2000 L470 Broken Transmission (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Feb 13, 2019
Threads
16
Messages
55
Location
San francisco
I believe the transmission is broken. Vehicle does not go into any gear, The level does not move.
It happened when I was at a stop, and when I press the paddle when the traffic signal turned green, I heard a loud knocking sound.
I was told that the transmission is gone. The vehicle has 106k miles.

I need your help in
  1. What is the best way to diagnose the problem. The vehicle has no power. It doesnt start. I need to tow it to shop. Is there a diagnostic code that can tell what the problem is? Is it really a transmission failure? Can it be an engine failure, transfer box, or something else?
  2. Can someone recommend a good transmission repair, rebuild most likely I will go for, in SF bay area. Preferably in East bay area
 
The first diagnostic for me would be, "If I press the center diff lock button (under the hazard lights button) does it behave any differently?".
 
Make sure your transfer-case didn't pop into neutral. Try shifting between all three positions (high, neutral, low range). If you can do that successfully and still no movement, try your CDL.

IF still no movement....I would suspect your forward clutch or drum are shot.
 
What do you mean by level doesn't move?
Dead battery?
No crank?
Can you turn the engine by turning the crank bolt clockwise? (keep ignition off at this step)
 
I'm wondering if the OP is trying to tell us his transmission 'lever' will not shift (as in 'out of park'). Which is a built in safety device when certain conditions exist with the braking system (fuse blown, brake light out, brake switch at brake pedal out, dead battery)? Can be over-ridden inside at the shifter (depress over-ride button).

There might not be anything wrong with the transmission if this was the case.
 
Sorry to hear about your problem, baghloli. Your problem sounds similar to mine and in my case, I ended up replacing the transmission.

I bought a wrecked LX470 and sold it after harvesting the parts I needed. Good luck with everything.
 
So this is what happened about a year ago, Yes, the vehicle is parked in driverway for almost a year now.
The car made a huge grinding sound when I pressed the accelerated after signal turned green. I could hear metal to metal contact.
After that, the car couldnt go into gear. It is stuck in Park. I havent check the low range gear or CDL.
Soon after this debacle, I started to lose power, Within 2 hours, I couldnt even up the windows.
I am going to ask for tow service to jump start the vehicle and check the low range lever. Will this confirm that the problem is not in the transfer case??
I will also check the CDL. What do I need to look/hear once I press the CDL? How will it help if the car doesnt go in gear and wont move.

Any suggestion for transmission repair, in case tranmission is the problem. Shall I have it rebuild or buy a remanufactured one? Given the age of the vehicle, and over 100k miles, what would you recommend? Can someone recommend a reasonably priced and a good transimission person in San Franscisco bay area?
 
So this is what happened about a year ago, Yes, the vehicle is parked in driverway for almost a year now.
The car made a huge grinding sound when I pressed the accelerated after signal turned green. I could hear metal to metal contact.
After that, the car couldnt go into gear. It is stuck in Park. I havent check the low range gear or CDL.
Soon after this debacle, I started to lose power, Within 2 hours, I couldnt even up the windows.
I am going to ask for tow service to jump start the vehicle and check the low range lever. Will this confirm that the problem is not in the transfer case??
I will also check the CDL. What do I need to look/hear once I press the CDL? How will it help if the car doesnt go in gear and wont move.

Any suggestion for transmission repair, in case tranmission is the problem. Shall I have it rebuild or buy a remanufactured one? Given the age of the vehicle, and over 100k miles, what would you recommend? Can someone recommend a reasonably priced and a good transimission person in San Franscisco bay area?


Well, if the gear shift/selector won't move, the diff lock probably won't make much difference, but this post seems to describe a very different description of a collection of (possibly unrelated) problems from your OP, that stated something along the lines of "It happened when I was at a stop, and when I press the pedal when the traffic signal turned green, I heard a loud knocking sound."

If your only problem was the "no motion when pressing the pedal, accompanied by banging or grinding", pressing the center diff lock and having the vehicle move, might indicate that you've got an axle, drive plate, of differential problem.

After letting the vehicle sit for a year or so, it sounds like you have multiple issues to troubleshoot.
 
We have the car towed after this problem. We changed the axles, engine oil, wheel bearing a couple of months earlier. I am not sure how this can impact. Yes, this is exactly what happened at the time of incident 'no motion when pressing the pedal, accompanied by banging or grinding'

Since we needed a second vehicle, we ended up buying a small SUV, and soon after I change job where I take train to work. Hence, I delayed fixing the vehicle, since it could be costly to repair. But I do plan on fixing it now.


Well, if the gear shift/selector won't move, the diff lock probably won't make much difference, but this post seems to describe a very different description of a collection of (possibly unrelated) problems from your OP, that stated something along the lines of "It happened when I was at a stop, and when I press the pedal when the traffic signal turned green, I heard a loud knocking sound."

