85 runner

[TLCFAN71FJ40]

How is the automatic transmission in the 85 four runner lookin at one and wasnt set on gettin a auto but if you all give it good ratings i may reconsider. probally not going to see real hard wheelin but never know what the future holds. quick info pleaseeeeeeeee

 

[WristPin]

i dont reccomend it.

they geared high. so acceleration is poor.


the quaity is good, but performance is lame.

i can speak for the 95% of the guys here when i say, autos suck.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

No worries about reliability, but yeah, and auto behind a 4 banger...... don't expect much poop out of it.

 

[KLF]

Buy it, drive it, swap it.

 

[jhnLennon]

nice thing about auto trans is you never have trouble with it.as compared to the manual where every one i have every had made bearing noise( i have had over five of them including a 98 taco)the auto trans really isnt geared that bad espcially in low range which is quite a bit lower than the manual,not to mention towing any kind of small trailer isway easier with an auto,mudding is alot easier to as you dont lose wheel speed shifting.autos have their benefits.i wouldnt let that deter me from buying one espcially an 85 as hard as they are to find to begin with

 

[KLF]

nice thing about auto trans is you never have trouble with it.

I don't exactly agree with this. It's a good tranny, lasts a long time, but if it's been abused (towing, plowing, no maintenance, overheated), it will fail. And when it does, it's VERY expensive to get rebuilt.

Hence my earlier post: buy it, drive it till you don't like it anymore or it fails, then swap it for a 5-speed.

 

[jhnLennon]

i disagree,i've seen auto trannys with over 200,000 and never had trouble,as far as expensive to rebuild it will cost you about the same as a manual tranny,a rebuilt manual will cost around1000$ and up.the junk yards are full of auto trannys to nobody wants them or should i say needs them.the manual trannys are plagued with bearing trouble,their great if you go with marlins heavy duty bearings though.

 

[WristPin]

i disagree,i've seen auto trannys with over 200,000 and never had trouble,as far as expensive to rebuild it will cost you about the same as a manual tranny,a rebuilt manual will cost around1000$ and up.the junk yards are full of auto trannys to nobody wants them or should i say needs them.the manual trannys are plagued with bearing trouble,their great if you go with marlins heavy duty bearings though.

he said they fail under abusive towing, plowing, no maintenance, overheated.

this is true. any tranny will.

you are the 5 percent

 

[KLF]

i disagree,i've seen auto trannys with over 200,000 and never had trouble

Well, just because you've seen a few go that long, doesn't mean that THIS one will.

the manual trannys are plagued with bearing trouble,their great if you go with marlins heavy duty bearings though.

Huh. Now see, I have 215,XXX miles on my manual tranny. When will the bearing trouble start? Just so I can be prepared.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

The early 5 speeds had 5th gear bearing problems, and input bearings seem to be the other weak point in all the 5 speeds..... after 2XX,XXX miles.... what do you expect?

The auto's are as fine a tranny as you'll find, but a used tranny is only as good as it's been treated, auto/manual whatever.

I had an auto with 205k on it and it was running fine when I sold it, and I just saw the 4Runner a few months ago, still kickin.... My uncle has an auto with well over 250k miles on it, so there's nothing saying they can't do it.

 

[jhnLennon]

Well, just because you've seen a few go that long, doesn't mean that THIS one will.



Huh. Now see, I have 215,XXX miles on my manual tranny. When will the bearing trouble start? Just so I can be prepared.

a few!!! i used to work at a junk yard part time i have seen many. remember this post asked for opinions,no need to get snippy now! It is known fact that yotas had bearing trouble with their manual trannys.cant tell you how many manuals I have heard about with trouble can remember a time when w56's were bringing 700$ because they were so had to find.toyota is great truck but they are notorious for tranny trouble,ask anyone who works at a yard.the autos on percent scale are less prone to trouble,only real trouble they had were shift solonoids which all 4 can be had for 125 bucks aftermarket.anybody with a socket set can fix this too.the manuals arent so easy to fix.as far as cost to rebiuld either about the same,and i will say that you have just as good of chance with trouble with the manual as the auto worse probably. if the manuals are so good than why does marlin crawler specialize in rebuilding them?if you havent heard that toyota manuals have bearing trouble than you havent been around them long enough.I bet i can pick up noise in your rig too.

