I have a 2000 4runner sr5 with about 250k miles. In the spring of 2012 I went through the strawberry milkshake situation. I believe I 'caught' it early enough (so I hoped). I replaced the radiator, tstat, and drain and filled the trans twice. I then drove it for the last 3 years with no issues.

A few months ago while out running errands, I came to a stop light and when the light turned green, I pressed the gas but no joy. The truck just revved up but did not move. I went through all gears, but had the same result. I turned it off for about 15 min then started back up and was able to drive for about a mile til I got to another stop light and it happened again. I had it towed to my house at that point so as to hopefully not make anything worse.

I am not sure where to go at this point. The fluid level and color are good, but may have a slight burnt smell to it. I finally have the time to mess with it and decide what to do with it. When the truck is just started, still cool, it will engage and move forward and backwards (although somewhat sluggish). After it warms up, it does the same thing...revs up but will not move.

I have looked through numerous posts on a bunch of forums, but was unable to find the exact situation. I am at the point of whether to throw money at it to try and fix, sell or part out. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Based off your description, I would say your pump or your converter went out. While the fluid is cold and thick it still takes pressurization. And you lose that when it gets hot and thins out.

 

If you're near DC you are more than welcome to the one out of my'97. It drove strong before the head gasket went. Free if you come remove it.

 

Now that's a great offer! This forum needs a thank you button

 

Well he is just south of DC

A nice ride up US 17 to US 15 misses most of the DC mess.

Fora free transmission a no brainer for me.

 

agreed! definitely a generous offer. pm sent, fierohink.

 

Sounds like you got a few years of a gift from that transmission! The second i read about this problem here, i ordered a new rad. Best 125.00 ever spent !

 

although a new rad is also a very good solution, the better solution, for me, would have been to install a correctly-sized auxillary atf cooler with a temp-controlled fan and bypass the stock atf cooler in the rad.

this way, you get to avoid the strawberry milkshake PLUS you get to lower the operating temp of the atf which should translate to a longer tranny life (with all other things equal).

And, if you tow, install two auxillary atf coolers.

 

draining and filling the tranny was not enough. the tranny should have been flushed properly to remove all the strawberry milkshake

 

I feel super crappy. I've had a call in to crush this thing for months. Yesterday they grabbed it while I was at work.

 

So brutal...