I hope someone has experienced this before and can assist me in correcting the problem before I tear up the slopes of Tahoe this weekend.
Situation: cruising down the freeway at 60-75 mph's and the cars shifts out of gear or it slips out of overdrive and the RPM's soar to 3500+.
Analysis: I called a local automotive place and they suggested that it was a computer error with the transmission. This amount of work is scheduled to take more than 4 days (the time I have to get to the mountain.)
My cousin who used to work with Toyotas explained that there is a problem with the overdrive sensor in the transmission. Both explanations seem to be on the right page.
Is there anything I can do in the mean time to fix this simple computer problem ( something in the fuse panel or in the engine compartment? Or is this going to require a major operation involving taking apart the tranny? Any information would be greatly appreciated. I hope anyone out there thats remotely close to snow is taking advantage of it. Happy New Year!

 

year - model - engine? are you using cruise control when this happens?

 

sorry for the vagueness.
94 SR 5, 2wd, 3.0 6cyl.
i read on another forum that it is most commonly a thermostat issue? agree?

 

the problem does occur when in cruise (going up hill) and when not in cruise control

 

I don't have an answer, but I recommend you add a signature and put your year, model, engine, trim, transmisson, etc. so people will know if you have a 1984 4cyl, 2wd, 5spdl, Toyota pickup, or a 2005 V8 4wd auto 4 runner Limited. You will be more successful in your search for help.

 

When I get home, I'll look at the FSM and post what it says. Do you which auto tranny you have, or If more than 1 were offered that year by any chance?

 

It could be the transmission cable attached to the throttle body may need adjustment.

 

if you are using your cruise and going uphill, it will kick down as the load on the tranny increases, sometimes into 2nd = 3500 rpms. if thats the case, then just shut off the cruise on the hills and use the old foot, youll find it much smoother as you wont let the truck slow down to the point of it kicking down.

lee

 

This sounds normal to me, happens all the time when going up a decent size hill on the freeway. If it happens on flat terrain then you have a problem.

 

my 92 does....did that too. no problem just 90's technology cruise control.let er rev or turn off cruise.

 

Found this at alldata.com
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/

This is what is on 94 toy 4runner 6cyl 2wd
ATRATB351 JAN 96 A/T - A340E/H Intermittent Engagement of Overdrive

You can call a toyota dealer and find out what this service bulletin is all about.
Hope it helps

 

the problem was the thermostat. tell your friends. cheap and easy to solve a big problem

 

My cruise had never kicked out while climbing slopes up until last weekend when I headed out of town for the one-thousand time.

When it kicked out, it was just as if I had let the gas pedal go. The RPM did not soar like said above.

I blame it on my new liners as they will not let the accelerator pedal go all the way down.

I will carry an extra thermostat from now on though just in case.

Thanks for the heads up.