CRAP! - 2002 Tranny Just bit the dust on Vacation I think... HELP!

[yoda-g3]

Long story short, 2002 with 140k on it. All scheduled flushes done to it by dealer. I just installed the tow bar so I know it never has has a load behind it.

I hauled 5500 - 6500 lbs of boat 95 miles at 50-60mph, no issues. Drove 100 miles unloaded no issues. Towed another 4500 lb boat 100 miles, no issues.

Drove 100 miles today with no boat and dropped down a small rise to turn into a lot and the the motor just stopped when I slowed to about 10 mph. I put it into park and it starts fine and runs fine until you put it into any gear. When you do the motor stops hard. I tried Hi, Low, OD on and off, etc. I also tried unplugging the 5 pin harness from the tranny to see if it was a solenoid lock up issue. (Red, White, Grn, Grn-Blue, Grn-Blk)

Seems to me that it is either locked into a high gear or more likely the TC is staying locked up.

Pretty much put a craptastic wrench into our vacation. I said F-it and left it in the dirt lot and got a loaner rig (no AAA service unfortunately...)

So what am I looking at here? This has never given ANY tranny issue sign. Fluid looked good, no sounds grinds, or hard shifts and the only towing its ever done is listed above.

HELP!!

 

[OregonLC]

It's the torque converter; it's locked. If it were downstream it would still idle in gear. Perhaps it's something as simple as the lock-up solenoid. If not, and it didn't shed metal then it might be a relatively simple R&R of the TC.

 

[TheFuzz]

I agree that it sounds like a TC issue. One of the better scenarios, I think. I hope that you get the problem diagnosed quickly and get your cruiser back in service soon (this kind of thing always seems to happen during someone's vacation, too...).

As an aside, blaming the transmission seems to be a new trend lately. Now Yoda this is entirely up to you, but if it turns out to NOT be a transmission related issue, would you mind changing the thread title to reflect what actually went wrong? Just to help minimize the scary-sounding thread titles that show up in the search results.

 

[OregonLC]

Wondering out loud here... is there a way to limp home with a frozen TC? Maybe not this case, but if one crapped the bed in BFE and it was either this or put the truck on your back and walk out.

Trans in N. T-Case in Lo. Give her a little gas and move into drive. If it's just a locked TC it would, in theory, jump forward. This would be the equivalent of getting a manual vehicle home with a bad clutch cylinder.

However... there could be risk that whatever took out the TC will continue to float through the heat exchanger and trans. If it's just a lazy solenoid then should work. If a grenaded part then I'd flatbed it home.

To Fuzz's point, I agree. If you read MUD you'd think the A343F was a time bomb...

 

[Eicca]

Start it, put it straight into neutral. Have someone push it so it's rolling when you pop it into drive. Maybe if you get it up to speed again it will unlock when you decelerate.

If all else fails, drive it like a manual using N as the clutch.

 

[scottm]

If you put it in gear with the transfer case in neutral and it killed the engine, something is bound up inside the transmission, and I wouldn't try to limp it home. If this doesn't kill the engine you should still hear a heck of a noise as the transmission engages, yeah the torque converter is probably locked up, I'd still get a tow. If it's the torque converter locked up, I think the truck would lurch forward and die when you put it in gear...?

Does the truck roll with the engine off, transfer case in gear, transmission in neutral? How about with transmission in gear?

Toyota was quick to replace my torque converter after I bought it used from a dealer. The problem was they overfilled the crankcase, but I thought it odd they went so quickly to the torque converter based on some vibration. Kinda makes me think they aren't so confident of this torque converter.

 

[yoda-g3]

As an aside, blaming the transmission seems to be a new trend lately. Now Yoda this is entirely up to you, but if it turns out to NOT be a transmission related issue, would you mind changing the thread title to reflect what actually went wrong? Just to help minimize the scary-sounding thread titles that show up in the search results.

Agreed, if it ends up that it was actaully low on wiper fluid I'll change things accordingly.

If you put it in gear with the transfer case in neutral and it killed the engine, something is bound up inside the transmission, and I wouldn't try to limp it home. If this doesn't kill the engine you should still hear a heck of a noise as the transmission engages, yeah the torque converter is probably locked up, I'd still get a tow. If it's the torque converter locked up, I think the truck would lurch forward and die when you put it in gear...?

Does the truck roll with the engine off, transfer case in gear, transmission in neutral? How about with transmission in gear?

Toyota was quick to replace my torque converter after I bought it used from a dealer. The problem was they overfilled the crankcase, but I thought it odd they went so quickly to the torque converter based on some vibration. Kinda makes me think they aren't so confident of this torque converter.

