maachine

so i posted about this a while back. i have an 02 tacoma double cab, 3.4L 2wd TRD with 150,000 miles on it. in the past i found my truck searching for a gear between 2nd and 3rd. i changed the trans fluid and it stopped doing that for a long time. now 30,000 miles later, almost home from a 2 hour drive, it did it again while driving through town. hasnt done it since but obviously there is an issue. only does it with overdrive on and under light throttle.

i am about to get my old dodge project truck on the road and plan on driving that for a while. i will be doing the timing belt, water pump, valve cover gaskets, axle seal, and rear brakes on the yota soon. might as well see if i cant fix this trans issue. which will include new filter and fluid for the trans.

read something in the haynes manual about the TV cable adjustment in '03 or less tacoma trucks. any chance there is a solenoid that might need replacing? any other suggestions?

oh trans fluid is full and looks like it should

maachine

really, no one has ever seen this or dealt with any problem like this before?

vasinvictor

iTrader: (3)

Sorry you're not getting any replies. I guess that should be a clue that very few have had a problem similar to this. You're prob going to have to have it checked out by a good mech. I abuse my auto and it works great.

Are you sure you don't have a converter lockup problem? If you're brake pedal isn't coming all the way back up or has play in it, it might unlock the converter which would seem like it's having a gear finding problem. ....just an idea

JasonYota

iTrader: (1)

^^ I agree. Make sure it's not the converter locking and unlocking. At what speeds does it happen? What temps? Overdrive on or off shouldn't matter in a 2 to 3 shift because your not in overdrive.

maachine

its usually around 30 mph. which is typically where i feel the 2nd to 3rd gear shift. does the converter lock/unlock in 2nd or 3rd gear? or only in O/D?

if i recall from the past experience, it didnt do it with the O/D off and didnt do it with the ECT on

and it does it hot.

mostly what i am curious is if there is an adjustment in the trans somewhere i dont know about. the haynes manual doesnt have a whole lot of information regarding the transmission.

maachine

oh and brake pedal is coming all the way back, lock up works great when i get on the highway. brakes are in good shape except i have an axle seal leak and need to fix that and replace the shoes

does the lockup turn off when you hit the brakes? i've never noticed....

vasinvictor

iTrader: (3)

Reason I was asking about the brake pedal is because you can lightly tap the brakes at highway speed and the converter will unlock momentarily. It's an electronically controlled transmission (hence ECT). There is no kickdown cable. The cable that appears to be a kickdown cable affect line pressure during shifts, but it may not be there on an '02. 30mph seems low for converter lockup, but there's probably a diagram somewhere that shows exactly when converter locks up. Not really sure at this point...

maachine

it did say in the haynes that 02 has some sort of cable. once i get my dodge done i'm going to dig into my yota. i'll research the cable at that time. in 03 they switched to some sort of solenoid

if anyone has any ideas please say something.

and thanks for the responses fellas, you taught me something.

maachine

so i have a co-worker who's dad builds race transmissions. i'm gonna ask if he knows anything about toyota transmissions and see if he could rebuild it for me.

i was on my way home from work just now and the O/D is slipping pretty bad when engaged at high RPM's. i think i just have overall transmission woes. which sucks cause this truck only has 155,000 miles on it.