About To Buy 2014 Limited, Previous Code Has Me Worried (P0776)

Hey guys, really need your advice.

about to buy my first 4Runner, a 2014 limited in beautiful condition from a private sale for 15K. Mileage is 175k. Frame is great, I drove it and it’s smooth as butter.

However, I took it to a shop she used and had them do a pre purchase inspection. It had the usual stuff like brakes and rotors and oil changes, even a new alternator in January of this year.

But the owner did share with me that about 3k miles ago it threw a code P0776 (pressure control solenoid B) in the transmission.

the shop replaced the old fluid with fresh fluid, replaced the trans fluid filter, replaced the neutral safety switch and this cleared the code. Supposedly no issues since in a few thousand miles.


My question is, has anyone had experience with this code? Is it indicative of a bigger transmission issue coming down the road? The fact that it’s being sold shortly after the code has me worried but it could be nothing honestly. Shop said it has zero codes and no issues driving now.


What would you do?


Thanks

 

The trans in these are practically bulletproof
I have driven one to 275,000 miles and never touched it and had no problems
I currently have 265,000 on my current daily and have never touched the trans and have no problems
My wife took her first 2012 to 150,000 before selling, again never touched the trans
My daughters current 2012 has 225,000'ish miles and again, no trans troubles ever

I cant guarantee that you wont ever have a problem with the trans but that code was likely a fluke. Every now and again my current daily (2008 4r) has a weird fluke that has always resolved itself. Every now and again you'll crank it and it cough and stumble like you pulled two spark plugs. Cut it off and crank it back up and its clear as normal. Once or twice the rear window wiper just started wiping the back glass on its own, with the vehicle parked and nobody touching it. Twice now i have gone out to crank it after work and every light on the dash is on, ABS, traction control, DAC, check engine, all of them and the code is something stupid that makes no sense saying the ABS module was bad even though it worked perfectly fine. I drove it worried sick for three weeks with every light on the dash on and then one day it just fixed itself. Weird quirks like a funny rattle and misfire might concern you but my current daily coughs and sneezes and then goes right back to running perfectly fine. These things are built far better than anything else on the road.

 

Has the atf been changed prior to this service?

 

The code was probably caused by the 11 years and 172k on original fluid. Makes you wonder if the other valves in the transmission may seize up.

https://www.4runners.com/threads/delayed-engagement.45758/

Have you inspected the vehicle for typical 5th gen issues? XREAS shock leak, steering rack leak, timing cover leak, transfer case actuator leak? Center diff lock works? 4Low works? Tailgate window goes up and down? Any sign of interior wetting from sunroof or roof rack leakage?

 

I’ll see if she has any service records from the previous owner but my guess is no, I was wondering the same. If it means it had all those miles with no

she’s only owned it for four years though so alll those miles aren’t from her

 

I couldn’t get 4lo to engage actually. It blinked and beeps. Most likely needs to have those bolts on the actuator loosened so it can engage I doubt she ever used it.

shop looked over everything for leaks and all that so that’s all good

 

^The actuator needs to be removed to either replace with new one or be opened up for cleaning/relube (likelihood of success not good). You'd need to split the transfer case to get at the bolts holding the actuator in place.

Replacement actuator is $1200-$1700: https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~actuator~assy~trans~36410-60093.html

 

I had seen this and the many comments saying it worked for them so I thought it was simpler than that. Perhaps that’s not the case then.
https://youtu.be/pedBianZA8Q?si=TAXSwvIwSZry-bNV

 

Welcome

 

Dealership that she purchased it from said they’ll send me the service history this afternoon, hoping to see good news on the trans fluid having been done.

Seller agreed to drop the price to 14,500. Worst case scenario, how much would you expect to spend to swap a transmission if it ever came to that? 5k?

 

Spoke to shop who did the trans fluid and they confirmed OEM fluid and OEM Neutral safety switch installed at 170k.

Is the correct service interval for this 100k? I have seen a million different recommendations even here on this forum.

 

You’ll get several different answers. Toyota states 60k under normal driving. Some do it sooner and others swear by much longer intervals and have had no issue.

If you have gotten the VIN, create an account on the Toyota website to search maintenance history.

account.toyota.com

 

The 2014 maintenance booklet says to "inspect" the fluid every 30k with normal usage, and to replace the fluid every 60k if towing or heavily loaded.

Call up a transmission shop in your area like Aamco for information on transmission replacement costs if you are curious.

 

how do you search the maintenance history? I’ve only been able to find the lookup for the vin to show model info like trim and package etc

 

This needs to be sorted out before you buy it-or have price reduced $2000 -2500. On my Limited, switching to a different mode, in N, stopped, takes a few seconds and it blinks then solid. Same for switching back. If it beeps and you are stopped and in N, the actuator is likely bound. These need to be engaged once a month.

 

Need to find service history under my vehicle.

 

https://www.toyota.com/owners/vehicle-dashboard/

 

I think this one is going to be a pass unfortunately.

seller is not willing to come down from the 15K and that issue is not resolved with the actuator.

someone else will buy and probably not notice but I can’t go for it.

thank you guys for saving me from making a big mistake. I appreciate you all

 

Smart move. The price is fair IF all things work.

 

Keep looking, they are out there.

 

If anyone is selling one here in the northeast, feel free to pm me.

I’m in the market, budget is about 20k