You better not sell that 4Runner!!

 

...I dont think it'll be THAT exspensive....I hope. Just tranny exspensive...

 

i have no idea how much trannys cost to fix, but i betcha it ain't cheap.

...still waiting...its like waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop

 

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGING #@$@#$#@$#

metal shavings in the tranny. time for a new tranny, they say. well, since its going to get replaced sooner or later, im going to put some synchromesh in there. what do i have to lose at this point

and to continue the saga, has anyone had a rebuilt tranny or gotten a junkyard tranny put in? yeah, ill search, but for now im spent on this shizzle

bob

 

Crap Bob, I was worried it might be something like that if all the rear driveline checked out. I have no idea why all of a sudden the tranny gears would decide to go (increased torque likely, but why didn't they go earlier?.......who knows, sometimes you just can't logic it all out). Well, to answer your question, yes, alot of people have done the junkyard tranny route (both autos and manuals) so there is really nothing to fear there (except the damage to your wallet). Lucky for you there are alot of junkyards out in CA from which to find parts nearby with little shipping. Also I consider manuals slightly less risky to buy used than autos for obvious reasons but the best guarantee comes from dealing with a reputable salvage yard that will at least warranty the tranny for 30 days or so minimum.

Check www.car-parts.com and search for your specific vehicle, then start calling.

Hang in there.....it's just the old ship happens scenario.

 

Yeah, it really could be worse, just ask Mark (midiwall) . Seriously though, the MT could be snagged for around $400 I am guessing and with a little patience and some decent tools, you could swap it out in a Saturday. I am willing to bet someone on YT would help too.

There is something strange about all this though. This MT has an awesome reputation for durability. I just don't get it.

 

jamie and christian,

yeah, i thought these MTs are legendary for their durability? and yes, it does seem strange that it would crap out right after the clutch install. when you remove the tranny back, is there anything that could get knocked out of alignment? I dont think so, and thats what is so perplexing.

re junkyards, yeah, thats the route i'd like to go, but i need to make sure that i can handle this sort of job and find some local expertise too to assist

bob

 

i know you said your mech did the job and before it was fine. maybe you could get him to at least agree to help you put the MT in if not himself doing it (if you still use him). i checked ebay for ya and found nothing. around here, never see runners in the JY...3rd gens that is! a gazillion cherokees though!

 

Not really. It's all sealed. The only thing I can think of is if it was dropped, but then you would most likely have a cracked case.

Do you trust this mechanic, or is he shady?

 

mechanic is trust worthy, though inside, i am not terribly happy w/ him. not b/c of the tranny, but b/c when i picked up my 4runner ,he didnt mention this. when i drove it back after only 3 blocks, he siad "oh yeah, i noticed that too"

bob

 

That sounds a bit suspicious to me. You don't suppose he did a few clutch pops in higher gears to check the truck out on a road test do you? That is about the only thing I could thing of that might damage a tranny like that. Maybe speedshifting too but usually that just trashes the synchros. It is possible that it is just coincidence and that this just happened to occur right after the clutch install....or it could be something happened.....what makes it suspicious is that he didn't mention anything to you at all (likely cause he was nervous you might blame him, rightly or wrongly).

Did they change or drain the fluid in the tranny for some reason?
......you might be able to damage gears like that from lack of lubrication.

When you do replace it, take some time to teardown the old one to see if you can find a failure mode. It would be very good to know if this was human error or just freak occurrence.

 

jamie,

the reason he said that he didnt mention it was that he thought i had this problem before bringing it in his shop. he said he didnt road test it at all, and just drove it into the wokr bay and changed it on the rack. then he drove it out, so he jusut assumed it was like that

still...

anyways, when i got it home, i checked the tranny fluid and there was plenty t-fluid---enough to come out when i pulled the fill plug.

so yeah, that is why i am searching my fsm for anything that couldve affected teh tranny while he either pulled it off or didnt tighten down something or overtightened another. all pretty far fetched, but this whole thing sucks and makes no sense

i am though, spending alot of time on marlin crawler's site. seems everyone likes 'ol marlin to do their tranny rebuilds. stil have not figured out the process and the core charge thing

bob

 

So you're saying you just brought it in to him and told him to do a clutch on it?
.....not that you asked him if he thought it needed a clutch?

