 runner with the 3.0 V-6 and auto trans.I bought it with a bad trans because it is rust free and in excellent shape. I mean besides a couple of scuffs that can buffed out the paint is perfect and the interior only needs a cleaning. So here's the deal, the previous owner bought a suburban and towed it it home close to 300 miles. Between the weight of the trailer and the suburban I'm guessing about 6000 lbs. It starts fine, runs fine and makes no noise when putting it in gear. It will actually rock slightly when giving it throttle in 2H & 4H. Then I shifted in 4L and it will drive in forward and reverse. It might be slipping, I can't really tell because I've never driven a 4 runner, it didn't feel or sound like it was slipping. I just wanted to pull it in the garage so I can drop the tranny to get it fixed. I pulled the dip stick and the fluid isn't brown and doesn't smell burnt. Can towing something over capacity kill the solonoids? I'm looking for a little heads up before I dive in. Thanks Tim.

 

Could be;clutches,sprags,seals,converter,valvebody,shift er linkage,oil clearances,pump!Is there any metal in the ATF?
Bigblock

 

Put it in drive, stand on the brakes and floor the pedal. If it doesn't rev above about 1800-2200 rpm, the trans is probably still in decent shape since you've just tested the stall speed of the torque converter and the 1st gear clutches. That doesn't rule out problems with the other gears though.
It is an automatic so there is some 'slippage' built in, caused by the torque converter, so test driving it is about the only way to field check the other gears. If you floor it, the upshifts should happen around 5500 rpms (give or take) and the truck should smoothly shift from one gear to the next, taking no more than a second or 2 at most to engage the next gear, and the engine rpm's should drop between shifts, not rev up higher while the transmission shifts.

 

You never know with an auto. It's too much of a PITA to not do everything when you remove it. 4Runners with bad v6's are a dime a dozen at the junkyard I'd just look for a used one. Heck I parted out a 4runner last summer and I couldn't hardly give away the perfectly good tranny.

 

Well we dug into the transmission, it's perfect. Not one single thing wrong, so it's time to put it back together and dig into the transfer case. It's what I would have guessed, that nothing was wrong with the trans since it drove in low, but I wasn't going to ignore that part and not check it. So I'll let you know what the outcome is after we dig into the transfer case next week. TT

 

Make sure you check the e-brake - might be seized on; which could lead to the not moving in high - but will in low...

 

That's funny, actually it revs and rocks slightly when in high and giving it throttle.

 

Kind of funny... I gave you information to help check the transmission and you pulled it anyways?

Oh well...

Can you tell us again... what is the problem the you are trying to fix?

 

It's perfectly NORMAL for an automatic trans to cause the vehicle to rock to the side and rev up "somewhat" if it's in gear and your foot is on the brakes keeping it from moving.

 

You did get, at least, a seal kit and you'll re-seal it when you put it back together, right ?
You took to clutch packs apart and made sure that the steels and pistons weren't scorched or otherwise damaged ?



Fred

 

Yes and yes, that's what I mean everything looked perfect like it was recently rebuilt.

 

What I mean by rock is, forward slightly when applying throttle and back when letting off throttle. When putting it in gear you can hear the idle pitch change slightly but you don't get the normal kick. I know the ebrake isn't on because it will roll freely in neutral. Hey where are you at near Columbus, I'm in Pickerington.

 

Rocking front to back implies the front brakes are doing most of the work and the rear are not doing so much. Step on the pedal and the rears want to spin but the vehicle is being held back by the front wheels and to a slightly lesser degree by the rears. Release the pedal and all that torque gets transfered back from the wheels to the transmission and everything settles back to normal.

As for where I'm at...I'm working in Mason and staying near the 71 and Mason-Montgomery (Reading Road is the exit IIRC).

 

Problem found: Well we found the problem, when I say "we" I mean my friend rebuilding my transmission while I watch. Brent found that when he tried to reassemble the transmission he noticed one of the plastic thrust washers was melted which let the sprag gear slide out of position. So he replaced all the plastic washers with brass installed new seals and some other stuff that I can't remember and it air checked so in it goes.