Hi Roger;
I have a 94 4Runner, 5 speed, that is starting to jump out
of gear in first and third. It has about
150k miles on it. Any thoughts?
·
David Emmet
Hi David;
If there is a lot of play in the shifter, this web page may
help:
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/shifter/index.html
It covers replacing the shifter seat bushing. When its worn, it can allow excessive play in
the shifter and that can lead to difficulty shifting into gear as well as
letting it pop out of gear.
·
Roger
(A reply from David)
Hi Roger;
I did the repair you suggested to the shifter of my
4Runner, and it now shifts perfectly and no longer jumps out of gear! Thanks so much!
·
David
Hi David;
I’m glad the article was helpful, the real thanks should
go to Ken Flesher for writing the article.
·
Roger
Hi Roger;
The rear axle seal in my Toyota 4Runner is leaking and I
need to replace it. The shoes are wet
from the axle oil and I am worried about safety. The part was only like $6.00 that I
bought. I would appreciate any tips as
how to do it and what’s involved. Thank
you.
·
Matt
Hi Matt;
The replacement procedure is covered in the Factory
Service Manual and likely in other repair manuals. There is also a full write-up on-line:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/rear_axle/wheel_bearing/
If the oil is getting past the wheel bearing and oil seal
and into the brakes, then you’ll likely need a press to remove and replace the
wheel bearings.
·
Roger
Hi Roger;
I have an 87 4runner and my AC just quit one day. Now the button doesn’t light up when
pushed. I can’t find a fuse either. Any ideas?
Thanks
·
Dave
Hi Dave;
Pull the glove box and look on the passenger side of the
center section of the lower dash. Also,
if the Freon pressure is low enough, the A/C is prevented from turning on, no
light on the dash, no compressor clutch.
·
Roger
(A reply from Dave)
Hi Roger;
Thank you. I have
had the glove box out before and couldn’t find any fuses there, but you say
lower left of the hole, once the box is out?
Is there a cover that makes it look like part of the heater
ductwork? The AC seemed good and cold
when it stopped so do you think low Freon is still a possibility? Thanks
·
Dave
Hi Dave;
It is located in the center of the dash, just to the left
of the glove box. There are a few relays
and fuses tucked back in there, above the radio. Regarding the low Freon, it may have blown a
hose or something like that, I’ve had that happen before.
·
Roger
(Another reply from Dave)
Hi Roger;
I don’t know how I missed the fuses there before. Found the A/C and heater fuses. The A/C 10-amp fuse was blown. All I had was a 15-amp fuse and my A/C worked
fine going home for lunch. I got in to
show my wife after lunch and it must have blown the 15-amp fuse, nothing
happens again. Maybe the hot wire to the
compressor clutch is shorting against something. Now, what do you think? Thanks
·
Dave
Hi Dave;
To troubleshoot further, you’ll need to get a wiring
diagram and start checking out the circuit.
Use and ohm-meter to check for resistances in the circuit itself as well
as from that circuit to ground (i.e. a short circuit). Best strategy is to “divide and conquer”, try
to split the circuit in half (approximately) and see if you can rule out one
half as being good, then concentrate on the other half, repeating the
troubleshooting strategy if needed.
Finding intermittent electrical problems can be frustrating and time
consuming. One other strategy is to see
if you can bypass the factory wiring with some new wires and see if that fixes
the problem. If so, either run with the
new wires, or dig into the stock wiring and try to find and repair the problem.
·
Roger
Hi Roger;
I hope you can help me with this problem I am having with
my automatic transmission. I have an ‘85
4Runner with an A/T and around 278,000 miles on it. When I purchased this truck about a year ago,
it had a block lift and stiff 18-year-old leaf springs. When going over bumps, it would sometimes pop
out of gear into neutral. Then while
driving on the highway at 65 mph, my transmission decided to drop into 1st
gear. So it was replaced with a slightly
newer transmission with around 100,000 miles on it.
I replaced the suspension with AOR set of springs and
crossover steering. So now, on the
street, I don’t have trouble with the transmission popping out of gear. However, you knew this was coming, when I am
off road it will pop out of gear while I am climbing (and bouncing) up a
hill. I’ve been told there is an
adjustment, but I need to be careful about the indexing. Can you give me any direction here? Might there be any other causes to this
behavior?
Thanks for your help.
·
Matt
Hi Matt;
Is there any body lift on the vehicle? If so, that is the likely cause. I would look at the area where the shifter
passes through the floor of the vehicle.
Its likely when the body shifts relative to the frame off-road, there
might be some interference between the shift linkage that is mounted to the
transmission/transfer case and the shifters.
One way to check is to try and remove all the shifter boots and console
covering so you can see what’s going on.
Then try and find a safe, out of the way place where you can test it
out. If you find you can’t repeat the
problem it could be just the boots and console are causing the problem. I have some adjustment instructions on my web
page; they are a bit detailed, with pictures, so best to read it on-line:
http://www.4Crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/BodyLift_HowTo.shtml#AutomaticTranny1
·
Roger
(A reply from Matt)
Hi Roger,
There is no body lift on this truck. You do have some good suggestions that I will
look into. Thanks.
·
Matt
Hi Matt;
Even w/o a body lift, there can be binding in the A/T
shift linkage. With the brackets I make
for the body lifted trucks, there seems to be a wide amount of variation in the
stock shift linkage. Most work fine
lifted 1”, but some need brackets there.
At 2” most need brackets, but some don’t. At 3” of lift, all need some sort of bracket,
but some run a 2” bracket, some 3”; some need to bend the linkage and/or
brackets to fit, etc. In your case,
since the common factor you have between the two transmissions is the shifters
and shift linkage, then I would look to that as the source of the problem. There are also some pivot points in the
linkage that can get loose over time.
They can usually be tightened up with new bushings.
·
Roger
Note:
If you are searching for, building, modifying, or
maintaining a Toyota 4WD mini-truck (Pickup, Hilux, 4Runner, Surf, or Tacoma),
send your Truck Tech questions to Roger Brown at <TruckEditor@tlca.org>. I’ll try to answer your questions with
authority!