UKrunner

The transmission was running perfectly since my lost post. Shifting smoothly but firmly with no slippage at all. Even towed a 3000lb boat with no issues. That was until this weekend when we did a 120 mile trip on the highway. Came to the first stop and no first gear. Couple of seconds later cel comes on. Since then its been much worse than it was the first time it happened a few months back. Researching this issue both before and after milkshake shows to separate problems that cause it to fail to shift into first. If the cel doesn't light its typically the shift Sprague. If the cel does light then its typically a failing solenoid, which I have my fingers crossed is the case. I'm not exactly sure but I think its done around 3000 miles since it was flushed.

Due to no slippage, clean fluid and firm shifts, I don't think the tranny is suffering from the effects of the milkshake. I'd like to hear thoughts on this and experiences. I have started saving for a 5 speed swap just in case. Be nice to only have to spend $100 on a solenoid instead.

UKrunner

Pulled the dipstick again today and took a look. Tiny metallic particles. The end is nigh.

UKrunner

Spent some time on this today and discovered the S1 solenoid has a 280 ohm resistance. More than ten times out of spec.
I found a test in the Tundra manual that allows you to check if the problem is internal to the transmission or electrical.

Disconnect the solenoid plug from the rear drivers side of the transmission.
Start the engine and move the shifter to L.
Take off normally and then shift into 2. You should feel a solid defined shift into THIRD.
Move the shifter into D and if above 35mph and not accelerating hard it should shift into O/D normally with no slip or slow response.

If it takes off from the line normally, shifts firmly into third and normally into O/D the problem is electrical.

BigBallsMcFalls

your tranny is dying. no escape.

mine milkshaked. flushed. drove a few thousand. zero tranny codes.
lost first gear after stop, must force a shift into 1 to get going. then shifts OK once moving....

keep driving for a few weeks...
no tranny codes, first gear prob worse and worse.

finally did a 100% tranny overhaul including torque converter and all guts.

old rubber gaskets in the tranny were gummy
(this is what was screwing up first gear and needing to force first gear with a hand-shift)
clutch plates had hunks of friction material missing. was very close to losing all forward motion.


you should seek out a rebuild

UKrunner

You must have had a cel. What was it? Did you check out the resistance of the solenoid? I'm not disagreeing with you here as I'm already sourcing parts for a manual swap. However mine tranny still grips fine and is still strong enough to pull my 3000lb boat out of the water and tow it 90 miles. Its been almost 4000 miles since the milkshake. Perhaps more. Heck I did 230 in it today.

UKrunner

Just talking to the wife. She was the one driving it when it crapped the bed. She reckons its done 5000 miles.

BigBallsMcFalls

"You must have had a cel. What was it?"

I said no codes. sheesh, forget it



forget I said anything and please ignore all my posts

trekerjohn

I had no issues with my radiator, but at 250,000 when I first bought it, I was concerned with all of the bad experiences I read about on this forum. I installed a B&M trans cooler (B&M 70268) and then went on a 2,500 mile trip. I now have complete confidence that I will not experience a pink milkshake.

UKrunner

Geez ya big cry baby.

I missed the part where you said no codes just as it seems you missed the part where I said I wasn't disagreeing with you and was already planning ahead by purchasing parts for a manual swap.

However I am going to risk losing $87 by trying a solenoid based purely on the fact that I AM getting a tranny code and in testing with a multimeter it is out of spec. It still intermittently works and there is zero slip, shake or shudder. We have the same symptoms but I'm betting $87 we don't have the same problem.

TOY89

my sister just experienced the milkshake tranny death!! Shes sad but shes gonna have to dish out some cash now. Best of luck UK, there might be a chance to save it!!

UKrunner

Last night I finally got around to replacing the number 1 solenoid. By this time, it would only work when cold for the first mile or two. It is around 5500 miles since the milkshake.

The fluid coming out was darker than I had hoped but did not smell burnt. There were no noticeable particles in the sample I took as it emptied out.

Upon removal of the pan, the bottom and magnets had a small amount of solids. It surprised me but I'm not exactly sure how much should be in there after 5500 miles on a transmission that has done 180,000. I expected some as new fluid is supposed to remove trapped debris as its detergents are new. This is why old transmission can sometimes fail when a complete flush is done. I also expected some to be caused by the last 1000 miles of driving from 1st to 3rd. Quite a shock that the clutches have to deal with. Compared to the debris I removed at the time of milkshake, this is around 5% of that.







The valve body and all components I could see looked fine. No sign of any debris or rusting. It looked brand new. The filter was also looking perfect. I did not replace it.



I removed the electrical connector for S1 solenoid and used an ohm meter to check it out again. Previously it measured 285 ohm which is about 20x higher than it should be. This time it read around 1.4K. Clearly it is faulty.



Removal and replacement was easy. Cleaned off all the old sealant, resealed and bolted the pan back up. Double checked the resistance of the solenoid at the ecu terminal and it was in spec at 12.5 ohms. I am just waiting for the sealant to finish curing then I'll go for a spin.


I decided to take a closer look at the faulty solenoid. I put it on a power supply and looked at what was happening. At 12.7V it was drawing a whopping 4mA which calculates to be 3175 ohms. At the same voltage the new solenoid should pull about 1016mA.
I disassembled it but its coil is hermetically sealed into the plastic body. I used a dremel to slowly remove the plastic and located a darkening within the coil. It looked like it had at one point got hot there. I could change the resistance hugely by bringing a soldering iron closer to the coil. As it heated up the resistance got higher. I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and when I brought it out resistance was within spec. This would explain why it worked first thing in the morning for the first mile or so.

This is the new solenoid vs old one. I bought it from Napa and it cost around $87. The new one has the wires coming out of it.

UKrunner

50 miles and no issues so far. Going on a 200 mile trip tomorrow towing around 1000lbs.

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

Hope she holds up well and that the source of the issues was only the defective solenoid.

UKrunner

Thanks!

216 miles with trailer loaded with 1000lbs of pellets and not a single problem on the entire trip.

UKrunner

Thanks for the well wishes. Another 1250 trouble free miles. Gotta be over 7500 now since the incident.

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

Glad to know she's holding well!

UKrunner

20,000 miles and feels exactly the same. Until the head gasket last week, blew I was pulling stuck trucks and boats out of the boat launch next the where I live.