Hello everyone. New to this forum but I like what I see so far. I just bought a 94 4runner 3.0 . Didn't know much about it except it was Toyota and they have a good rep for longevity and reliability. So I bought it but I notice that when idling in D theres a bit of shaking unless you increase the rpm's but it idles about 800 and from what I read that's what it should be idling at so could anyone tell me what's up with that?

Also, the biggest problem right now and the reason for the title of this thread is with the tranny. It doesn't like to upshift to higher gears after accelerating and reaching cruising speed. Once it does shift I cruise at about 2500 rpm @ 60 mph. Is that normal? Also, when I am maintaining a constant speed whether it be 30 - 60 mph there's some shaking that's not suspension related. It almost feels like it's either not getting enough fuel to maintain that speed in the gear that it's in or like it can't make up its mind if it's in the right gear or not. Like it wants to downshift but won't. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to what might be causing this? Would a tranny flush be a good idea for this or maybe a new fuel filter? Any input or advice would be great. Like I said, I just bought it and so far I absoutely love it but I need to learn more about it. This is the first import I've ever owned as well as 4WD so I'm in unfamiliar territory. Thanks in advance guys.

Kyle

Welcome to the AF!

Strange shifting may be either a thermostat or coolant temperature sensor. The trannys shift points are temperature dependent and one of those might be an easy fix.

Flush the tranny if the fluid looks old (but not disgusting). If disgusting, leave it alone and maybe change it in 3-quart pieces. Strange shift points are not normally due to dirty fluid.

For the bad idle, pull plug wires one at a time and see if any one particular wire has no effect (meaning doesn't make the idle worse). That would be the bad cylinder. Then you can figure out if it's fuel or spark to that cylinder. Compression check is useful also. It's easy and will quickly tell you to forget about spark and fuel if you have a bad cylinder.

If none of the cylinders have any more effect than the others, then you have a general problem like a bad coil or distributor or dirty intake, bad fuel pressure regulator, or something else that affects all the cylinders equally.

That engine is known to be hard on head gaskets. Keep an eye on the oil, coolant, and exhaust appearance.

I own a 2000 Toyota 4runner,2wd,v6. The auto trans slips and sometimes dosen't shift properly. Almost impossible to go up hill. Mech said that the three solenoids not functioning properly. Said impossible to remove them without major overall. We have no mech expert in trans. Are they correct.

This is my first posting. If I am unable to find this again, please email me at tokelau.express@yahoo.com Thanks saanapu