In park the rig rolled fine and the T-Case in -N- let me go through all the gears (R-D-2-L). I was in a REALLY s***ty spot when this happened and didn't have the space to rev it up and slam it in D while in Low range. Also didn't seem like a good idea in the long run...

I had a buddy trailer it home for a couple hundred but I need it up and running ASAP and I'm trying to coordinate things from my cabin with no cell service and s***ty internet in teh area..... So what can I do to diagnose the solonoid? I'll get a price from Dan for it and teh TC but it would be nice to narrow down....

Thanks for the help! This is our only rig that fits the whole fam and I need two tow rigs up to run a boat rental biz.

 

[yoda-g3]

Yay me...... I thought I was safe buying an '02....

Found this in the pan and cleaned everything up and got the lockup solenoid working again but still dies in gear. There goes the ARB fund...

 

[scottm]

So the lockup solenoid was definitely malfunctioning and caused this?

 

[bamachem]

Holy s***. WTF is up with the A343F curse as of late?

 

[yoda-g3]

So the lockup solenoid was definitely malfunctioning and caused this?

We think the other way around. The sh!t floating around most likely froze the solenoid up. It was completely locked open when we pulled it. After some brakleen and gentle persuasion we had it working consistently on the bench. I decided to put it back just for a test before I spent $250 on a new one. Pretty glad I did it now. I would've been pissed to dump the $250 just to find out the tranny was toast. Even with all teh crap in the pan I was hoping I could limp it.

What I don't understand is that this thing was pretty babied. Dealer records show all the service intervals were done up to 90k by the original owner (I'm assuming tranny flushes are part of the dealer service) then it was owned by a soccer mom for 20k and I know for a fact it has never towed anything other than the 180 miles in two days of my boats because I put the hitch on it. A little of that 180 miles I left the OD on just because the damn thing resets every time you kill the motor, but it was 65 MPH driving on level road at night. Not exactly the load you blow a tranny with even with OD on for 40% of it....

Pisses me off..... I'm this close to just dumping it to the dealer AS IS and buying a newer Sequoia....

 

[Michael Hanson]

I pull the pan and clean trans. fluid until it runs clear. Was your pan pulled each time? MIke

 

[yoda-g3]

I pull the pan and clean trans. fluid until it runs clear. Was your pan pulled each time? MIke

According to my mechanic he said that the pan had never been off judging by how hard it was stuck on and the amount of fine crap in it.

 

[yoda-g3]

UPDATE - Scored a 111k unit from a salvage yard with a 6 month unlimited mile warranty on it. Pulled the pan last night and was happy to see that the magnets had the proper amount of very light coating you'd expect from a healthy tranny.

Got some fancy cooler flush to make sure no debris carried over, Amsoil'd the drive lines and u-joints while they're out and plan on filling the new unit with Amsoil to finish it off. Hopefully tomorrow morning she'll be alive.

I took some pics of the process but there really wasn't any "gotcha" moments.

 

[agaisin]

Worth putting in an inline magna filter?

 

[yoda-g3]

Worth putting in an inline magna filter?

The only thing that makes me nervous about that is potential blockage. Is there a filter with a "failed open loop" if it detects a clog?

 

[agaisin]

Frequently Asked Questions
"Will it clog?
Magnefine double filtration is so efficient it removes 99% of all wear metal contaminants. It¹s design holds the majority of contaminants on the uniquely positioned magnet. Even if the filter element becomes full, it¹s safety bypass opens for full flow and the magnet still cleans metal from the system.
"

WIX filters, WIX oil filters, WIX air filters, WIX fuel filters, WIX Heavy Duty Oil Filters : Product Information - couldn't find a specific description of how they mitigate risk of clogs.

I don't have one myself (plan to next time I change my tranny fluid), and while I've seen posts about it here and there I don't know of anyone on the forum that's using them.

Curious what collective wisdom is on the topic - yay or nay?

 

[rove_mcanus]

The a343 is not strong enough for a full size landcruiser. No Australian spec 100 or 80 had it. Now you know how Australian base model 105 diesel owners feel when their manual transmissions break

 

[yoda-g3]

The a343 is not strong enough for a full size landcruiser. No Australian spec 100 or 80 had it. Now you know how Australian base model 105 diesel owners feel when their manual transmissions break

Lol. What's in my '96? Does it also have an a343f like my '02 LX? That thing has been a monster at towing with some serious power behind it with teh turbo and its been great so far.

 

[OregonLC]

The a343 is not strong enough for a full size landcruiser. No Australian spec 100 or 80 had it. Now you know how Australian base model 105 diesel owners feel when their manual transmissions break

No signs point to a strength issue but to a defective batch of thrust washers.