My 4runner started to make hard shifting lately and by hard i mean whenever it shifts it hits really hard. I used dexron 3 when i changed my tranny oil but the manual asks for dexron 2 and i also used this additive for my hard shifting it seemed to help at first but now whenever i drive it does it again until i drive for like 15 miles it still does it but not so hard. Is there anything i can do to help it. the tranny has 160k on it and i dont think it ever been changed.

 

The hard shifting mostly happens in the morning whenever i drive my car for the first time and whenever my car is not warmed up. Is it cause i used dexron 3 instead of dexron 2

 

I had the same problem with my 94 Runner with 5 speed . At the time it had about 123,000 miles on it and now is pushing 183,000 miles. I drained the fluid and put in 10/30 Mobil One Synthetic Motor Oil for the summer and 5/30 of the same oil for the winter and completley eliminated my problems with stiff shifting all together. That was 60,000 miles plus ago in 3.5 years ago and it is still shifting great ! Hope that this helps for you cause it sure did it for me !

 

94-4Runner: you put engine oil in your 5 speed MANUAL trans? Or is it an auto?

 

Manual trans with engine oil yes !

 

this is why I dont buy used vehicles...heheh j/k

 

Got lost with that reply !

 

You need gear oil, like 90 weight, not engine oil.

Lamm

 

Well when I got my Runner it had around 120,000 miles on it and it was a 1 owner. It came with all the service records from being serviced at the dealership that it was sold from in Colorado. Living in New England in the winter it was very stiff shifting so I decided to try Mobil 1. Since that point I have put over 60,000 miles on the Runner . Took a trip out west in March with it and put 9000 miles on in a month and very heavily loaded I might add and have had no problem , no noise from the trans and very smooth shifting . What more can I say ? It worked for me !

 

Does anything happen if you tap your foot on the gas pedal while its coasting? A jerk or anything of that sort?

So did you put engine oil in the transmission?

 

No jerking or noise at all ! Dead silent and smooth ! And yes I did put Mobil 1 engine oil in my manual trans.

 

Do wish I was back in Charlotte. I miss all the trails everywhere so close to home !
Up here there is nearly nowhere to ride at all !

 

What places do you know around here? If you dont mine me asking ,you can PM me if you like.

 

Check out my new signuture just for laughs nothing personal. Are you seru its safe to put motor oil in the tranny

 

Well again with 60,000 plus miles on the trans with that type of oil in there and no problem it must not be to bad for it . Of course this is just my solve to my stiff shifting problem . Not a trans expert or anything but so far so good ! Though I am very sure that there is an engineer of some sort out there that is probably having convulsions over doing this , but again smooth shifting and no noise so far.

 

i think some GM manuals take engine oil or ATF. sounds kind of wierd to me.