2003 Toyota Sequoia SR5 4WD - Transmission Problem? (1 Viewer)

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I was looking at a 2003 Toyota Sequoia SR5 4WD this morning (Sun 1/29/23) to buy as a second vehicle. Everything looked good except when I shifted the lever to Drive, the "D" green indicator would not light up. Everything else, i.e., the P, R, 2, 3 the green indicators would light up.

When I test drove the vehicle, when it reached about 50 mph the noise it make was like it was in a lower gear than should be. I checked the RPM gauge and it looked ok, somewhere around 2,500 rpm.

Are these two problems related or unrelated? Maybe the D green indicator is just a burnt out bulb and the whining noise could be transmission related? I was sure the vehicle wasn't in 4WD and the seller said the vehicle has made that sound ever since he owed it. What could it be? Would it be something that might be expensive? Should this be something that I walk away from?

Thanks so much, Al
 
The indicator light for the “D” is a single bulb. If you look on the Tundra forums you will see that this is a common occurrence and is easy to replace.

As far as the noise/rpm issue is concerned, I’ll let others who are more knowledgeable address that one.
 
The indicator light for the “D” is a single bulb. If you look on the Tundra forums you will see that this is a common occurrence and is easy to replace.

As far as the noise/rpm issue is concerned, I’ll let others who are more knowledgeable address that one.
Thanks Fedtime for confirming the "D" burnt out bulb issue. I did see the posts in the Tundra forums and it said you need to remove the dashboard... take 1-2 hours? I just need to be careful and not cause more problems than just a burned out bulb. :)
 
I did mine (2000 Tundra, SR5 access cab) in about 20 or 30 mins and I just pulled the instrument cluster, not the whole dash. I can’t imagine a Sequoia would be that different, but I’m not up on all the differences between a Tundra and Sequoia.
 
I did mine (2000 Tundra, SR5 access cab) in about 20 or 30 mins and I just pulled the instrument cluster, not the whole dash. I can’t imagine a Sequoia would be that different, but I’m not up on all the differences between a Tundra and Sequoia.
Oh that is encouraging. On a handy scale of 1 to 10, what was the difficulty level?.
 
The D light burning out is a super common issue with A343 transmissions. Both my 100 series had the D out. Frankly, I like it that way. Night driving is better without the green light in your eyes. As for the rpm, I’m pretty sure my ‘03 is 2300 or so at 50. The trans in the ‘03 is a 4 speed, so you won’t get the lower rpm’s of the 5 speed. Frankly, I’ve owned both, and I like the 4 speed better.
 

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