3rd gen 4runner transmission problems

[JeepTreeHouse]

So we're about 325 miles from home (Southern Maryland) when the A/T oil temp light comes on in our 2001 Toyota 4runner. I check the trans cooler and it's cold. Check the dipstick and it's a bit low. So, amazingly, we come across a small shop/ supply store and buy a quart of dex II ATF. After adding the extra fluid, and idling for a few minutes the light went off.

Great, so we continue driving.... cautiously.

About 12 miles from wheeling, the light is back on. We have no choice but to make the final push into wheeling. Once at oglebay park we finally pulled into our weekend home. The transmission was smelling much more than usual, with the light still on and the trans cooler still cool to the touch.

So today it got dropped off at Fort Henrys Transmission.

Any one have any experiences with this place or any similar experiences with a Toyota transmission?

Also please note the truck is geared correctly for the tires, not pulling a trailer, and we took it very easy after the first time the light came on.

Any ideas?

 

[Applejack]

You mentioned the transmission cooler was cool to the touch. Is this an aftermarket auxiliary cooler or is it factory and cooled through the radiator?
You also said the tranny smelled more than normal. The fact that you can smell it normally has me wondering if something may have been going on for a while. My transmission has never emitted any smells.
Good Luck!

 

[JeepTreeHouse]

Normally (as in the entire time I've owned the vehicle) it has never smelled, but when I got to wheeling, after at least 12 miles of mountain grade hills with the at oil temp light on, it smelled like trans fluid.

No, I do not use the factory trans cooler through the radiator. I have a separate trans cooler mounted in front of the ac condenser, with the lines run under the radiator. I have never felt the need to touch this before to feel what it should "normally" feel like but on this occasion with the light on, I suspected it would be hot.

 

[JeepTreeHouse]

Fort Henry's transmission was able to take a look on Saturday (great guy by the way). He dropped the pan and changed out the fluid. He said that there was nothing more than normal wear and tear, nothing else really to note. He also told me the fluid looked fine and not burnt, like you might expect with symptoms like I was having. There were no leaks and the lines weren't kinked going into or out of the cooler.

The 4runner made it all 362 miles back home without a hiccup. No light at all. Also while getting gas I took a moment to feel the cooler. It felt just slightly warm.

So my thought process is that maybe somehow I was low on trans fluid, and there wasn't enough to cycle through to the cooler. And I know that I spilled a few drops getting the first bottle into the dipstick tube, so maybe I was just smelling the extra dips of trans oil burning out of the engine compartment.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Just FYI if you want to monitor ATF temp you can do that with a Scangauge II. I just put a SGII on mine for that very purpose since I pull a trailer.