I used to take the vehicle for a spin just to make sure I understood what the customer was describing and sometimes it turned out to be somthing simple like a pedal adjustment. That way I saved them a bunch of money and won a longtime customer at the same time.

I did another clutch on a buddy's volvo once and assumed he had diagnosed it since he was begging me to put in a new clutch for him. I told him what parts to order, and finally one saturday we put it in. Well when I looked at the old clutch I knew right away that wasn't the issue. He paid for a clutch he didn't even need. Moral of the story is to make sure the mechanic does the diagnosis so he owns the repair (not saying this was the same as your case Bob) and can't say he didn't know.

 

jamie,

good tip re making him own the repair, but its a pain for him to do b/c the guy is so busy. we are pretty good friends b/c we used to do jujitsu together, so i didnt think twice that he was trying to rip me off or anything. but in this case, i am peeved that i think he feigned ignorance. but really, i dont know whats in the man's heart/mind. all i know is that i got one f'd tranny that will eventually die, so now its time to find a replacement.

however, whoever does the tranny rebuild on mine, i am going ot ask them to let me know what the problem is/was.

bob

 

bob,

opinion:
- don't go back to the same place. too much of a coincidence that major failure would occur right after the clutch replacement. worn synchronizers are one thing, but gear failure is totally another. Synchros are supposed to wear - they are the "wearable" replaced part, not gears.
Something else happened there - during the installation of your clutch.

Perhaps the proper clutch alignment was never done...who knows. You'll never get the straight answer from the shop. You could do some post-mortum on your own...but find a new trans first.

uber

 

Bob, I have to agree with uberhahn in that being buddies doesn't always mean that you're going to get better treatment than if you just went to an independent shop (since people don't want to disappoint friends or admit any wrongdoing). Sometimes liberties are even taken because you ARE friends so I would definately have an independent shop do the old tranny teardown (or do it yourself at home). If you can guilt this buddy of yours into cheap labor for a used tranny install, then go for it (call the Toyota dealer and ask them how many hours to R&R a manual tranny on your truck, then use that to figure out what shop rate your buddy is charging from his quote.....he should be cutting his advertized rate by about $10-20 per hour for a "friend").

 

Bob,

One stupid question. When the shop replaced the clutch did they replace the "throw-out" bearing? They tend to make a lot of noice when they go out.

 

hey guys,

thanks, and yea, i am not going back to the shop again. i will visit another transmission shop in the future when i have time. i got two good shops from lance, though they are a little far away.

now that i thikn about it, and 20/20 retrospect to the nth degree, i shouldve done this myself. :mad:

bob

 

Bob,

Me and my brother picked up a tranny from marlin a few years ago. He really hooked us up. we couldnt get there during the weeks so he open up the shop on saturday, we dropped off the core, tranny and they took a couple connectors and what not off and put them on the rebuilt tranny, triple checked everything for us, let us roam around the shop gawking at all the cool rigs. Then gave us a bunch of Marlin stuff because we drove up to pick up the tranny ourselves.
Tranny was all good, it stood up to my brothers driving for quite a while, and is still going strong, the guy who bought it is just as hard as my brother on the thing.

If the budget will allow for it go with a rebuild from Marlin, i had to replace the tranny in my 83 nad skimped out on the Marlin route and went with a cheaper rebuild, i now have tranny problems that need to be sorted out.

As far as the swap, should be easy enough, get a couple of buddies and rent a tranny jack, make sure it is in 100% operating order all the adjustment/tilt knobs work, has safety straps ect, other wise will be a waste of money, and you should be able to swap em in a long day of a couple normal days. Everyone should gain the experiance of a tranny swap at least once.

Good luck.

 

hey bob,buy a used tranny and put it in yourself..i installed a clutch in my 92 4runner v6 on the floor of my garage...it's not that difficult..there's alot of guys in here to help and guide you....i drained the transfercase and tranny before i removed them..and then filled it with new fluids after the install...wonder if they forgot to add fluid in your case...sorry to hear