2000 Tacoma V6 3.4L Automatic 218,000 miles - Owned since 11,000 miles.

First off, i know very little mechanically speaking. Anything i know I've learned recently trying to resolve this headache.
My truck had been sitting for one month while i was out of town. Previous to this was driving amazing. When i took it for the first drive it was engaging hard and within a few trips was shaking, grinding and going out of gear at stops. CEL came on with P0770 code (shift solenoid 'E') I took it to my usual mechanic and was recommended to Trans shop. Trans shop said my torque converter was toast and sold me on torque converter and rebuilt tranny. Repair was done in mid December. Ever since repair truck hasn't been quite right. Drove funky out the shop and code comes on shortly after. I've taken back to trans shop 3-4 times now and it is driving worse as time passes. Mechanic has told me he has done everything he can or feels he was obligated to do. Other shops diagnoses would beg to differ and all seem to point back to his work.
The current symptoms are CEL code P0770. Truck drives AMAZING on freeway. Issues arise when slowing down on offramp, at slower speeds and mainly at stops. At stops i'll get the vibrating, harsh shutter, RPMS bouncing and truck stalls out. Starts right back up. Two of the times it had it's melt down the A/T oil light has come on- I've never seen this in the 15 years i've owned truck.
Seems sluggish on steep hills at slow speeds. I have fluctuating RPM when i start truck, intermittently and at stops when it is going in to melt down mode. Seems to be shifting relatively 'OK'
Things I and other mechanics have serviced or checked into are-
Testing and cleaning MAP, TPS, IAC, Throttle body. Found and fixed 2 torn hoses. Toyota diagnosed that Trans mechanic should have replaced valve body if oil had as much metal in it as he had claimed. They said it was either that or that Trans mech had done something wrong while working on it but gave him the benefit of the doubt and leaned towards valve body. Trans mech replaced valve body and called me to say it was driving like ˟˟˟˟. Next shops diagnoses- ''when hooked to scanner felt as if torque converter was locking up and bogging down motor'' They also told me my tranny fluid was absurdly over filled. All other shops have said they could not give me a rock solid diagnosis unless we opened everything up and would cost major buck$$$
My experience with Trans mech has been completely infuriating. Due to my mechanical ignorance i took his word and thought maybe it was something else and that he had really done what he was obligated. Thats why it has dragged out for so long. It should be covered under the warranty but i don't want him to touch my truck. I must point out a few of his RED FLAGS- 1- When i first picked up truck the 4x4 light no longer worked, could not shift from 4WD to neutral or 4 low without HARSH grinding. 2- His words ''I've been having a lot of headaches with Toyotas, seriously considering not taking them on anymore'' 3- Asked me to do some research on what the issue could be. Ummm.. I just paid you 2300 and you want me to do what? 4- Misadjusted throttle cables and the obscenely over filled tranny fluid.
Now, I've been advised to take legal action. I wanted to ask the 'experts' -you guys- what you think about the situation or if there are possible over looked issues that could be the culprit? Thoughts? Advice?

Thank you and condolences if you've made it through this Novel.

 

Virtually every shop that does such work will give you at least a 12 months warranty. Sounds like the shop/mechanic will need to pony up. I've seen shops/mechanics pay other shops to fix their mess/mistake

 

That sucks. Why I'm ever hesitant to bring what I own to a shop. Bad trans shop. Was the place even ASE certified? Wonder what the contract was when it came to issues after the fact...that's between you and the mechanic. I'd find out how to get either reimbursed or get this settled before you tell the shop that you're filing a civil suit against them (but be prepared to let him know).

It seems he really did do what he could, though it isn't by any means satisfactory. Seems like Toyotas aren't his specialty, so that's a risk you took taking it there.

Look up the code and educate yourself. You'll learn more than you thought possible. Tons of stuff on CEL codes online. I'm battling a P0740 right now on a different make and after reading what it is and what it means as far as transmission life expectancy, I feel much more relieved. And I'm doing whatever I can to keep it out of a shop.

But if fixing isn't your thing, just know where to take your Toyota to. Dealership is safest, but most expensive. Next would be a shop that specializes in the make. Know what parts they use (used! / aftermarket / OEM) and request to get the old part (if feasibly possible...I know a transmission would be too much). Also, you've got every right to observe how the work's being done.

Hope you and that shop can find the middle ground. Otherwise, plan your legal action.

 

Sitting for a month? My money is on a packrat.

 

Dang.......just got the code P0770 and it won't go away......occasional soring of tranny temp to 202 degrees or so on highway at a casual 70 mph(very unusual for my o1 Tacoma, usually at 140 degrees)
Now I have to research it a bit.

 

going to try a new filter and new atf with a quart of Lucas first. inspect the residue and possibly inspect the SL solenoid #3

 

Ok...still getting code PO770 .

It's really important to have a method of monitoring the tranny output temperature as it's more dynamic. It's a real measure of the work or heat being expelled from the transmission.
I have a scangauge2.

first step is to add a much better quality tranny fluid...maybe change it 2 or 3 times.
Took the full 4 quarts to get it to the minimum level range.
Synthetic....my first time in the tranny..

