I apologize for joining a new community and introducing myself with a problem, but, I have a problem, and I'm not getting useful answers anywhere else...

The base problem is that my 2000 4Runner (SR5, 3.4L, AT, 4WD, 11/99 date, A340F), hates me. Short of the Fiat 850 Spider I rebuilt when I was in high-school, I've never had a vehicle with this many problems, this constantly, in 35 years of crawling under them...

The proximal problem is that apparently the former owner of this particular vehicle abused the transmission towing a boat, had a back-alley transmission "rebuild" done on it, and now I'm stuck trying to clean up his mess.

As a start on that project, I loaned the transmission to a friend who was working through his associates degree in automotive repair, and he's been through it replacing pretty much all the internals. The one thing he hasn't been able to replace, is the valve body, which he says is badly scored, and desperately needs replaced. Unfortunately, apparently if one orders a valve body based on the VIN and model codes, the part that arrives, isn't the same valve body. He says there are some other peculiarities about the transmission as well, like extra steels and a torque converter that don't match what the FSM says should be in there, but also says he's pretty sure those bits are original parts, and that this transmission is some kind of poorly-documented hodge-podge. He also can't find any documentation on check-valve-ball locations for this particular valve body, which is making the prospect of polishing it and putting it back in, challenging.

So, the first question is, does that make any sense to anybody? The next question is does anyone have any suggestions for finding a replacement that actually fits, or any suggestions for refurbishment if this is some common community-knowledge set of problems with a known solution?

My erstwhile mechanic friend says he's pretty sure the item listed at wiitrans as "U97740BA Valve Body, A340(3 Solenoid)(No Tubes To Case)(With Cable Operated Throttle Valve)(Cast # 8938)" is the right valve body, but wiitrans says "ooooh, that's really rare, we never see those...". Toyota says "heh, how much blood do ya got, buddy?". toyotapartszone VIN search says http://www.toyotapartszone.com/oem/t...410-35490.html is the proper replacement, but we've seen how well the VIN search worked elsewhere...

Any suggestions? Is this thing worth continuing to dump money into? Am I ever going to be able to trust it to make it across town without some new major component breaking down, let alone get it off pavement?

I'd /really/ like to like this vehicle - honestly truly, I bought it because the kids are finally old enough to appreciate bouncing around in the desert, my F250s don't seat enough people, and the 4Runner came highly recommended as a solid offroad performer.

I'd really like for it to live up to that expectation - but right now, I'd trust my 1993 Ford Escort that's had 4 oil changes in its 250K-mile life, offroad at Moab, before I'd trust this 4runner to make it to the grocers (in the escort's defense, it's gone a lot of places no escort ever was intended to see, but really, the 4Runner just seems incredibly fragile compared to everything else in my fleet).

Possible bad head-gasket, sporadic over-heats (what is it with Toyotas and head gaskets? 20-some vehicles, 2 of them Toyotas, and the only 2 head gasket problems I've ever seen, are the 4Runner, and the Previa? I have 1980s BMW Diesels, and /they're/ more solid for crying out loud...), dead starter - twice (boy, that's a joy to remove), shocks with _sheared_ pistons??? Rusted-out coolant lines, self-cracking windshield... Should I keep going, or should I just shoot the thing and put it out of its misery?

Any suggestions, information, encouragement, etc, most greatly appreciated!
Will Ray
frustrated 4Runner owner

 

Shoot it; the kind of relief you get with spraying a car with hot lead is second to none. Just don't forget to post it on Youtube.

In all honesty I'd search for a used transmission first nearby
www.car-part.com
or find a reputable shop, not your friend in school, to rebuild it. But that is $$$.

Just wait for the leaking rear axle seals, lower ball joint failure, and the pink milkshake to occur in order to vent even more.

 

well, if you are havin a lot or problems to rebuild the tranny, just get a different one from the link mention above

 

Heh - these days the cost would be more in the hot lead, than in the 4Runner. Used to have friends over 'round about this time of year, to run a few thousand rounds through the belt-feds and make big holes in things with the .50, but now no-one can afford to pull the trigger on anything but the .22s!

While there is a little risk with my just-learning-the-trade mechanic friend, he's a good, and exceedingly conscientious sort - graduating in a couple days at the top of his class from University of Ohio Northwestern - so I expect he's done at least a passable job on the parts he's worked on.

That being said, I've also finally managed to find someone with what should be the right valve body in stock, and also have ordered a spare transmission to build up and put on the shelf - hopefully this will keep me going for at least a little while.

Are you suggesting that the legendary Toyota reliability ought to be more rightly called mythical? I did finally remember another of my vehicles that's given me at least as much trouble: The '62 Austin Healey Sprite. Can't drive that thing around the block without something going sideways. The nice thing about it though, is that you can fix anything on it with a pocket toolkit. Once swapped fuel pumps in a parking lot, using just a set of keychain fingernail clippers. I think simpler cars and I are better suited for eachother - remembered I own another Toyota too... maybe I should start driving the VanWagon - it may be more my speed.

The one thing I'm sure of, is that the 4Runner's not going to milkshake on me - first thing I did when I first brought it home was to stub off the trans cooler in the radiator and install a decent (~140 square inches) free-air cooler and a remote filter - clearly wasn't enough to prevent the damage that had already been done, from taking its eventual toll, but it certainly ought to keep the rebuild cool and clean in the future.

Axle seals and ball joints huh. I guess more stuff I should get into the parts bins now...