Hi everyone, this is my first post, so I wanted to say hello and ask what for some advice on a couple of fairly simple question.

I took my 94 4-Runner to the dealership three weeks ago and had them do the flush on the auto trans. When I got the car back it was overfull, and showed the Service Rep. who promptly replied "don't worry, it's only 1/4 quart overfull." So I take off on a 3000 mile trip to the west coast and the 4-Runner did fine until the end of the trip when driving from Barstow to Las Vegas, where the A/T Oil Temp light came on. It went out after 5 minutes and we continued on to Vegas. The next day, it came on again and I was lucky enough to be near Cedar City, Utah, where I took it to a Jiffy Lube and had them drain the extra oil out, which came out to over a quart! After that the A/T Oil Temp light never came on even though I drove over two 10,000 foot grades on I-70 in Colorado. This is the second time this has happened, both times the tranny was overfull and both times the same dealership did the work on the car. The first time happened 4 years ago.

According to the Toyota dealership, the A/T Oil Temp light coming on while driving up mountain grades is fairly common in the 2nd Gen. 4-Runners.

So I have two questions:

1) Has anyone else had problems with the 2nd Gen. auto trans. overheating when pulling grades with a load?

2) Do you think I damaged the transmission driving it this way? The dealership is going to reflush the tranny next week free of charge, but alot of good that is going to do me if the tranny is toast. I smelled the fluid and it seems fine, maybe slightly burned. It shifts fine with no problems

Thanks for any replies.

 

I have heard of people overfilling there AT's so as to not starve it on step hills, etc. I personally have a little more (4mm over the top line) in my 1st gen. and have not had any ill affects. Over a quart sounds like a lot. Is the dealerships response that they will flush it again?

Martin

 

Yes, the dealership agreed to reflush the tranny upon my request....especially when I called them long distance from Cedar City, Utah and told them the whole story . Not sure what there response will be if the tranny is toast, I doubt they will take responsibility.

 

I know when I had my 2nd gen, the AT temp light was on everytime I tried to go up anything that resembled a hill. That was until I added a small auxillery tranny cooler, then I never saw the light again. As far as being overfull, I know the 2nd gens are kind of a PITA to get it exactly right, but a quart is a bit much. I doubt any damage was done however, not like if it was too low and the light came on.

 

Mine has only come on 3 times.

1. Coming back from arizona and it was 100F+ and going up a long, shallow hill.

2. Bombing around the sand dunes for a while at 30-40mph

3. After going up a really steep hill fully loaded with 4 people and camping gear.

I need to get a tranny cooler.

Steve

 

This happened to me today. Pulling a long grade. I pull over to have a looksee and there is Tranny oil coating everything. I checked the level and it was too high. I let it sit for about 10 minutes, got back in and continued the rest of my 240 mile round trip. The oil was changed about 1800 miles ago by a Valvoline. I have a feeling those clowns overfilled it. I didn't see any specific location where the oil was coming from. Was it spewing out of the breather? The rest of my trip, I kept it under 3K rpm and didn't have it come back on - and no fresh oil out of the tranny. This is the first time this has happened to me in the 8 years I've owned this rig. This was also the first warm day since the service was done.

Do I need a tranny cooler? I don't tow anything (hidden hitch is coming off and will be for sale...).

Thanks in advance.

 

Cebby,

You might want to think twice about taking that hitch off. My sister has a hitch on her 3rd gen 4runner and when she was rearended by a lady in a small car, the hitch saved her back end. The lady was going pretty fast too. My sister was pushed into the truck in front of her. They were sitting at a light. The lady's car that hit her was totaled. All that happened to the back end of my sister's car was the bumper was dented up and the hitch was pushed down a little.

Did any 2nd gens come with factory tranny coolers? If so, how do I know if my truck has it?

 

Overfilling an auto tranny is bad. It causes foaming of the fluid which reduces lubrication and foaming can cause the tranny temp to go up (your light). It can also put too much pressure on the seals inside the tranny and cause more leaking.

If I remember right the stock setup uses a tranny cooler built into the radiator. If you look there are two lines that go into the radiator - those can be disonnected and then rubber lines run to an aftermarket cooler. I've also heard of some 2nd gens that have an extra tranny cooler on the frame under the truck but that is a horrible place to try and get airflow.

 

It will be replaced with a serious custom rear bumper with integral hitch receiver - not to worry.

That hitch is a nice rudder when wheelin'...