Ok, I have a 3.4l 1996 toyota 4runner with auto transmission. I was at the beach and put was trying to climb a pretty steep sand hill and put it in 4low and started to go up the hill and finally got stuck almost at the top in about 2 feet of soft sand.... but anways I could smell something funny. I went back down the hill and it didn't seem to come from under the hood.

You couldn't really smell it from the outside, or under the hood, but could smell it inside the cab.

Earlyer i drove over some weird hill thing and had it in 4low, and when I was taking it back the transfer case shifter kinda grinded. I don't know if that could have any problem with why it smelt bad. I had plenty of oil and transmission fluid.

Is this normal or do I need to worry about something?

 

Anyone riding with you?

 

yeah.... what does that mean?

 

Thought maybe you scared the chit outta someone.

 

 

hot clutch.

 

It's normal.

 

He stated it was an automatic. Would the torque converter get hot and cause a smell though?

 

Might be gear oil, that stuff smells like dog poo when it leaks.

 

sure did! doh.

 

so what could it be? i don't think its leaking? is it bad if its leaking gear oil? that doesn't sound normal to me

 

Sounds like it may be gear oil. Check around the rear pinion seal for leaks. That is a pretty common place for leaks and a cheap & easy fix.

:pat: It is not good if thats what you mean. If you are leaking gear oil then it is something that needs to get fixed right away. I can't really think of anything that it smells like to give you an idea but it stinks. I imagine if it is leaking even just a little then you can smell it pretty well.

 

ok, where is the "rear pinion seal" ?? I am really new to all of this stuff if you can't tell

 

It's underneath the pinion yoke in your third member. You should be able to get under your rig and tell if it is leaking. To replace it yo uwill need to disconnect the driveshaft and take off the pinion nut which reguires a 30mm(I believe) socket. Then pop the old one out put the new one in. Look all around the rear axle housing and under the body as the gear lube will get thrown all over the place if leaking from the pinion seal.

 

didn't seem like that was the problem... I felt some stuff that seemed like really old grease further up around the transfer case but around the differential it was dry

 

 

Any other ideas? Could it have been something other than some type of oil?

 

Body odor?

Did the smell start after hard acceleration? Did it smell similar to exhaust? Was it a burning smell? Did it smell minerally?

If it smelled like exhaust, and your back window was open, that could be it. If it smelled like burning grease or oil, you could have an oil leak. If it smelled minerally, it could be a coolant leak...well, maybe minerally isn't the right word, but I can't really describe the smell...

 

it didn't really smell like exaust at all... I have smelled the exgaust before, with my back window open, and this wasn't at all the same. This smelt a lot more like a clutch or oil burning. My neighbor said it could have been my torc convertor... is this true?

 

Hmm... today I went back out there, and I tried it again once and got stuck just the before.... so i lowed my street tread tires to 20 psi and tried again... It worked great and plowed right through the sand. Anyways..... after climbing it a few times a realized that it didn't smell bad this time..... seems weird it smelled before but not this time.... Anyone have any new ideas?