Transmission Issue

First post as I would like some advice.

I have a 2019 SR5 with just over 80,000 miles.

At the end of March I had a drain and fill done at the dealership.

The 4Runner has had an intermittent problem with the transmission not going in Drive from Park. Usually put it to Neutral and back to drive allows it to engage.

A few years ago we took it to dealership for the issue and they replaced the neutral switch. Was fine for a while and started acting up again a year or so ago.

Took it back to dealership for the issue and they said the neutral switch was going bad and needed to be replaced. Also said there was a leak from the transmission pan (I had started to notice spots in driveway). They recommended changing the gasket.

They replaced the neutral switch and changed the gasket. Left dealership and drove about 15 miles. Stopped at a gas station. When trying to leave, the transmission wouldn't do anything. Shifter moved freely but wouldn't engage in any gear.

Had the vehicle towed back to the garage. They looked at it the next day and said they didn't know what was wrong. No codes were being thrown. They needed a Toyota Master Mechanic to look at it.

As of today they are saying the transmission is toast and it will be $5,000 to replace.

Does all that sound right? When I had the drain and fill done in March the report says no issues with transmission and everything looked good. I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

I'm just a little suspicious that it went from occasionally not going into drive to the transmission is gone after them looking at it.

Any thoughts?

 

Get a second opinion. Sounds fishy. Like you're a nice little $5000 profit that may not be necessary.

 

Do dealerships ever take repaired vehicles for a test drive? I'm sure most don't. So now the customer drives off the lot and finds out there's an issue and has to get towed back. I had this happen once before and basically argued to the head service guy that their repair caused the issue. All because they didn't take it for a test drive.

Sorry for the rant and I hope you get it figured out.

 

They got you over a barrel as long as they have possession of the vehicle. You’re gonna have to be willing to pay for a tow home or another shop. They might want to charge you diagnostic time.

It kinda gives bad vibes that this happened after they removed the oil pan, but hopefully that has nothing to do with it.

If you’re able to take a look under it and have a bit of mechanical skill, you could tow it home to verify it has the proper transmission fluid level. You could also check if the neutral switch looks new, and make sure that it’s well adjusted. Maybe they didn’t go through the procedure to make sure the neutral switch is properly clocked so that it sends a N signal when it’s physically in N. This will give you an idea on how to verify that.

 

Was it having transmission problems before the drain and fill?

 

It had the issue of occasionally not going into drive. That had been an on and off problem for years.

 

Where do you live? Any 4x4 shops that work on 4runners or any independent Japanese auto repair shops near you? A second opinion is a good next step.
Are you a AAA member? They have towing services that might be free. Premier AAA members get one 200 mile tow a year and a few 100 mile tows. I upgraded my basic membership with 7 miles free after I towed my pilot 9 miles from my local Honda dealer to an independent shop. Those 2 extra miles cost same as my upgrade fee for premier membership.
In general Dealers cannot diagnose anything-just replace factory parts that are simple.
Hopefully there is a simple solution to your issue. Remember our runners have lots of wires and relays that MUST work correctly for our trucks to roll.

 

Any legitimate dealership makes their techs test drive all repaired vehicles. Porsche for instance requires documentation via time stamped images or before and after test drive mileages in order to properly pay out warranty work. If a dealer is not doing pre and post test drives people should stay clear from them.

 

I live in Western Maine. There are a couple independent shops that I use and trust. Not necessarily transmission specialists.
I need to call the dealership in the morning but they talked to my son today. They said solenoids were sticking and the transmission thought it was always in Dtive. Doesn’t make sense to me but I wouldn’t know.

 

I think old transmission fluid can gunk up solenoids. How many miles on truck? But wiring can also mess with tranny shifting. Could you have corrosion all over your tranny from winter brine? Some sensitive wiring is on sides and top of tranny.

 

Does your radiator have oily film in it?
The tranny has a cooler inside the radiator. Rarely this cooler failure contaminates the ATF in tranny- but hopefully the tech that drain & refilled your tranny noticed if the ATF was contaminated? Coolant in tranny is bad news, but usually clues of ATF in radiator overflow reservoir show up immediately.

 

For the amount of money involved, it will be worth finding a good independent mechanic to verify the basics. It’s very suspicious to go from otherwise working fine, minus the symptom of a bad neutral position switch, to the transmission being toast, precisely after they charged you for installing a new position switch and removing and resealing up the pan.

