WARNING: Be careful with water crossings!

[dnp]

Knowing that many of us use these vehicles for OTMD (other than mall duty), I wanted to advise you of something that happened to me this weekend.

We went on a pretty long "overlanding" adventure in Arkansas this past weekend, one that included numerous water crossings (one deep enough to allow a small amount of water in the cab! - no real big deal, as it just got the carpet wet......also, I have a suspicion that the body cladding mounting holes are NOT your friend in this type of activity!) In any event, with a crossing that deep, a large part of the drivetrain is surely going to get submerged........

So, on the drive back home, I noticed that when my transmission would downshift from 5th gear to 4th (like when using cruise and starting up a hill), it would sort of shudder a little bit - sort of like running over a rumble strip. It was slight at first, but it got a little worse as the trip progressed. Like most would do, I started trying to figure out what was going on - and when - and I discovered that it wouldn't do it if I left the gearshift in 4, rather than 4D.

Thankfully, I made it the 400 miles home, but unfortunately, I found some troubling news this morning. Apparently, this is a condition that can occur if water enters the tranny, but apparently only likely in the earlier-style transmission vent, one that has subsequently been revised I don't yet know the fix, if there is one short of a transmission replacement, but I wanted to let any of you adventurers know that, at least on the '04s, this possibility exists.

From reading on some of the other sections on MUD, this is some information I found that relatesd to the LX:

2004 Transmission Issue - Washboard Vibration, Shudder

I'll keep the board updated.......

 

[GXO]

hmm, good to know. I will check my vent out.

 

[TahoeLX450]

hmm, good to know. I will check my vent out.

Does anyone know which years are problematic for leakage and when Toyota fixed the problem?

 

[little_joe]

Sorry to hear you experienced this, but many thanks for letting us all know. I'll be eagerly awaiting the followup.

 

[wingysataday]

that sucks

 

[kbahus]

I wonder if 03 transmissions had the issue too as they are not sealed and might have a different vent entirely?

 

[GXO]

the parts are the same for both 2003 and 2004 for the breather tube, links, and vent.

 

[GXO]

Just checked...same part for the whole assembly across all model years of GX470

 

[GXO]

ok, so the TSB ONLY refers to the 04-05 but the part was universally changed.

 

[123ROBERTELEE]

Same thing would happen to my FJ when going through deep water crossings. I would have to get the tranny flushed every time then was good to go again.

 

[exigex]

So is there any way of preventing this from happening without removing the transmission and replacing the parts in the tsb?

 

[GXO]

I have an 03 and I have been in a river to my windshield with no changes, so I think it is specific to the 04-05 per the TSB.

 

[zooman61]

Could it be related to the ws trans fluid not being serviced (lifetime trans fluid)Is it happening to trucks that were serviced at 60 thou. Is it happening with after market fluids?

 

[GXO]

I have had my fluid serviced. Just a data point.

 

[dnp]

Same thing would happen to my FJ when going through deep water crossings. I would have to get the tranny flushed every time then was good to go again.

Man, that is a GREAT thing to hear! I had to assume that getting the water out would correct things, but I'm really glad to hear that from first-hand experience........I had already started contemplating the used tranny vs. new comparison / pricing.

When my local all-things-Toyota guru gets back in town this weekend, I plan to get together with him to plan a fluid replacement strategy. How did you "flush" yours, and who did it?