I have a 2000 TLC and was about 150 miles from home Saturday when my transmission started feeling like it was going to explode. I was able to turn the overdrive off and get it home but the dealer is telling me I need a new transmission at the cost of $3800. I had to towed to a transmission shop that I have used a couple of other times and they have removed it and will go over it tomorrow. He thinks it couple possibly be a pump or torque converter. I will update when I get the new tomorrow.
2000 LX470 Transmission failure
- Thread starter lumbergh
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
$2650 is a hell of a lot better than $4900, though admittedly not a lot of fun to pay still...
I went with a Toyota reman'd tranny when mine died due to a thrust washer failure. Slee did the install, and they said many of the parts looked new, especially the torque converter. I think it was a better piece of mind over the junk yard trannies that were about $1k less. I briefly thought about a 5spd conversion, but I like the torque converter in the rocks.
Bumping a really old thread here. 02 470 (202k miles) just had my transmission blow up similarly. Driving one second and feels like I'm in neutral the next with a very soft clunk when the car is started. Moving the shifter between gear has absolutely zero effect. (Did the basic tests of locking the center diff and moving from H to L on the transfer case)
Posting this here so hopefully others can avoid being stranded in the middle of nowhere, PA on a Thanksgiving weekend
Some things I noticed before the transmission gave out:
- The car would make a KrrRrRr sound on cold startups, when I searched the forums it seemed like my noise was most similar to the exhaust manifold leak. But the difference I noticed was that the sound would go away in neutral gear and would come back in D or R.
- The sound lasted for a 5-10 minutes max and would go away when the car heats up
- on occasion I would smell a burning clutch type smell when I stepped out of the car, at the time I thought it's the exhaust leak. Probably was the transmission giving out
- Transmission oil is still clean and pink when I checked from the dip stick.
Plan for now: get another transmission from a totaled car and slap it in mine. The issue I'm running into is finding a transmission with lesser miles than my car.
If someone knows where to source transmissions for 100 series let me know. For now I'm scrolling through eBay.
P.S I live in NC so going to junkyards and hauling the transmission to PA is out of the question.
Posting this here so hopefully others can avoid being stranded in the middle of nowhere, PA on a Thanksgiving weekend
Some things I noticed before the transmission gave out:
- The car would make a KrrRrRr sound on cold startups, when I searched the forums it seemed like my noise was most similar to the exhaust manifold leak. But the difference I noticed was that the sound would go away in neutral gear and would come back in D or R.
- The sound lasted for a 5-10 minutes max and would go away when the car heats up
- on occasion I would smell a burning clutch type smell when I stepped out of the car, at the time I thought it's the exhaust leak. Probably was the transmission giving out
- Transmission oil is still clean and pink when I checked from the dip stick.
Plan for now: get another transmission from a totaled car and slap it in mine. The issue I'm running into is finding a transmission with lesser miles than my car.
If someone knows where to source transmissions for 100 series let me know. For now I'm scrolling through eBay.
P.S I live in NC so going to junkyards and hauling the transmission to PA is out of the question.
Mine is 2000 LC and it blewout while I am 5 hours away from home but in a major city (San Antonio): Did 80+ MPH all 5 hours, pulled to get gas, and back to the road and nothing, moves slow like a flat tire, heard grinding noises underneath the car at idle, no oil leaks, Hard shifts into 2nd gear. Towed to a local shop and got it fully rebuilt out the door $3880. Issue was a faulty OD planetary needle roller bearing. Basically the casing survived!Bumping a really old thread here. 02 470 (202k miles) just had my transmission blow up similarly. Driving one second and feels like I'm in neutral the next with a very soft clunk when the car is started. Moving the shifter between gear has absolutely zero effect. (Did the basic tests of locking the center diff and moving from H to L on the transfer case)
Posting this here so hopefully others can avoid being stranded in the middle of nowhere, PA on a Thanksgiving weekend
Some things I noticed before the transmission gave out:
- The car would make a KrrRrRr sound on cold startups, when I searched the forums it seemed like my noise was most similar to the exhaust manifold leak. But the difference I noticed was that the sound would go away in neutral gear and would come back in D or R.
- The sound lasted for a 5-10 minutes max and would go away when the car heats up
- on occasion I would smell a burning clutch type smell when I stepped out of the car, at the time I thought it's the exhaust leak. Probably was the transmission giving out
- Transmission oil is still clean and pink when I checked from the dip stick.
Plan for now: get another transmission from a totaled car and slap it in mine. The issue I'm running into is finding a transmission with lesser miles than my car.
If someone knows where to source transmissions for 100 series let me know. For now I'm scrolling through eBay.
P.S I live in NC so going to junkyards and hauling the transmission to PA is out of the question.
If you plan to get a used transmission, AVOID any 2000 model transmissions. I think the Park-Neutral switch wire plug on 99's are different from 98 and 2001, so look for 98 or 2001. These transmissions won't fail like a 2000, but any automatic transmission will eventually fail. Ask how much to fully rebuild and do some research. After I got mine fully rebuilt, it pulls like it has never done before, so I was happy that I went that route.
Make sure you clean the cooler line very well as broken trans particles can still be there. I installed an inline A/M filter after the rebuilt. If the radiator is old, replace it and clean the air cooler as well.
Thank you for the advice on the 2k models did not know about the differences.
When I say middle of nowhere PA I mean deep into hunting country PA. So the closest transmission shop denied to work on the car, the closest after that (1hr from where I was) only excepted if I ship them another transmission and they plug it in. Basically they don't want to open the transmission itself. Which is weird given it's an old 4 speed should be within reason for a transmission shop to fix.
So I'm stuck with getting a used one, flirting with lady luck pretty hard.
Some trans shops are only specialized in domestic, that's the reason. Talk to few other shops: Yes, I too was in this panic mode but make sure you get it right. this is not the time to save money (well.. at least that's what I thought because I planed to keep the cruiser forever): Did call few shops and one offered a free tow, about 30 mins and 2 days to inspect and then the quote. Took 3 weeks to get all done.
Do you have access to internet? PM me the town you are in and I'll look up some shops near you
taking the convo to PMs
