RTH: Trans failed on highway outside Conroe, TX (1 Viewer)

[fueg0]

The wife, kids and I are en-route to the Texas coast, and her hundy chewed up and spit out the transmission last night on I-45. We're currently in Willis, TX, and are considering taking the truck to Gullo Toyota in Conroe.

anyone have any better places to take the truck?


'02 LX470, 125K miles. We were in cruise, in the left lane, when I heard three quick, low pops. The cruise control revved the engine to around 5k rpms and I lightly tapped the brakes to bring her out of cruise. Bumped the gas, and no change in speed. We pulled over to the shoulder and the u-joints all appeared intact last night.No fluid leaks beneath the truck. We do hear a rumbling, grinding sound when the car is in gear. No change between Park, R and/or D.

thoughts about what might be wrong?

thanks,
--jeff

 

[petrotk40]

oh man that sucks. maybe a torque converter? No experience with any dealers in that area

 

[fueg0]

I REALLY, and I mean REALLY hope that it's a torque converter.

this is my first truck with an auto, so I have absolutely zero experience troubleshooting problems of this nature.

 

[2000UZJ]

check your drive flanges upfront. I remember a member thought he lost is trans. IIRC just take the dust cap off the front hub and take a peek.

 

[marshotel]

It could be any one of several things gone wrong.

The first thing I would do would be to lock the center diff, and see if that helps.

My understanding is that your symptoms could be a problem anywhere in the drive line (hubs, axles, differentials, etc.) and it is not necessarily a transmission failure.... but it could be.

With the truck in P, start the engine, then hit the center diff lock button, then shift into a forward gear and see what happens.

I guess trans failure would be unusual on an 02 LX.

 

[fueg0]

engaging the CDL was the only thing I didn't try last night.

the truck is already at the dealership. I am hoping for the best. Seeing how Murphy seems to be my best pal here of late, I am not hopeful. I really don't think it's a true failure of the trans - that would be almost unheard of.

Judging by the nature of the sounds and where it's located, I don't think it's either diff. The sound is coming from directly behind the shifter (1-2" and about 6" down).

Thanks for the input - I really appreciate it. I will discuss these with the toyota tech when I get the dreaded call.

i (heart) 'Mud.

 

[AimCOtaco]

Check that the t-case did not pop into neutral as well, unlikely but if you had a sleeping wife in the passenger seat... stranger things have happened. Definitely do the CDL test, could be a front diff or CV though it seems unlikely at this point.

Sorry to hear, keep us posted.

 

[TXBeachCruiser612]

Sorry to hear about your cruiser.

I've never used Gullo Toyota's service before but they seem to have good reviews online. I know a lot of people, myself included, that have bought vehicles from Gullo Ford and they always treated us well over there.

I've been talking with Steve, the service manager at Gullo Toyota, about getting the timing belt and water pump done on mine. If you have a good experience that may seal the deal for doing the work on my cruiser.

Best of luck.

 

[fueg0]

Sorry for the delay. Confirmed trans failure. Toyota techs wouldn't crack the case to tell me specifically what was wrong, only that there was 'something seriously wrong inside the transmission'. 6+ days wait on parts alone, and with the repair bill topping $4500 for the trans alone, we decided not to fix.

TXBeachCruiser - I was exceedingly pleased with the service I got from Kenny (sp?). Very down-to-earth, and quick to report back on what they found. Their sales department, not so much. Neither here nor there, but we were both very pleased with how we were treated by Kenny.

 

[petrotk40]

dang, sorry to hear that.

 

[ENGINE er]

Sorry to hear about that. I'm just south of conroe, willing to buy the truck off of you since you aren't going to fix it.

Hope you guys make it to the coast.

 

[re_guderian]

...and with the repair bill topping $4500 for the trans alone, we decided not to fix...

What then, do you plan on doing with the truck? I'm sure you'll lose more than that in sale value if you try and sell it. Slap the reman'd tranny in there and roll. Try negotiating on the price too, that seems a bit steep for the job? Many have posted what they've paid for it. Call CDan in Alb. and see what he can do to help.

BTW: I wouldn't call refusal to open the tranny and find out what's happening "being pleased with the service", but that's just me, especially if it took them 6+ days to come back with that.

 

[FinallyGotOne!]

Fuego, same thing happened to me a week earlier on 9/8/12...I didn't even hear pops. It just went to 5K rpm, I took it out of cruise, and I had nothing..drive, rev, low, nothing. Definitely the tranny.

However, the bill at Bill Penney Toyo in Huntsvill AL was $3800 installed for a reman tranny. You need to chew them guys in TX down before you decide to get rid of your 100...there's to much truck there to give it away...just my 2 cents!

 

[12guns]

By "not fixing" what do you mean? I know that is a huge chunk of money that I certainly don't have, but I'm curious your plans? Another though worth looking into is to find a good transmission shop and have the give you a quote over the phone. Good Toytoa dealerships are nice to use, but can be costly. Sometimes alot more costly.
Out of curiosity, do you know the history of the transmission? Flushes, fluid changes?
That is the only thing on my 2000 LC that scares the heck out of me. It seems strong and has new fluid, but I keep reading about failures with little or no waring that makes me uneasy. Sure would be nice if we could upgrade to the 5 speed tranny's! Those seem to hold up much better than the 4 speed, or maybe that's just in my head. Good luck with your troubles.

 

[Gottagetone]

Call another dealership, $4500 is full nick and quite steep.