Gen 4 4runner won't shift into 2 or D (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 19, 2015
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Location
Austin, TX
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with a 4runner (03 V8) with a 5 speed not selecting 2, or D. I recently changed the timing belt on my girlfriend's 4runner and was driving it around making sure everything was running smoothly. The car only has 130k miles on it, but has always been sticky dropping the shifter any lower than D. I was going down a big windy hill and dropped it into 1. The dash light indicated this and the transmission stayed in 1. I shifted it to 2 and it stayed in 1 and the dash light stayed in 1. I shifted it to 3 and the car ran through 1,2,3 gears and the 3 lit up on the dash. Same in 4th. When I went to D it stayed in 4th and the light on the dash says 4. It will not go into OD. I am no expert on automatic transmissions, so I don't know where the control comes from but it seems like a bad switch somewhere. Has this happened to anyone, or does anyone have any suggestions?
Cheers,
Lindsay
 
Nobody has any ideas?
Thanks,
Lindsay
 
Thanks. I've done some searching and it defaults to this mode when the transmission goes into mechanical mode. This can happen due to a solenoid failing or a disconnection from the ECU. I think it will be a solenoid. I'll update this thread when I find the problem and resolve
 
So to update this problem. I took the car to the toyota dealer. They told me the shifter had to be replaced before diagnosing any further problems. This was $650, without labor. So I decided to take a look myself. 15 minutes later I had the center console off and was ripping into the shifter assembly. Anyway it turns out there is a sensor that detects when you put the tranny into 4th and 1st. The spring had flicked off this sensor. Repositioned the spring and everything worked perfectly again. Not more than 1.5hrs worth of work.
Cheers,
Lindsay
 

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