Need advice, don't know what to make of it

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Joined
Aug 22, 2010
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So we took the cruiser for an 11 hour ride to Boone, NC. Everything was great the whole week we were up there. Didn't drive off road, but definitely took on some hills and temperature that the cruiser was not used to living in Florida. Anyways, got back Friday night. Everything worked fine Saturday and part of Sunday. Then Sunday night when I was ready to park it in the garage, I put in Drive and nothing happened. I put it in Neutral, nothing happened (should have rolled down hill, slightly inclined driveway). I put it in Reverse, nothing happened. I tried putting in Low gear and I could not get the shifter to move. After a few up and down moving of the shifter (from park to 1), I placed in Drive again and revved it up. The truck moved slightly after 1500-1800 rpm. I was eventually able to park it in the garage, but it didn't feel right. It felt like the transmission wasn't catching on right away. Is that right? Any thoughts on this as to what can be the issue?
 
What year?
Does it move with CDL engaged?
Try to cycle high/low range with CDL locked and unlocked.

If nothing pull trans drain ( remove fill plug first) and check magnet.
 
It's a 99 TLC

I didn't think to try the CDL, but I did do High/Low range and I could not get it out of High. It was weird, I had it in Neutral and tried to do high/low, but I could not get it out of high. I tried forcing it, but it wouldn't budge.
 
Or since you were parked on an inclined surface, your transmission fluid might be low for some reason or another. When that happens, the shift solenoids cannot operate, therefore moving the selector really doesn't "DO" anything. That would also be why even when in Neutral you couldn't move the transfer case from H to L - because the transmission really wasn't in Neutral since it was low on fluid.

Just a theory, but that's where I'd start looking if I were you...
 
Thanks for the response guys. Checked the tranny fluid, all good there, nice and clean too. I tried CDL with High/Low range, nothing. Now the darn thing won't go in reverse for me to back it out of the garage. It would go from about 1000 rpm to 750 rpm when I shift to reverse but no movement, even after I rev it up. When I put it in drive, it works, but not reverse. I didn't have a mechanic OBDII reader, but I did have a scan gauge, no codes.

It's getting towed to a mechanic tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll be able to figure it out.
 
Release the parking brake???

Seriously, it sounds like something is stuck in the wheels or axles.

I was surprised to hear that the tranny fluid was full and clean...

Let us know how this resolved!! Thanks
 
I'd bet your Land Cruiser and a six pack of good beer. :grinpimp:

Educate me. How would the TPS affect whether it would even engage in reverse or forward gear in the transmission?
 
Educate me. How would the TPS affect whether it would even engage in reverse or forward gear in the transmission?
When the ECU senses a failure in the TPS or APS* it puts the engine in limp mode, you can still move but you have to floor the gas and you can only go about 2 MPH.

*IIRC later models don't have an APS
 
Yeah, I understand where that might be the case when you have a TPS/APS failure.

HOWEVER, The OP is stating that although he is selecting the gear, pressing the gas and the engine is revving, there is no responding movement from the drivetrain...

If the trans fluid is not low (check when truck is RUNNING at idle, and NOT when engine is off), then second guess would be a bad shift solenoid in the trans. Lastly, it might the torque converter.
 
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....... I placed in Drive again and revved it up. The truck moved slightly after 1500-1800 rpm. I was eventually able to park it in the garage, but it didn't feel right. It felt like the transmission wasn't catching on right away. Is that right? Any thoughts on this as to what can be the issue?

yeah, I understand where that might be the case.

The OP is stating that although he is selecting the gear, pressing the gas and the engine is revving, there is no responding movement from the drivetrain...
Sounds exactly like limp mode to me.
 
Thanks for the response guys. Checked the tranny fluid, all good there, nice and clean too. I tried CDL with High/Low range, nothing. Now the darn thing won't go in reverse for me to back it out of the garage. It would go from about 1000 rpm to 750 rpm when I shift to reverse but no movement, even after I rev it up. When I put it in drive, it works, but not reverse. I didn't have a mechanic OBDII reader, but I did have a scan gauge, no codes.

It's getting towed to a mechanic tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll be able to figure it out.

How did you check the transmission fluid?

Warm truck (driving at least 20-min), in park (P) with engine RUNNING at idle speed?