Did they return the faulty neutral switch to you after they replaced it?
If so, and they actually replaced it, there’s a chance it’s not correctly clocked/aligned. You’d hate to throw away a transmission and all that money for a simple adjustment. I’m also curious if they itemized at least 4 or 5 quarts of transmission fluid on the bill, because they would need that much after removing the pan. If they did not, I’d have trouble believing they sealed the pan.

There’s also a chance it’s as simple as the transmission’s fluid level is off. Sometimes techs get interrupted in the middle of jobs, which can lead to errors that aren’t caught. And transmission level is hard to verify on your own, so you are completely dependent on their word. And to catch a potential mistake, basically they need to re-do most of the work needed to change the oil in the pan.

It’s premature to accuse the dealer of negligent work or fraud at this point , but when this much money is on the line, and the “unfortunate” timing of the failure (which they should have reasonably caught before it left the shop), it’s perfectly reasonable to get a second opinion. One thing you can verify by comparing your in/out mileage, is if they took it for a test drive.

A good transmission shop could also replace solenoids without having to pull and replace the transmission, if the problem is in fact related to that.

At the very least, having a second set of eyes tell you the same thing as the dealer will help guarantee that this doesn’t turn into a wild goose chase that never ends.

 

Did you mention this preexisting problem to Toyota before initiating 'Drain and fill.

Paying for diagnosis might have saved you a lot headaches.

Reputable Independent transmission shops have hard core old techs that can take apart and rebuilt a transmission seamlessly.

Could just be a simple case of Solenoid replacement. Similar to my Old 2007 Camry Issues.

Just my 2c

 

So, is it going into the gear you want, but PRNDL is saying the wrong/different gear? Or does it not even go into the gear you want at all? Different issues. Different solutions.
Where I am from. If the neutral safety switch (again, where I'm from, trans range sensor) ever did, or was going weird, it would absolutely throw a code, (p705 from mem) and a dash light. So, if you didn't ever see a code or dash light, you and your dealership have been chasing a ghost the entire time. A gasket, nor a leak isn't the main issue for ether problem either.


Edit-Go get another opinion, and have someone that actually gives a shit tell you there is a buggered wire in the sensor harness or something silly, and easy, and a repair that requires zero parts.
Or, maybe your trans is scuffed.

"We need to replace your 5 year old trans,.. one of the most bullet proof trans ever made,... cut check, and then come back and see me after we install it for the same issue"

 

No, I didn't. It would happen maybe once a week and I was used to it. My son has been driving it lately and he backed into the road and it wouldn't go in drive immediately. It went in after going back to neutral, but it made him nervous so we made an appointment to have it looked at.

 

The transmission wouldn't engage in Drive. Typical situation would be to put it in reverse, back out of driveway and put it in Drive. The indicator would say D, but the car acted like it was in Neutral. Usually putting it into Neutral and back to Drive would have it engage. There were never any codes thrown.

The transmission could very well be toast. Just a hard pill to swallow considering it has been acting this way for years and only after they touched it did the transmission "fail".

I've decided to have it towed to an independent shop. Just need to figure out the best one. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

So a little update.

I contacted a local shop that I trust. Had the 4Runner towed to their shop. They had asked me to get the diagnostics from the dealership. The dealership said there were no diagnostics as no codes were being thrown. It was just their best guest that the solenoids were bad.

Local shop drops the pan and said the shaft was all "buggered up" and it defintely needed a new transmission. They weren't going to guess or speculate as to what happen. Apparently, the transmission is on national backorder so I'm waiting to see how long that is going to take.

I asked about either buying a remanufactured unit or having this one rebuilt but he said he hasn't had good luck with the shops in the State and wouldn't recommend one. He did give me a couple of names in case I wanted to call, but said again it wasn't a recommendation. I decided to just go with the one from Toyota.

 

"the shaft"?

 

Yeah, if all you were told was that it’s a “buggered up shaft”, it’s not a super satisfying diagnosis.

Maybe this just comes down to the mechanics calculating it’s not worth diagnostic time (or risk of being wrong about the dx), if they have the option of swapping it for a different transmission. Less rack time too, so they’re also not holding up other work.

I had something similar happen when a transmission failed on an Accord I used to own. They just directly told me they were’t going to diagnose (beyond the fact it stopped shifting out of second). But, they swapped it out for around 1800 for a factory rebuilt transmission in a day. That was way cheaper than I was fearing, so I didn’t really feel a need to push any more, since at that price, the diagnostic work would could have made a repair more expensive than a replacement.

One thing to keep in mind, I was under the impression that most transmissions from the factory are still remanufactured, as opposed to brand new.