1990 toyota 4runner, v6, 4wd, automatic
Never heard of this before, but, here goes......
Reverse in the vehicle only works in 4WD, not 2WD. Any ideas? The person Im buying it from thinks it is the reverse valve in the tranny and is giving me a replacement valve. But Im tending to think that something is jacked up in the transfer case, or the rear end.

 

What happens when you try reverse in 2wd??

If it works in 4 high it should work in any setting

What about in the forward gears in 2wd ?

Broken rear axle or rear differential 2wd would not work

 

So now that I have the truck home, I was able to do more troubleshooting. As of right now, the whole tranny feels a little soft. As far as reverse goes, it doesnt matter if its in 2wd or 4wd, it doesnt move. When I move the selector into position from either direction, as it clicks in REVERSE, I can feel the tranny initially try to engage as that I feel a small surge in the reverse direction, but then nothing. I have tried all kinds of things such as seeing if it will reverse while idling under no stress, and nothing. When you give it throttle, it doesnt even feel like its grabbing and slipping. But it does make a momentary surge in the reverse direction when placed in reverse. So, tomorrow I am going to beat my kid away from the truck with a stick so that I can get a look at it. He's totally in love with it and he hasnt left its side for a week now. LOL. Gonna check the fluid to see if its just horribly low on fluid. Then Im going to add Lucas Tranny repair additive to it and see what happens as he drives it around the yard.
It's one of three things.....
Either it's low on fluid and that will fix it, or,
The valve body is messed up and hopefully the fluid and conditioner will free up the valve, or,
The reverse band is screwed and its time to find another tranny.

The kid seemed to think it was the valvebody and actually included a tranny tune up kit which I think included a new valve body which he just hadn't gotten around to putting in.

When I was looking at things, I saw the dipsticks and for some reason they looked odd and backwards. Is the tranny one with the yellow handle more towards the front of the engine and the oil one is right behind it? just struck my odd like the dispsticks themselves were switched.

At any rate, for $900, I managed to get a 1990 Toyota 4Runner SR5 that has ABSOLUTELY NO RUST, all the windows work including the rear (except the rear key switch), and starts immediately when turning the key....as well as no apparent leaks and no apparent oil blowbly.

So, any thoughts on the tranny as well as any suggestions to look for on the vehicle would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

take a look at your VIN plate inside the door.
It should say what trans you have- it will A340x (A340 E, H, F)