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Help!!!

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Clint76

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Oct 25, 2018
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Hi! I’m new to this club and in need of some help! We have a 120 series Toyota prado (2003, v6 petrol). December 2017 we put a reconditioned motor in it & had no problems until the past 3 months with transmission problems. Today our 20 day old reconditioned transmission died whilst driving on the highway with my family on board. Any ideas what’s going on?
Auto electrician has had the car on the computer and no faults showed up.
Fluids are all good, there’s is no smell. Car was cruising along doing 100kms & all of a sudden it was like it was in Neutral. Rolled to the side of the highway and got a tow truck to bring it home.
 
What is the situation on the radiator and transmission cooler? Sometimes water can cross from the radiator into the transmission fluid killing the auto boxes quite quickly. I don't know those prados very well and if they do share the coolers in that type of setup. It should be the first thing you have checked though.

Changing the fluid out sometimes works ... but yours sounds quite far gone.
 
That was one of the 1st things we checked and it’s all normal.
 
What is the colour/smell of the fluid? Is it old enough to be able to check it still or is it one of the sealed for life ones?
 
to follow on from what Grant said coolant levels won't go down they just mix with oil .

Other than that i'd maybe change the clutch fluid albeit without much hope of it remedying the problem , cheap and simple and it might reveal your slave cylinder has been sucking air or something ?
 
Shayne said:
to follow on from what Grant said coolant levels won't go down they just mix with oil .

Other than that i'd maybe change the clutch fluid albeit without much hope of it remedying the problem , cheap and simple and it might reveal your slave cylinder has been sucking air or something ?
Click to expand...

I think it's an auto Shayne. Is a 2003 a 120 or 150?
 
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Easy things first, check all your fuses are intact by pulling them and using a meter. Look under the truck for any damage to wiring. Separate connectors and check for corrosion. Look for cracks in the wiring and any bubbles in the insulation. These could indicate corrosion.

Was there any event that happened just before you started getting problems?
 
Thanks for your replies. From what I can see it’s sealed. New transmission fluid was put in the car with the last transmission (was 20 days ago and less than 1500kms).

I’ll double/triple check your suggestions.

Nothing major happened. We where driving down the highway doing 100kms and all of a sudden there was no power to accelerate it was like the car had been put out of drive into neutral (the same thing happened the past 2 times). Tried putting it in 4x4 (as been told that can work) and didn’t move. So called a tow truck (again).

And yes it’s an Automatic 2003 120 series Prado Grande
 
So this has happened 3 times in total Clint, the first two times it recovered, the third time it didn’t.

Do you have any sort of warranty on the reconditioned transmission?

For what reason was the transmission changed? What symptoms did the last one have?
 
I've not had any experience of fiddling with them, but there is a pressure control solenoid (35290-50010) on the side of the box that apparently sometimes fails and can lead to loss of drive. If it is intermittent, as SC said, check all the connectors are tight and clean and look for damaged wires. Or, best of all, get the place that you got the box from to sort it !
 
Both times I’ve replaced the transmission, box 1 & 2 really smelt, before pulling #2 our auto electrician came out and put the car on the computer- no faults came up & it was reading the transmission but not it’s gears. So we replaced the box. #3 is 20 days old & since putting it in had no dramas. Wife says I’m mad cause I’m constantly checking the oils & fluids in the car. It’s from a wreckers the box as funds are very tight they changed it over last time but don’t no what will/would happen this time.
 
We are currently stranded at home as it’s our only vechicle (kids will be climbing the walls) & all our family live a few hours away so have no idea where to go from here. Biggest waste of money I’ve ever spent (wife had 100 series cruiser and we downsized)
 
It sounds like you could have been replacing the transmission and the fault lies elsewhere. Or, worst case, there’s a problem elsewhere that’s causing damage to the transmission, such as coolant getting in via the transmission cooler in the base of the radiator or a blockage somewhere.

Forgetting the computer for the minute, some old fashioned diagnostics are needed here.

However good you are with the spanners, do this yourself or with a mate. Identify the wiring that changes the gears, download a manual if you can, they are usually excellent. Check the wiring to the gearbox. Unplug it and check resistances to the solenoids within the box. Also check for ATF leaks, check for ATF in your radiator.

In failing like it has it sounds electrical. Check for voltage at the car side of the connector when the gears are changed. Not sure how much of this is possible on this vehicle. Techstream is a low cost diagnostic that a lot of guys use. It sounds like lost power. A normal diagnostic is to wiggle wires while it’s died but this would be tricky and hazardous with the truck running.

My advice here is generic as I don’t know your truck inside out but it’s good troubleshooting.
 
Contact Jason at Townsvillegearboxes.com he will give you all the info you need
 
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