2002 tacoma 4wd auto transmission issues

Stopped to get gas 100 miles from home. After filling up the tank and pulling away from the pump and parking the rig, I came out from the gas station and fired it up. Reverse gear was going forward, so was neutral.

I put it in neutral and turned off the engine. My wife steered and I pushed and we got out of our parking spot. I figured if it still drives forward, maybe we could make it home. 100 yards down the road, up a small hill, the transmission slips a bit, so I head back to the gas station and call AAA.

Transmission fluid looks ok. Engine oil was low. It looks like the seal between the engine and transmission is leaking.

The truck is currently at a transmission shop in Redwood City awaiting prognosis.

Is there hope? Have any of you had a similar experience? As for the seal leaking, we just moved up from SoCal to the Bay Area, and my truck has rarely had to sit in weather dipping down to freezing temps. We were on our way home from a weekend trip to Mt. Shasta, where it was getting into freezing temps, and we did use the 4 wheel drive a bit on some back roads.



Wish me luck!

Edit: 214k on the truck.

 

mine started slipping and soon totally puked it's guts. i had it rebuilt. they had to replace all internals. if i had taken it in before it puked it might have saved me some money. good luck. mine cost about 2500 to rebuild

 

I just got the call and gave them the ok to go to work. They quoted $2,800 + tax.

 

How may miles did the trans have on it? It's pretty rare to see someone on here having transmission failure issues. Any other details? Has the truck been used for towing a lot?

 

i hope the reputation of the shop is impecible. i checked around for the best shop in my area. stay away from aamco.

 

It had 214k on the original transmission. I bought the truck with 114k on it, and I have to say I didn't really know to change the transmission fluid on a regular interval. I did change it about 40k miles ago however (took it to a dealership and they did a drain and fill job). I don't know if it was every changed before I owned the truck.

I've only towed with it once before earlier this year, towing a small uhaul trailer from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. I didn't push it too hard and kept my eye on the ATF temperature with my wifi OBDII scanner.

I've never had any problems with the transmission until today.

 

There is a shop nearby called Toy Auto Clinic in Redwood City. I've taken my truck there before - they only work on Toyota's and they only use OEM parts. I called them about the transmission this afternoon and they referred me to a shop down the street. According to online reviews they do good work. I think they're actually going to rebuild the transmission that is in my truck. They said it would take about 4-5 days.

 

Don't beat yourself up about not changing the fluid. It's easy to get the wrong impression by reading about us folks here on this website who are in the habit of doing that type maintenance. Most people never think to have their fluid changed. I doubt that caused the failure.

 

The guy at the transmission shop said they actually rebuild quite a few of these transmissions. I was surprised to hear that. He said they dropped the oil pan and found some shavings, but not alot. They dug in a bit deeper and discovered the planetary gear was toast.

 

Well, it's not because the 1st gen Taco transmissions are pieces of shit. It's because there are a lot of 1st gens still running strong and everything mechanical needs some TLC from time to time. Just think of it as you'll good to go for another 214k miles.