Slime green cat

I have 92 4Runner 3.0 with an auto tranny , just bought the truck a few months ago , it has 200'000 kms (120'000 miles) and is pretty much mint , the tranny seemed to shift really good when I first bought it and the fluid was clean and full .
In the last few days , it has started acting weird , while cruising between 50 to 80 km/hr just applying enough throttle to maintain speed , the tranny seems to stutter like it cant decide wich gear to be in .... D and O/D ??? .
It is also downshifting at the wrong times . Sometimes as I am coming to a stop , or even a second or two after I have stopped , I can feel in clunk down to 1st gear ??? it also seems to be a little lazy downshifting if I step on it to pass someone ???

I am hoping its not something major , I have had lots of Toyotas , but all 5spds , I didn't really want an auto , but the truck was too good to pass up .

I did a bit of searching and from what I have read , it might be a cable adjustment ??? or a shift solenoid ??? , but I have no idea where to start looking , or how to even check what it would be ???

Any auto tranny experts care to enlighten a auto tranny newbie

Thanks

Turd Ferguson

Although I'm not a trans expert, I can tell you what I've done. My rig has this issue from time to time as well- it doesn't downshift erratically, but from time to time it'll have a hard time going into gear at highway speeds. Usually backing off the throttle and letting the speed drop to about 50mph corrects it, but sometimes accelerating to 70mph will as well. I've had it in the shop and there's no code being thrown, so I chalked it up to old age.

It is also a bit clunky from time to time in between gears, but having the trans flushed seemed to fix that.

keithguts

Try LUCAS OIL for tranny's Stuff Works. I no.

Babypig

I would stay away from the Lucas stuff for now if your in a cold climate, sounds like maybe your in Canada. Try pulling the codes and watch the o/d light instead or in addition to the check engine light. Count the number of flashes of the o/d light and go from there with a code #. Could even be a cable out of adjustment but I'd start with the diagnostics first, they are rudimentary but at least give you a direction to start and its free.

Stomis

With the car off no key in ignition or anything push the pedal to the floor a few times hard and let off fast. If it is a simple linkage problem that will clear it up until what ever is causing falls back out of place. My Camaro with a brand new 700r4 did this, wouldnt shift into 3rd when I was wailing on it. Cleared the problem right up though it reaccured.

Slime green cat

Thanks for the replys so far , I am in Canada , but I am in Vancouver , so its not cold .....its +10'c today .

I am not sure how to pull a code ??? I think it has something to do with turning the key on and off in a sequence ??? or do I need one of those code readers ???
I think its something electronic (maybe a solenoid ?) because it just started acting up over night , it wasn't a gradual thing .

I have searched these forums and read about similar problems , and "shift solenoids" and "kick down cable adjustment" keeps coming up ???
Wheres the kick down cable and how do you know if its out of adjustment ?? and I guess I will need to check the codes for a solenoid ??

Thanks for the replys , keep em coming

Slime green cat

UK Drew

its the tranny fluid mate, replace it and it should be fine.

Slime green cat

Really ??? The fluid is full , and although it's not brand new , it doesn't look too dirty .
when I wipe some on my finger it still looks red , and does have some transparency(sp?) to it .

I was going to do a complete flush soon anyways , so I guess I will go ahead and do it and see if it fixes it .
I hope your right , and its that easy

Thanks

leebee

take a look on your vin plate on the drivers door pillar and let us know what model trans you have. the kick down cable goes over the top of your intake and attaches to your throttle mechanism. all your adjustments can be made easily from the top.

let the trans shop know when you get the flush, they should road test it before and after so they will know what you are talking about and can adjust if for you. pay attention when they do it (flush & adjustment) so you can do it yourself later on if need be.

lee

Slime green cat

Thanks leebee , I will have a look tommorow at the door jam sticker .
I didn't know there was more than one auto in these ??? My truck is a full load sr5 with the 4spd auto .

toyaholic

should be a340h, i say go with a flush and filter. my experience with my first auto (nissan 99 frontier) was similar. fine one day then slips slams and searching. tranny service fixed it up. just to make sure you know the fluid is a bright red so if it is anything less a service is probably in order especially if you don't know the last time it was done. probably not your kick down cable, could be a solenoid. to check for codes there is a diagnostic plug under the hood on the driver side fender with a single terminal. just stick a jumper wire in and touch it to a good ground and your overdrive light will flash. if no codes it will flash steady. check the 93 fsm link if what i mentioned isn't correct for the diagnostic check. the later models before the obd2 system used the main diagnostic port for the engine i think. here is the link http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/

Slime green cat

Yep , its the A340H .
Thanks for the info , sounds like I might get lucky just doing a flush on the tranny , like I said , I was going to do it anyways so I could start a schedule , so I will do that tommorow and hope for the best .
If that doesn't cure it , I will try pulling a code from it , sounds easy to do .

Thanks again

Slime green cat

Well , I did the flush with no luck , it still acting wierd .
another thing I am noticing , is it makes a loud clank/bang when going from reverse into drive ..... whats with this thing ? it was fine the first couple months I have owned it , now these tranny probs just started out of the blue ?????
I am still going to try pulling a code , it was dark when I got home today , I will try tommorow .