If your only problem was the "no motion when pressing the pedal, accompanied by banging or grinding", pressing the center diff lock and having the vehicle move, might indicate that you've got an axle, drive plate, of differential problem.

After letting the vehicle sit for a year or so, it sounds like you have multiple issues to troubleshoot.
 
it sounds like you have a battery/voltage issue to start with,
do you have any mechanical skills or ability? we can help talk you thru this.
I would start by either buying a new battery, and installing it. or having vehicle jump started.
will the engine run?
I'm almost positive, if the battery is dead, the transmision shifter won't shift out of park.
 
We have the car towed after this problem. We changed the axles, engine oil, wheel bearing a couple of months earlier. I am not sure how this can impact. Yes, this is exactly what happened at the time of incident 'no motion when pressing the pedal, accompanied by banging or grinding'

Since we needed a second vehicle, we ended up buying a small SUV, and soon after I change job where I take train to work. Hence, I delayed fixing the vehicle, since it could be costly to repair. But I do plan on fixing it now.

Considering the axle/bearing work being done prior to the incident, I'd suspect the original source of your problem is the drive plate/front axle connection. A couple of similar threads:
which is what the "diff lock test" I had suggested above would help identify. You could verify this on a non-running vehicle, by looking under the "grease caps" on the front hubs.

it sounds like you have a battery/voltage issue to start with,
do you have any mechanical skills or ability? we can help talk you thru this.
I would start by either buying a new battery, and installing it. or having vehicle jump started.
will the engine run?
I'm almost positive, if the battery is dead, the transmision shifter won't shift out of park.

As @3_puppies suggests, if you've now got a battery/electrical issue from sitting for a year, that might explain the "shift interlock" issue of not being able to shift out of park.
 
Your Transmission is an A343F and the model year 2000 is known to have some issues (for certain months of manufacture). That does NOT mean yours falls into this group however. What we are trying to determine is whether the issue lies with your transmission or elsewhere.

There are several reasons why your vehicle could cease to have forward motion.

But you have more than one issue here. The first and most important thing to do is to replace your battery if it can not be successfully charged. We can't go any further without that.

There are several conditions that will prevent you from moving your shifter out of Park.

  1. Dead battery will not allow you to shift out of park.
  2. If your foot is not depressing the brake pedal you can not shift out of park.
  3. If your brake light, brake pedal switch or anything in the brake electrical system is out, you can not shift out of park.
There IS a manual override button that you can use, I will post pics of where it is and how to use it below.

But you need to first get a good battery. After that here is what I would suggest.

Check all fluids (Brake, Radiator, Engine oil, Trans fluid) BEFORE you try to start it again.

IF with the new battery (engine started) you still can not shift out of park do the following:

With parking brake on, foot on brake, remove the override cover located just to the side of the shifter. Then while depressing the button underneath it... try to shift the transmission to neutral (no other position). Report back here and we will go from there.

1904971


1904972
 
Many thanks for your advice. I will call tow service tomorrow to jump start the car. The battery is not old. I did most of the maintainence work back in July or August of 2018. This include
  1. Battery and new tires
  2. Front axel. I cant recall whether it was driver or passenger side
  3. wheel bearing
  4. transmission fluid and gear oil was changed the end of 2017
  5. engine oil synthetic should last a year
  6. starter was also replaced sometime in 2017

Besides attempt to shift the car to neutral, shall I also do the CDL test

""If I press the center diff lock button (under the hazard lights button) does it behave any differently?". AND
pressing the center diff lock and having the vehicle move, might indicate that you've got an axle, drive plate, of differential problem."


I have never use the CDL except when it is accidentally pressed. What is normal when just the CDL is pressed and what is considered different? For CDL test, do I just need to press the CDL button and accelerated without shifting the car to any gear. Do I need to keep the TC in high range or shift to neutral.


I will also do this test "Make sure your transfer-case didn't pop into neutral. Try shifting between all three positions (high, neutral, low range). " If the tc shift between low/neutral/high, does it mean that transfer case is good.




8***
Your Transmission is an A343F and the model year 2000 is known to have some issues (for certain months of manufacture). That does NOT mean yours falls into this group however. What we are trying to determine is whether the issue lies with your transmission or elsewhere.

There are several reasons why your vehicle could cease to have forward motion.

But you have more than one issue here. The first and most important thing to do is to replace your battery if it can not be successfully charged. We can't go any further without that.

There are several conditions that will prevent you from moving your shifter out of Park.

