We have numerous 4runners in the family, but unfortunately Im the only one that's able to fix them... without carrying them to a shop. To the point,
'90 4runner-3vze-a340h-256k+ miles 35" buckshots
'92 4runner-3vze-a340h-84k miles 32" buckshots
Both of them were running fine enginewise. Performance I presumed was to be as expected... seemingly slow acceleration but I had nothing to base anything off of as they were as they were from the time we bought them. Hmmm... now that I think about it, both seemed pretty sluggish accelerating. I dont recall our earlier running 4runners with large tires being as bad. Anyway, my point is there could have been an existing problem that we were unaware of. Both 4runners were going normal, no signs of anything different. They were parked, and cranked several hours later and had no forward or reverse. You feel the tug when you put it in any gear...no difference when put in 4h or 4l. The one with 32's you can repeatedly rev(3-4k rpms) and it will attempt to pull its weight a couple of miles an hour in drive.The one with 35's is sitting in gravel and larger tires so i don't expect it to try. Ican hear a slight whine from the transmissions when placed in drive. Fluid on the 92 is great, fluid on the 90 is worn but not black or blatantly burnt. I've been researching for a few days and for hours on in, and Ican't come up with a definitive answer or specific place to start diagnosing. ANY help would be appreciated and utilized!!!

 

My two guesses are bad torque converter, or bad solenoid… shot in the dark though! My brothers Tacoma with the 340e had a bad solenoid and did almost the same exact thing...

 

Did he have no forward or reverse?

 

Check the plug going to the trans (passenger side in front of the lever)

 

I was just under it and am trying to check anything i can before i start pulling it all down. i see 3 plugs off the bat but im about to climb back under it and check in the area you specify. is there a name for this plug or whats its specific purpose?

 

Check you fluid level first. Autos don't work without it.

 

Also do you have reason to believe they might have been tampered with? Odd that both have the same problem at the same time.

 

Well of course the first thing I checked was the fluid and visual condition and smell of it Highly unlikely that anyone tampered with them though as theyre located in different cities. Ihave purchased a new filter,gasket,fluid,torque converter and seal and im in the progress of replacing it all. I did the diag light test and i do have a 64 and 42 code. The speedo and odometer arent working and don't yet know if that's called speed sensor 1 or 2. I was aware of the lack of tc lockup but I thought it was due to the speed sensor, not the solenoid failing. That's probably the cause of this if the TC is the failed part.

 

Replaced torque converter and seal and the rear main seal while I was in there.no dice. Same result. ÷€×'-@#$×+@#$%-₩&/&÷££";"!×??×&÷.................. sigh

 

What made you think the torque converter was bad that you replaced it?

 

I talked to half a dozen individuals including people that rebuild transmissions. I was trying to reasn out other things logically and came to trying the TC

 

Did you check the shift solenoid and the gear position sensor if it has one

 

I was under the impression that the shift solenoid was only related to shifting between gears and didn't think it was required to engage in either . I'm not certain either way though so I'll check them tonight thanks. The TPS couldnt affect this so dramatically could it?

 

have you tried 4lo? a lot of times the built in transfer cases fail and since they are hydrolic 2hi and 4hi run off the same gear.

 

Yes i have. Is ther a chance the transfer failed entirely?I can feel it 'go into gear'. The 'slight jerk' it does when you shift into drive or reverse.

 

To avoid just throwing anymore money at it i swapped the 1st and 2nd shift solenoid but no change. Ineed to re read the manual shift process again to make sure i even attempted that correctly previously

 

With a faulty solenoid it may not go into the correct gear #2 went out in mine and the shift pattern becomes....low is first,second is third and drive is overdrive.that is the shift pattern with all solenoids disconnected

 

Speed sensor #1 is in the dash(from my understanding it's basically a replace the whole cluster type deal) if both odometer and speedometer don't work I would say it most likely is the speed sensor

 

So ive been desperately trying to diagnose this. it doesnt seem logical that it be a speed sensor if the transmission won;t move at all? and a manual shift test i believe conists of disconnecting the 3 solenoids and trying to move it, which it doesnt. Also at this point i replaced the TC, checked for fluid flow/pressure which appears quite sufficient when you pop a hose off.. and nothing has changed. this heap still doesnt budge but Im not sure what else to check. Ruling out the TC and the pump i guess that leaves the valve body? accumulators? I dunno.

 

Hi ... 1995 4runner, 3.0 V6, same problem you described. Running and shifting absolutely perfectly on way to work. Parked during the day, went to go home and will not go forward or reverse. I can feel it go into gear just not the usual firm clunk where I know it's engaged, almost like a burnt clutch on a manual trans. Never ever had a problem then this. Did you ever fix yours? Joe