MTL_4runner

Lee, thanks for posting those pics of what happened!!!
......just sucks that it was the planetary (mucho $$$$) that went.

That aluminum casing and steel parts are worth a few bucks to a scrap metal dealer so cash that stuff in!

lee

too late

thats ok, i am gonna try to sell the oil pan and the front and rear of the casing.. if i cant ill turn the front and rear in to a metal dealer as you said...

oh well. it happened and at last i got to crack it open and learn about it.. its really fascinating. i cannot believe what goes into an auto tranny.. i mean, the engineers are ˟˟˟˟˟˟ geniuses!

mastacox

So lee, what kind of shape is your valve body in?

lee

i wouldnt feel comfortable selling anything besides what i said above... everything was covered in metal pieces, not to mention once i realized there was no saving the tranny, we were less careful about taking things apart.

mastacox

lol oh well, it was worth a shot

BOSTON4RUNNER

I wonder if a sythetic fluid change would help act as cheap insurance - it is a fact that synthetics run at cooler temperatures and am sure that heavy off roading really heats it up.

I run synthetic in my 5 speed and it definitely made it shift alot better - also have it in my rear axle.

I am not sure what the Toyotas have for a factory transmission cooler, probably only runs through the radiator - jumping up to a serious and large capacity one, mounted behind the grill may also help ensure transmission longevity

BOSTON4RUNNER

No matter what the application - racing, off roading etc - stock parts will only take you so far, however doing minor upgrades such as what I mentioned for the tranny may help out alot...

BOSTON4RUNNER

I would maybe even do this, with a fan. Drive on the street with the cooler in place, then during heavy of road crawls etc have a manual switch set up to turn on the fan.

lee

yeah ive already mentioned a few times that ill be adding a transmission cooler.

i need to pay this down a bit first.

BOSTON4RUNNER

I hear you - the cost of replacing a major item can really snap your balls off

when you do go to do it, I would lean towards the overkill - one with a fan etc, that way do it once

Reldnew

You say it has "slipped since 44,000mi." If that slipping condition was caused by the thrust washers failing and it still took till 113,000mi before complete failure, you made out OK. That means the planetary gear set took 67,000mi of abuse before grinding themselves to bits.

lee

yup, basically

mt_goat

Good Lord, wouldn't that make a lot of noise? I've heard guys say their tranny sounds like a can of marbles before.

mt_goat

Any sign of metal fragments at that time?

lee

i took it to firestone, and never asked. so i would assume they did it in such a hurry that they didnt even look.

MTL_4runner

Lee, did the place that installed your new tranny flush the internal radiator tranny cooler by any chance?
If not it might be worth just pulling and cleaning the filter after 5k or so.

lee

good question, ill ask.

thanks for the tip

RunnerUp

wow lee, that sucks! i had to replace the tranny in my 99 at 65k right before i totalled it, this one seems fine right now, though i do jolt when i accelerate from a stop sign sometimes... im just hoping that its my rear diff instead of the tranny! buy a lotto ticket, maybe you'll get lucky