  1. Dead battery will not allow you to shift out of park.
  2. If your foot is not depressing the brake pedal you can not shift out of park.
  3. If your brake light, brake pedal switch or anything in the brake electrical system is out, you can not shift out of park.
There IS a manual override button that you can use, I will post pics of where it is and how to use it below.

But you need to first get a good battery. After that here is what I would suggest.

Check all fluids (Brake, Radiator, Engine oil, Trans fluid) BEFORE you try to start it again.

IF with the new battery (engine started) you still can not shift out of park do the following:

With parking brake on, foot on brake, remove the override cover located just to the side of the shifter. Then while depressing the button underneath it... try to shift the transmission to neutral (no other position). Report back here and we will go from there.

View attachment 1904971

View attachment 1904972
 
The 'age' of your battery is no indicator that it is 'good' (will take and hold a charge' particularly if it has been completely discharged and has been sitting). However, IF you can jump it and the alternator will charge it enough to keep the engine running, we can continue with the testing.

Because you can't shift out of park if the battery is dead AND we need to have the engine running for further testing, you understand the importance of having a known to be good battery in place.

Before we declare your Transmission 'broken' we need to first eliminate some other less ominous possibilities.

IF one or both of your drive plates (at the hubs on the front) have stripped out...the power will want to go to that spinning axle. By locking your CDL (Center Diff Lock) you will force equal amounts of power to go to both the front and rear axles. So even if your front axle is debilitated ..you can still travel on the rear axle (though certain provisions apply). In any case...this would tell us if the transmission and transfer-case are in working order.

But the first order of business is simply to get the engine running. Leave the transmission in part and the Tcase in high range for right now. Let the engine warm up. Monitor ALL of your gauges to be sure all is well and LISTEN for any strange sounds. IF you do not hear any abnormal sounds and all else looks good (gauges) then with foot on brake, parking brake on, try to shift the transmission into neutral.

IF the transmission lever will NOT move, then use the over-ride button and attempt to shift to neutral.

IF you can shift to neutral, then move the lever to Reverse. IF you can get the transmission into those two positions, then go back to park, shut engine off and come back here with your report. That is enough for now. We will need to check other things depending upon what you tell us happened.
 
The 'age' of your battery is no indicator that it is 'good' (will take and hold a charge' particularly if it has been completely discharged and has been sitting). However, IF you can jump it and the alternator will charge it enough to keep the engine running, we can continue with the testing.

Because you can't shift out of park if the battery is dead AND we need to have the engine running for further testing, you understand the importance of having a known to be good battery in place.

Before we declare your Transmission 'broken' we need to first eliminate some other less ominous possibilities.

IF one or both of your drive plates (at the hubs on the front) have stripped out...the power will want to go to that spinning axle. By locking your CDL (Center Diff Lock) you will force equal amounts of power to go to both the front and rear axles. So even if your front axle is debilitated ..you can still travel on the rear axle (though certain provisions apply). In any case...this would tell us if the transmission and transfer-case are in working order.

But the first order of business is simply to get the engine running. Leave the transmission in part and the Tcase in high range for right now. Let the engine warm up. Monitor ALL of your gauges to be sure all is well and LISTEN for any strange sounds. IF you do not hear any abnormal sounds and all else looks good (gauges) then with foot on brake, parking brake on, try to shift the transmission into neutral.

IF the transmission lever will NOT move, then use the over-ride button and attempt to shift to neutral.

IF you can shift to neutral, then move the lever to Reverse. IF you can get the transmission into those two positions, then go back to park, shut engine off and come back here with your report. That is enough for now. We will need to check other things depending upon what you tell us happened.
Many many thanks Guys.
I will follow these steps. Will inform you with the update.
 
Many thanks for all your help. You really help save the vehicle as I most likely would have sold it if I couldnt fix it.
The problem is with the front passenger side axle. it is spinning freely and the sound came from that part once we shift the lever into gear.
My neighbor helped charged the battery, and once we started the vehicle. we set the CDL and it was running fine. I can select low range /high/neutral

I need part#4343060040. This is 425$ without taxes and shipping. I guess I would be looking at around 550 for just this part. Usually I buy OEM parts from online toyota, but there is a huge price difference between the OEM and after market which is between 85 and 120$ without taxes. I think I will go with after market. Can you recommend a good after market?

Screen Shot 2019-02-16 at 11.26.15 PM.png
 
I would like to mention, something similar happened to me about 2 weeks ago ..... My alternator died and thus my car died at a stoplight. When I was trying to get the car out of park, by just yanking on the shifter, there was a loud bang, and it felt like someone had hit my car. A minute later, it did the same thing. The tow truck driver was adamant that while the chain was hanging off the recovery point, there was zero tension on the chain. This was before I released the trans like the picture above. My car has since been fixed and I had no driveline issue problems. Not sure if that helps.....
 

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