If you checked it when the engine off and/or trans cold, then it is definitely low. Like 1.5 to 3.0 quarts low. Yes, it makes THAT much of a difference...
 
Sounds exactly like limp mode to me.

Really?

I understand that Limp Mode does NOT affect the transmission going from Park to Drive or Park to Reverse.

Limp Mode is not intended to leave you stranded. It is intended for you to move the vehicle at low speed ONLY to prevent injury to the vehicle or people due to the potential of a serious malfunction. Limp would allow it to go into gear, but depressing the pedal would essentially do nothing with throttle response, despite whether the trans was in P, R, N, D, etc...

The OP says he gets no movement what so ever when placed in R, yet he can "rev" the engine.
 
Really?

I understand that Limp Mode does NOT affect the transmission going from Park to Drive or Park to Reverse.

Limp Mode is not intended to leave you stranded. It is intended for you to move the vehicle at low speed ONLY to prevent injury to the vehicle or people due to the potential of a serious malfunction. Limp would allow it to go into gear, but depressing the pedal would essentially do nothing with throttle response, despite whether the trans was in P, R, N, D, etc...

The OP says he gets no movement what so ever when placed in R, yet he can "rev" the engine.
:meh:
Mine rolled out of the driveway onto the street, I had to floor it to move, it was slow in D and veeeerrrrry slow in R. I backed it up and drove it back into the Driveway.

It will be interesting to see what the problem turns out to be.
 
I will bet you dollars to doughnuts

I put in Drive and nothing happened. I put it in Neutral, nothing happened (should have rolled down hill, slightly inclined driveway). I put it in Reverse, nothing happened.

After a few up and down moving of the shifter (from park to 1), I placed in Drive again and revved it up. The truck moved slightly after 1500-1800 rpm. I was eventually able to park it in the garage, but it didn't feel right.

It would go from about 1000 rpm to 750 rpm when I shift to reverse but no movement, even after I rev it up. When I put it in drive, it works, but not reverse... I did have a scan gauge, no codes.

This does not sound like a transmission problem, nor 'limp mode'. The decrease in rpm when shifting out of neutral suggests that the shift solenoids are working, and the OP says the tranny fluid looks fine.

Sounds like the engine revs up when you press the pedal, so it's probably not the TPS.

It sounds like a problem in the drivetrain after the transmission.
Occam tells us to explore the simplest solution first:

Seriously, check if your parking brake is stuck in the 'on' position.

If its not a stuck brake, then get the truck on a lift and put it in neutral without the engine running; try to spin each wheel with your hands. See if any of the wheels stick and listen for noises. Could be a problem with the transfer case or a differential. For your sake, I hope it is just a stuck brake.

If the transmission fluid is indeed good, then I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that the problem is downstream of the transmission.
 
When the ECU senses a failure in the TPS or APS* it puts the engine in limp mode, you can still move but you have to floor the gas and you can only go about 2 MPH.

*IIRC later models don't have an APS

Not the case in 2000 BTW. Cable over-rides TPS/APS. You can completely unplug both and still have nearly full power, it's just hard to feather. If the OP is of an early year and can still rev the engine using the last 1/3 of pedal stroke then it's something else. Don't know what the last year of the cable backup was. Pretty sure 03+ moved the APS to inside the vehicle and did away with the cable. Not sure about 01 or 02.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. As of this morning, I have not heard back from the mechanic. He's good at what he does, but even he has to have a toyota master mechanic look at it.

Let me give a little more detail as to what happen BEFORE it got towed. So the next morning I got it out of the garage, but only after shifting it in reverse and almost flooring the pedal. It did nothing on reverse at first, but then it jerked hard and rocked the truck back and forth then reversed. I got scared that I slammed the brakes cuz I didn't want to take out my garage door. Then instead of using reverse, I put it in neutral and put the high/low gear in neutral and it rolled out of the garage. After I stopped, I tried to put in reverse again, no action. Then I tried putting it in neutral and neutral in the hi/low gear, couldn't get it to go. So I gave up and just left it for the tow truck to haul it.

In talking with the mechanic, while on the lift, when it was in first gear, it was making some weird noise, but then it went away after shifting to second. But then, still no reverse, or at least very hard jerk on reverse at high rpm.

I will let you guys know what comes of it.
 
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