apparently, the tranny cooler housed in the radiator "burst" without warning yesterday, wiping out my transmission, etc. etc. estimated repair cost is $4200.

this vehicle is ONE MONTH out of warranty and is REALLY shaking my faith in Toyota.

anyone know of tech bulletins/advisories issued for this problem?

advice appreciated.

thanks.

 

If you get the service done by Toyota, they may help you out of good faith, I know when my buddies Matrix tranny went because of lack of maint. he had to pay 1/3 Toyota Canada picked up a 1/3, and the dealer picked up a 1/3; he never bought the car from that dealer either. This was totally his fault; and it was 20k km's out of warranty.

It never hurts to ask...

 

Ouch that hurts......why didn't you stop driving when the cooler blew? Could've saved your tranny

 

Well it being internal, I'm sure he didn't see it, those integrated tranny coolers are JUNK!! If I had an auto; first thing I would do is swap it out for a external tranny cooler.

 

there was VERY little indication that something was wrong until it was VERY wrong.

Until Tuesday, I was one of Toyota's biggest fans. now...not so much.

 

Have you damaged the radiator or tranny cooler section at all? Maybe it was just bad luck.....sh#t happens.....So whats your plan? You gonna get the tranny rebuilt?

 

awaiting word from the Dealer.

 

What year, make, and how many miles is this vehical? Was the radiator serviced per Toyota's recommendation (was the radiator fluid changed every 30K to prevent internal corrosion)? Good luck I hope Toyota can work something out for you.

 

I saw where that happened to another guy too. My radiator cooler has been totally bypassed now and replaced with one of these coolers:
http://www.importperformancetrans.com/coolers.shtml Note they have a built-in bypass for cold temps.

My tranny temps run around 160-190 F with a the hottest I've seen it 205 F on a 100 degree day after a long drive. My coolant temps run hotter than that so there is no way the radiator cooler would be helping in my case. I did seal off the ends of the radiator ATF cooler just in case there is a rupture I won't lose coolant.

 

appreciate the replies.

this is an 2002 model with 70,000 miles.

yes, I had this vehicle serviced at Toyota from day one.

 

What did you end up doing?

 

Wow, I am getting very nervous about my 02 4runner. I have only had it for about a year but with this and the issues with the tranny is making me wonder if I made a bad choice. My 99 taco never had an issue

 

That's it. I have read enough of these posts to make me purchase an external tranny cooler right away just to be on the safe side. Good luck with the dealer man. That really sucks.

Dale, I know you said that you sealed off the ends of the radiator ATF cooler but what if the radiator bursts but doesn't leak because you have sealed it? Do you think that it would be better to drive around for a while with a burst radiator even though it's not leaking than to have it leak so you know almost right away?

I know you don't want anything to get in through the ports that could accelerate the corosion process.... Maybe it would be better to just block them off completely.

 

I'm not sure I get your concern Maybe it will help if I decribe it (I wish I'd taken a picture last time I saw one.)

The internal ATF cooler is basicly a large thin tube heat exchanger. It is completely surrounded by coolant inside the radiator. If the tube gets a hole in it it doesn't effect the flow of the coolant though the radiator. I guess its possible if the whole tube broke loose and moved over to the outlet of the radiator it could partly block the flow of coolant out of the radiator, but that would be still be minor compared to losing all your coolant.

 

Yeah, I had no idea what the inside of the radiator was like. I was just concerned that if it burst, then maybe the coolant would stop flowing through correctly leading to over heating problems.

 

I would assume that either there is a pin hole from corrosion in the internal cooler tube or a weld problem/crack in the tube...either way coolant flow should not be effected if the cooler tubes are sealed/or connected with a hose....

 

did the a/t temp warning light come on at all? I just picked up an 02 runner sport edition with 106k miles 2 weeks ago. This is making me worried.

were there any symptoms before the tranny fried/melted? anything i could look out for so if it happens to me or anyone else, we can shut it down to prevent catastrophic damage?

 

I'd say the first warning you might get would be the engine over-heating from losing coolant or the tranny shifting strangely. Both would be after the tranny has been mostly filled with coolant (too late). Funny but shutting down the engine is when the coolant goes into the tranny the fastest because the radiator has pressure at shut down but the ATF return line pressure goes to zero when you shut off the engine.

I'd recommend bypassing the OEM radiator cooler before it happens and replacing it with an aftermarket ATF cooler. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/b...cooler-126953/

 

After i read the first post of this happeneing to someone, i immediatly bought an external ATF cooler, and is in my parts pile to be installed upon my arrival home. For 70 bucks there no reason to not put an aftermarket cooler and save your tranny from possibly being ruined.

 

This should be a sticky, like the rusting Tacomas.