 

I have the same code P-0770 after a 3,000 dollar rebuild of my transmission. I have taken it back to the shop that did the work three times, but nothing changes.
I keep hearing that it may be a wiring issue, or maybe the TCP is acting up. This 4Runner is my limited and it has DUMMY( traction) control on it, That's where all the problems start. I bought this 4Runner in may so have had it about six months a previous owner has a traction control bypass toggle switch on the dash, So you
can turn off TRAC and VSC. I didn't have any problems with my 4Runner until the transmission was rebuilt,so I don't believe its a wiring issue or TCP , I am so
hoping that I was not ripped off by this shop, So disappointed with this car I think getting rid of it would be best.

 

Ya, I sympathize with you, toyotatwin. I changed the atf twice and no change, of course.
Having a scangauge2 allows me to see the tranny temps increasing when I go over 65 mph.
A very good thing to monitor.
My second step is to replace the S3 solenoid(lock-up solenoid).
Let you guys know how that goes.

 

to the top again.....
ok, gonna contact Staceman and he will help me get the shift lock-up solenoid S3 for wholesale or similar. Probably 200....maybe less but still a chunk of change.

By the way, this 01 Taco still has the original 3 fan belts with 198k miles on them...and original timing belt.

 

Solenoid kit for the A340F
About 152 on Amazon.......

 

Here's the workbench on my truck It's nice to have a perfectly flat surface for camping....
setting up the burner and making sandwiches. The tire carrier had to be modified to
accept the larger tire. Board is 52" x 15"






Things I took off.....





Some of the basic tools used





I broke open the bag of goodies....





These 2 solenoids were ziplocked by themselves.






Which means this one must be the lockup solenoid






I drained most of the fluid and dropped the pan.
The fluid was in really good shape but still going to replace the filter shown.





See the 2 shift solenoids? one has a white wire and one is black.




And towards the front of the tranny is the lock-up(yellow wire).

 

The filter is removed....comes off easy with four 10mm bolts. Another 1/2 cup will come out.






Much better view without the filter.






3 bolts holds 2 solenoids. With the filter in place you cannot get this bolt out.
I think it's 8mm.





Lockup solenoid.

 

The 3 solenoids plugged right in....the long yellow wire one is the lockup.
the white wire is the 1st solenoid.
Black wire is #2.








The supplied bracket worked nice....3 bolts holds it in place.
The routing of the red wires....who cares.





Another angle of the 2 solenoids.





Last but not least is the lockup.
The bracket fit nicely.
The yellow wire does not really tuck in much.....
so I'm gonna let it hang. No reason not to.
Plenty of room in the pan.

 

First, I walked to the Irish restaurant ( McDonalds) and had a #3.
With renewed strength, I was then able to make it to O'reilly's and picked up this filter and rubber gasket for 30.




Mounted up with the 4 bolts.
Against my better judgement I decided to tie rap the loose wires up a little.




Thoroughly cleaned the orange fipg off with a high speed wire brush.
Magnets had some fuzzy haze of metal on them.




Cleaned this surface too. The solenoids are larger than oem but there were no installation issues.
Buttoned it up and added 4 quarts.
Sorry about the lack of pictures but darkness was coming so had to hurry it up.
Changing the 3 solenoids was easy by the way.

 

Took it out for a test spin. When I first put it in D, I was wondering if it would even move....and it did!!!
All 4 gears work ok it seems but I won't know for sure about the highway issue with the lockup until I actually reach highway speeds....and that will happen tomorrow. One thing I did notice.....my ECT PWR button works now for the first time in a year. When I push the button the ECT lights up green in the dash. In ECT mode, taking off from the lights now I can get up to 4500 rpm in first with only half a pedal....this is wonderful. I'm sure the ECT function was somehow tied to my code 770.

 

Highway test--------still get the code 770 and the resultant higher tranny temp fluctuations. In 3rd gear, the tranny temps were a steady 145 and engaging overdrive results in a steadily increasing temp up to about 177ish.....quickly letting off on the gas at that point saw a spike of about 200.

The ECT PWR function works though.

So, I believe the code 770 can be fixed by replacing the torque converter itself. Was not looking forward to dropping the tranny but I think I'm up to it.
Now to find a good source for the TC......

 

So I'm looking at replacing the TC or the whole tranny.......

I may take it a step at a time and replace just the TC.
Anybody have an idea how involved it might be? Maybe a pdf file of just the auto tranny section? 1st gen Taco.

 

I might know hypoid gears but I am just learning about these tranny gears

I'm learning new stuff here about the "TCC"....it is a function of the TC.....

fast forward to 11:10

Go to youtube and search for " Torque Converters Explained -EricTheCarGuy "

 

hmmmm.....wonder if I can dis-able the OD lockup function to see if that is the source of the "heat".
So, after researching a little, it looks like if I clip pin 7 for the SL solenoid that I will be able to use
4th gear without the "lock-up" circuit active. That will tell me a ton of info if I drive on the highway
in 4th and the temps do not increase any more than they would in 3rd gear (presently around
144 degrees in 3rd). If the temps stay low then the TCC clutchpack is the prob.
By the way, if I already didn't mention it, putting in the 3 solenoids was basically a 1 banana operation.
I used no rtv with the supplied rubber gasket in the tranny filter kit and not a leak at all.