 

[84pickup]

i actually haven't heard about the bearing trouble. but i'm wondering now if that's my problem. occasionally 1st gear is hard to get into and sometimes i grind gears somehow even though the clutch is fully engaged and it was replaced a while ago i can't remember exactly but i can go back and look at my records. it's an 84 with a G52 5speed 4X4

 

[jhnLennon]

i actually haven't heard about the bearing trouble. but i'm wondering now if that's my problem. occasionally 1st gear is hard to get into and sometimes i grind gears somehow even though the clutch is fully engaged and it was replaced a while ago i can't remember exactly but i can go back and look at my records. it's an 84 with a G52 5speed 4X4

two things to try,firts get the shifter socket bushings from marlin crawler.the stock bushings for the shift lever(on the bottom of it where it goes into the tranny)like to crack to pieces causing imprecise shifter action. they cost about 20$shipped from marlin(dont get factory parts there junk).second listen for noise coming from tranny.push clutch in,accelerate hard,downshift,all at the same time listening for noises.if it makes noise in nuetral and goes away when the clutch is pushed in then you have bearing problems.if you hear specific noises in certain gears then you may have gear or bearing trouble.if you hear a noise only when moving but in all gears especially forth gear than you have an output bearing going out.dont confuse rear end or wheel bearing noise though,tranny noise is usually pretty evident as to where it comes from.If it isnt sloppy shifter bushings though,i would suspect bad syncro assemblies,or excessive backlash between input shaft and output shaft caused by a worn bearing or bad thrust washer somewhere inside. I rebuilt a couple trannys already not exactly easy but can be done with a little time and lots of BEER!!!!

 

[pappy]

nice thing about auto trans is you never have trouble with it.as compared to the manual where every one i have every had made bearing noise( i have had over five of them including a 98 taco)the auto trans really isnt geared that bad espcially in low range which is quite a bit lower than the manual,not to mention towing any kind of small trailer isway easier with an auto,mudding is alot easier to as you dont lose wheel speed shifting.autos have their benefits.i wouldnt let that deter me from buying one espcially an 85 as hard as they are to find to begin with

Interesting. I have 290K on my W56 and it's never been open. Works just fine, except it's due a clutch.

 

[jhnLennon]

you have put all 290k on yourself if you didnt than how do you know if you did great. I too have seen them with high mileage but I have seen just as many with low mileage go out too.Like my 88 with 45k,boughten from my a older man never saw dirt.the replacement i bought with 110k started making input bearing noise about a year later.Most of them do make noise most people dont even notice it though.I would bet that yours does too.lets see than there was 84 runner with g52 at 200k(all highway mileage driven by a guy who drove 100miles a day) third gear syncro cracked 300 dollars in parts and two weeks later it was rebuilt by me shop wanted around 1000 bucks.call up a tranny shop and ask them about toyota g52 and w56 trannys see what they say

 

[jhnLennon]

oh by the way 84pickup how many miles does your truck have on it?

 

[pappy]

you have put all 290k on yourself if you didnt than how do you know if you did great.

I'm the second owner. I bought it with 42K, so I've put on 245K. Oh, and I wheel my junk. She ain't no

 

[jhnLennon]

I'm the second owner. I bought it with 42K, so I've put on 245K. Oh, and I wheel my junk. She ain't no

that is great so you are saying that toyotas dont have any trouble with their trannys or what?I have seen dodge omni's with 250k on them too but that doesn't make them the most trouble free car either,we all know what a POS the 2.2 and 2.5 chrysler motors are!I must remember that I am on mud not the right place to have a discussion on toyota's downfalls.I must remember the bias involved here.All i am saying is that the 85 runner that started this post should NOT be avoided because or the automatic tranny. the autos were quite reliable.the cost to replace one is not going to cost much more than the manual if any and some people just dont like shifting.I know that for me an auto is the way to go in most applications but than again i am not everyone.just dont go saying that the auto is junk it isn't.the manuals are probably more troublesome overall.

 

[84pickup]

my truck has got about 190,650 miles on it. when we bought it, it had like 176,000 i think. since we rebuilt the topend and i've been driving it (about a half a year) i have been kind of hard on it. just trying to do teenager stuff, taking off fast, shifting quick while gaining speed, stuff like that although i did break the engine in good before i started that. also i thought that the W series tranny were for 2WD at least i don't see a transfer case in the FSM but i suppose you could put it in. so i should replace both the tranny and Xfer case bushings? also i was going to look at the bushings a while ago but i wasn't sure i was going to need to replace any gaskets or anything.

 

[84pickup]

should i do your test for every gear or just do it in any gear to see. should i do it on the road so that i have resistance or could i do it in the shop up on stands? i'm assuming you downshift right after you gain some speed to listen for the gearing.