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Could try a used one from a junk yard, but not sure how the transmissions hold up in the heat over there. Up here out of 30 or so, my cousin's 4runner is the only one with a bad torque converter. If you throw cars in, there's 30+ that none had that problem, but camry's have a diff problem due to 2 fluid compartments, and the diff fluid is never checked.
I'm sure a new OEM one won't be cheap, I guess it comes down to how much you're willing to spend. Should be able to get a replacement from Oreillys and resell it on ebay or something if you don't want to use it. Depends on the warranty though.
This 01 Taco has been so good to me that on this go-around I suspect it will see a new OEM genuine 32000-35150 for about 800 and that's discounted almost 31%.
I could also drive my "stock" 01 Taco down to Camelback Toyota and ask if maybe the TC is covered even though it has over 210,000 miles......maybe they have a sense of humor......
If toyota parts deal is a toyota dealership, you should be able to print off the paper and take it to your local Toyota dealer and tell them you want that part at that price. I've heard Honda dealerships price match each other, not sure if Toyota does the same or not. Could save $50 or whatever shipping runs, you'd just have to pick it up at the dealership instead of shipping to your door.
FYI, the "discount" is just off the Retail price, basically what Toyota suggests it should be sold for, dealer cost is much lower, some dealerships offer parts closer to their prices, while others don't. My area is full of full priced dealerships lol.
Anyway, good luck with the TC, hopefully all goes well with this one.
Also, some times Toyota out sources who makes the parts (like Aisin), and instead of buying by Toyota part number, you can get it from the same company that made them for toyota by application. I'm not sure if this would be trued for the TC or not though.
My Oreillys TC is not making the noise any louder....but it has to go out sooner or later so this winter I will have a nice one built for a very reasonable 200 or so.
This is probably even better than OEM genuine Toyota for the TC. This 01 Tacoma is my daily driver so it gets plenty of onroad use. Sounds like this performance build could really add to the offroad performance.
update....almost 3 years......the Oreillys TC seems to be holding up and it's the winter of 2019/2020 now. Given the choice again, I think the Lextreme route would have been GREAT.
No more code 770 still
Hey Zuk! Love the amount of detail you have in your posts. Very helpful. I also have been battling the 770 code. I had a coolant leak and needed to replace the water pump. While doing so I noticed my trans fluid needed to be changed. I did the trans flush and then came the daunting 770. I’ve never had any transmission problems at all. I swapped the filter again, changed the solenoid e, and even switched my coolant over to Yota Red. I have changed the fluid twice since but no change in the code. It will run well for a few days and as I monitor the trans temp everything is normal until the code comes back which causes higher temps. I’m an aircraft electrician and have shot all the associated wiring to make sure that I didn’t have some shorts or opens in the harnesses. All checked out good. It sounds like the TCC is the best option for me next. Do you still recommend going with Lex?
crookcj----we chatted on email a couple weeks ago......update this thread after you replace all 3 solenoids.
A little update on my cheapy Oreillys torque converter....it will be 5 years as of tomorrow.....not making any unusual noises at this point and still doing fine. 248,000 miles on the Taco and still have not changed out the factory timing belt
8-1-22.....252,000 miles on truck.....53,000 miles on the Oreilly torque converter....all is good so far. Cross fingers.
PS-----crookcj------I still think the Lex route is the best way when it comes to a new TC......tc's do get old and wear out....consider it a maintenance item and now is the time. I'm not 100% sure Lex makes TC's for our Tacomas (A340F trannys) but they might. And you may have options to custom tailor the stall speed too.
I have a 1990 Lexus LS400 (v8 engine) with the orig timing belt at 240k miles and I just did the timing belt job on a 1998 Toyota Camry v6 with 230k miles. The camry's water pump bearing was extremely bad and the seal was completely toast, by the looks of it, someone put like 10k+ miles or more on the bad bearing lol. Timing belt on both vehicles are cracked about every 1/4in. My cousin's 2000 Tundra 4.7L V8 he blew up when he went off roading and took the radiator out and didn't notice the engine overheating (it shut down on it's own!). The pistons got so hot they started to melt to the cylinder walls. 300k miles and the original timing belt on that.... same story cracked every around 1/4in.
From what I've seen, the Toyota timing belts outlast the water pumps, they do go bad though. I had one fail on a 1992 Toyota Corolla bouncing off the rev limited in mud with around 190k miles. I never took it apart to see how bad the belt was, it was a wrecked car (rolled into a ditch) and just wanted to have some fun with it before I scrapped it back when I was a teen.
Seems like next to no one changes the timing belts on vehicles unless they fail lol. Thankfully most Toyota engines are non-interference, so generally speaking no major head/piston damage if it goes.
8-1-22.....252,000 miles on truck.....53,000 miles on the Oreilly torque converter....all is good so far. Cross fingers.
PS-----crookcj------I still think the Lex route is the best way when it comes to a new TC......tc's do get old and wear out....consider it a maintenance item and now is the time. I'm not 100% sure Lex makes TC's for our Tacomas (A340F trannys) but they might. And you may have options to custom tailor the stall speed too.
I found a place here in the Phoenix area for a TC, just got one for me 90 5vz swapped auto (a340H) pickup. They give a 4 year or 100k mile warranty! I also had the P0770 https://www.transtar1.com/
I found a place here in the Phoenix area for a TC, just got one for me 90 5vz swapped auto (a340H) pickup. They give a 4 year or 100k mile warranty! I also had the P0770 https://www.transtar1.com/
Well thanks for that Phx location......I'll bookmark it! Might have to check them out. I'm in Prescott now but that's only 2 hours away. So I guess you had the 0770 code and the new TC fixed it up just fine.
and thanks for the comments, atcfixer. Got 257k right now on the original timing belt ...and the water pump! I believe the water pump will start to leak first and that means change everything out at that point.
Timing belt could go first, biggest thing is if it's an interference engine or not, if it is, you don't want to skimp on the timing since when it goes it could mean bent valves and worst case need pistons + heads replaced. Most Toyota engines are not interference though.
I did a timing belt job + water pump on a beater camry v6 with 250k, water pump was so bad it was spitting out water off the belt lol. It also had 2 failed injectors and the seller was going on about how great those engines run lol. For the camry, I bought a Gates kit, I think the timing belt was USA made, but everything else was CHINA, I do not recommend that kit, get the AISIN one for the little bit more and get USA/Japan parts.
The oil pump is driven off the timing belt on the camry's, not 100% sure how the 5vz is setup, but could look into a "rebuild" kit as well, on the camry 4cyl it was like a single o-ring lol, might have had a gasket too.
I recently ended up with my cousin's old 4Runner 5vz that he through the torque converter was going bad in. Neutral safety switch didn't work and he bypassed that for starting it, and the trans you had to shift "manually" to get the auto trans to go through the gears somewhat correctly. My diag is a bad gear range selector switch, I just haven't swapped it out yet from a parts machine. He also put a cheap lift kit on it and it feels like a death trap on the road, so need to revert it back to stock. It sat in the woods for like 7 years, so the mice got in it real bad. Probably pull the carpet and half of the truck apart and make it into a yard beater/truggy. Maybe even make it legal for the road and use it as a winter beater. Low miles and very little rust, too bad it's had kind of a hard life.
06-29-2018, 10:33 AM
