Engine Damage or Transmission?

I figured I would make a thread and see if by chance someone might point me in a direction I missed before I spend money having my transmission opened up.

Back story:

13 months ago my transmission went out and I bought a new one that claimed to have 50k on it. Installed it and never had any issues with it. January we did a trip and I got a little carried away and essentially lawn darted my truck off a mound at plaster city. Took it all to the bumper. Broke a light off the bumper and blew my alignment to shit. Engine died at an idle shortly after when we came to a stop but otherwise the truck ran fine the rest of the day aside from my rubbing issue from the new “adjustment” to the alignment.

Pic of said lawn dart for reference



Now:

Shortly after the trip I started noticing a surging when accelerating. The only way I could describe it would be “gear confusion” between third and fourth. Like it doesn’t know whether to shift up or down when I get to that point in the gear cycle. I took it to a trans shop that my dad uses and had the mechanic scan for codes in the transmission and it came back all negative. We did a road test and he told me it could possibly be that there wasn’t any pressure. The torque converter felt like it was engaging but there might not be enough pressure to shift. but the whole time he was talking he sounded like he wasn’t entirely certain with what he was telling me. He kept asking me are the plugs good? when was the last time you replaced the wires?. Stuff like that. I felt like he wasn’t certain of what he was telling me was the issue.
The guy himself is well regarded and isn’t a dummy. I know a few people who’ve gone to him with no complaints.

So as of right now my plan is to drop the transmission and bring it to him and have him open it on a bench and see if there is anything obvious inside that would warrant a rebuild.

I suppose my skepticism of how he diagnosed it and the fact that I had just replaced the transmission 1 year ago makes me wonder if it’s something else, possibly engine related that could be the culprit for the symptoms I’ve described. It definitely feels like it’s transmission to my knowledge but I’m having a hard time excepting such bad luck and figured I’d drop a thread on it and see what you guys think .

Could a hit to the front end like that affect the transmission or is it just coincidence in timing?

Is there other areas of the engine I should investigate before dropping the transmission and spending the money to have him open it up?

Any feed back is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

I remember you from that thread a few months (or more) back asking about your alignment after doing ^ that to your truck

Never noticed the winkle in the front fender until now

As for the issue, start simple: is there enough ATF in it?

 

Also another side note that I forgot to mention thats kind of important is the surging doesn’t seem to happen when the engine is cold. Once I’ve been driving for 15-20 minutes is when it starts acting up.

If it’s the transmission getting hot, the fluid will thin out which could cause less pressure in the transmission like the mechanic said.
So that could support the mechanics diagnosis

 

Haha yep. I’m back. We’ll call it wreckage of the past if you will.

Yeah checking fluid levels was the first thing I did. It was slightly low so I added about a half a quart and the problem remains

 

If there's nothing obviously mechanically wrong with it, I would suspect something electrical. Maybe a loose wire, connector or a malfunctioning sensor. If anything like that was marginal to begin with, lawn darting it could have pulled it apart.

 

Any dents in the pans or leaks?

How fast were you going and what gear was the trans in when the rear end set down?

 

I have access to a lift and plan to put it up hopefully this Saturday and kind of give everything a once over including wiring connections. That would be awesome if that was it but it just seems so unlikely.
Never know I guess

 

https://youtu.be/1xU-j-zNI-I

 

No dents. No leaks.

Looks like 2nd gear

 

Another thing you could do is plug an obdii scanner in while you're driving and have someone watch the sensor data coming in, especially when you're at the point where its acting up. This would work better if you had one of the scanners that can deal with the non-generic OBD codes and read the Toyota-specific stuff. ( for example: https://www.youcanic.com/guide/best-obd2-scanner-toyota-lexus-scion)

 

Was overdrive locked out? You lifted really early so it could have up shifted, and the last second throttle romp didn't look like it picked the nose up at all.

Your symptoms sound like you blew an O-ring on one of your Overdrive solenoids... which is a super unlikely thing to happen, it also won't throw a code, I've only seen it happen on a massive over-spin at glamis when the diff somehow didn't break... and after watching the vid, I would doubt that to be the case.

It could also be a sticky Solenoid... but the ECU will eventually throw a code for this.

 

Hmm. Interesting.
Overdrive could have very well been engaged.

 

The scanner I got is a basic Amazon one. I don’t think I know anyone that has a legit one like those

 

Is it just surging or is it actually changing gears?

 

Question, maybe to point the OP in a different direction to look at other things;

your wheels spun freely while in the air, even if for a moment, and the engine wasn't under any real load. You land, and a shock went throughout the entire drive line since the wheels landed and were met with real 'resistance'.

The transmission shifting into overdrive is a theory, but a good one.

What else would give out and break first in this kind of situation?

While you have it up on a lift, check out the drive shaft, joints, etc. for anything else that may have been damaged.

 

I am thinking that something shifted. While she is on the lift loosen all the mounts start her up and shift through the gears then re tighten. Double check all the grounds and harness routings too.

 

***Update***

Transmission guy opened my trans and can't find anything amiss. I'm having him replace the solenoids while he's got it open anyways. $700 and it should be ready for me to pick up tomorrow. Just have to see how it runs with the new solenoids and go from there.

Youd think the transmission guy would have checked all the electrical components and would’ve been able to figure that out so idk. Going to replace the rear main seal while the transmission is out and then probably re-install it this weekend hit it with some fluids and see how she runs.

Take it from there.

 

It seemed like it was changing gears. It was happening between third and fourth but the last time I drove it which was to the location that I pulled the transmission it began doing it between first and second as well. Again only after it warmed up did it start acting up

 

Gave everything a once over. Drive shaft, joints, etc. nothing seemed to be amiss

 

You made the General Lee look like a Ford Escort. Like to see a Dodge try that.. lol well done