rooney

I've had my 86 4runner for 3 years now, (133k miles on it, auto tranny) and it started out with a few problems, and a few more have grown. I've been away for college but it's it's time to stop ignoring them and i would greatly appreciate some help. I have searched the forums quite a bit, and have possible solutions.

1.) Gears not engaging properly: I have seen this recurring problems with the 4runner, but was hoping for clarification. The usual problem is this: in Drive, 1st gear engages, but when it tries to shift to 2nd around 15mph, it sounds like it drops to 3rd, and i basically lose power. Instead, i start in 2, and shift to D around 25-30. Occasionally though, usually for a few minutes after starting the car, even 1st won't engage, and i have to go from L to 2 to D. From what I've gathered on the forums, i'm having problems with my transmission solenoids, similar to the problem in this thread: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...needed-100778/
To be honest when people refer to dropping a pan on the trans to get to these, i'm really not sure where they're talking about, and any diagram would be helpful.
Using the diagnostics to be sure has been recommended to clarify, which brings me to my next, more embarrassing problem...:

2.) O/D light is not working. This has been a problem for a while and i've never taken the time to look into it. Whether i press or release the O/D button on my shift column, the light will not work. Blown fuse? wiring problem? the person who owned it did quite a number on the wires leading to the Head Unit for the stereo trying to install his own....maybe he did more damage than i though?

3.) Clock light also went out unexpectedly, also a fuse perhaps?

4.) And regarding the 4runners power in general, i've always kind've considered it to be fairly slow, is this normal? when i drive in 2, 1st gear seems about average for an old truck like this, but 2 seems extremely slow, so much so that i can't gain and often times lose a little speed going up even slight hills. Once i get going, it can move just fine, but i've always felt like mine was a bit slower than it should be

5.)Not really a problem, just a question. I may be selling my runner soon, as sad is it is, i just don't see it being a car i'd like to have when i bring one down to school and park it at my apartment. The tires are very old. Fairly unused, but still old, slightly cracked, and i doubt they can even be filled with new air. However, if i'm selling, i would rather not buy new tires, for fear that if i just buy some road tires i'll get some serious offroader who could care less if i just put new normal tires on, or vice versa. Would you guys recommend just leaving the old tires on as is?

I can't tell you guys how helpful this will be to sort this stuff out, whether i decide to sell it or not. Even if you can only help with one issue, i would be very grateful. thanks again, and happy late holidays to everyone out there
-rooney

colsoncj

The OD light may be a bulb or a fuse. Start with checking all your fuses... then pull the instrument cluster if necessary to change the bulb.

Clock is probably a fuse.

4Runners are slow, but they shouldnt be really slow. fixing the transmission issues may help.

Save the money on tires. I perfer to pick the tires I want as opposed to being stuck with some new cheapies that the previous owner put on there so they could say "has new tires."

regarding the tranny, to drop the pan is to remove the fluid pan on the bottom of the tranny (squarish pan with a drain plug). I'd get the OD light fixed first. I know on my landcruiser, if the tranny is having problems you can diagnose some things using the O/D light similar to what we do with the check engine light.