1st gen 2001 Tacoma Auto Trans Problems

Maybe 2 weeks ago I noticed my transmission was making shifting pretty hard but it got better when the truck warmed up. Then i noticed a rattling sound when it was in any gear except park and neutral sounded like a can being thrown around. My buddy thought it was the cat converter but I am quite positive the sound was coming from the trans. Last night driving home the truck stopped accelerating no matter what 1st, 2nd, d, reverse. No response it didnt move any direction and the truck acted as if it was in neutral I ended up getting it towed home. Anyone else ever experience this and what should i do? Replace the trans? rebuild it? I have never dealt with anything like this before

 

You don't mention how many miles are on the transmission or the condition of the fluid, if its been changed recently or if the level is low, which would aid in troubleshooting.

I recently had my tranny rebuilt, it didn't have the same symptoms as yours, with the exception of it shifting better after warming up. My mechanic said that was due to some debris that wedges itself in the valve body and when it warms up, the tolerances increase and the fluid bypasses the obtruction and shifts.

At the very least, I'd drain the fluid and drop the pan. There are magnets in the bottom of the pan to collect any metal that may be shedding itself from either a bearing going out or from anything else thats metal to prevent it from circulating through the tranny.

If you have any metal collecting on the magnets, I'd give some serious consideration to either having it rebuilt or droping in a reman tranny. I wouldn't mess with another tranny from a wrecking yard as you will probably be throwing more money into it and be in the same position you are now.

To kinda give you an idea, it cost me a little over $2800 to have my 02' DC tranny completely rebuilt, and now it drives and shifts as it should. Hope this helps, good luck.