What happened?! Transmission??

Also sub'd to see what they do for you. Good luck OP

 

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Just gave them a call, and I guess they had the wrong number for me.

The clutch fan broke, so they are fixing that tomorrow. Assuming that is the only issue, I should have it back tomorrow!

I guess that makes sense with the windy noise I was getting, and why the RPMs were shooting up. Hopefully that is the only issue

Edit (more info):
The guy said this was the first clutch fan broken in a 3rd gen tacoma. Not sure of the cause, but I will ask for more info tomorrow. Part should be in tmr morning and he said that he hasn't changed one before, but it should be ready by tomorrow afternoon (assuming there are no more issues).

It makes sense that the clutch fan was broken, and the guy went through the same processes in his mind that I went through, except he is much more knowledgable Im sure...

 

I certainly hope that this is the issue, but I've never heard of a vehicle where the fan clutch is connected to the transmission and affects shifting.

 

Im not necessarily sure the shifting was affected, or at least that much. It was more that the fan was trying to free flow and couldn't because it was locked up. This caused the wind noise (like when you start your truck cold and drive right away), but the wind noise happened whenever I hit the gas.

It kind of makes sense to me, but we will see if the truck works normal after they replace that.

Doesn't the clutch fan, especially when it is hot out, run with the engine? If so, I believe that would make sense

Edit:
What I am trying to say is that if its hot outside and I am driving at a good speed, and the clutch fan was essentially jammed or not moving. That would cause the engine to rev up to try to get the fan moving, especially when I hit the gas, but it wouldn't. Im not sure if this makes sense...

 

So, the fan has a clutch between the pulley and the actual fan. The pulley always spins at the speed that the engine and belt are spinning it. The fan clutch engages more at higher temps, less at lower temps, to control the amount of air being pulled through the radiator. At higher speeds and/or lower temps, it's basically just freewheeling. But this is all controlled by mechanics, there's no feedback loop to the engine control.

It does explain the sound you were hearing, just not the shifting behavior.

 

Would it affect the RPM's at all?? For example if I was going like 75mph.

Maybe when it happened I was hearing the clutch fan noise and seeing that the trans was having a tough time finding the right gear and I conflated them.

The trans always has an issue finding the right gear, especially with a lot of weight and my new lift (which I had both of). Maybe the shifting was what I had been seeing for awhile. I don't think that is the case, but it could possibly be.

Check out my instagram (@ broyota_) and look at the 2nd most recent vid. That is a few hours after it happened going on flat ground at 70-75mph with all the weight. It's hard to hear, but you can see the rpms/trans are having a tough time.

Do you think that could be the case?

It was definitely a sudden thing. I was going up a hill and suddenly the fan noise became really loud. It didn't accelerate as fast and stuff, but doesn't that make sense if the clutch fan is all messed up?? Idk

 

Would the fan being messed up affect my acceleration at all? Thinking about it more, after I got to Ohio, I let the car sit for a few hours. I drove it, and I tested it out by hitting the gas not super hard but a little fast, and it seemed to me as if the engine was revving up way too high. Thinking back on it, it wasn't even red-zoning. I think now that it was the fan somehow spinning way too fast or something like that, but I'm not sure how that works.

Sometimes, before this whole ordeal, I hit the gas really hard and the engine revs up obviously but the sound I heard was different from the engine revving up when I've heard that in the past.

Maybe I was confusing normal engine revving and the fan being messed up with the engine revving too much/transmission not changing gears.

 

vehicles sure aren't made like that any more lmao

 

The problem is, the two issues seem counter to each other. If it was windy sounding, the fan clutch should be "locked up" 1:1 spin with engine rpm. Which makes sense and is hopefully a default strategy in case things go go wrong. But u also said the engine revs super fast...which is possible, but that would mean the fan is basically "disconnected" from the engine, so it has less drag and can rev faster. Also makes sense because you were overheating, we'll see. It's probably something else too.

 

I was not overheating. The first thing I thought was that I was close to overheating, but I never had an overheating warning, engine temp was normal, and never throughout this whole ordeal have I had any codes on the dash

 

I thought transmission was getting hot? I guess I misconstrued that as general overheating. You can get the truck coolant passed 3/4 and not see a dummy light. Mine did in traffic.

 

I had thought the trans was getting hot, but for no reason other than how the car was driving, from my very basic knowledge

 

In the absence of any other warning lights -- no AT temp warning and engine temps looked normal -- it may well be that most of your concern is due to the sound of the fan being locked up. The 3.5 will rev pretty high going over mountain passes, especially when loaded down, and it's not necessarily a bad thing (unless you've neglected recommended maintenance). If you think it's been driving relatively normal, other than just making loud wind sounds, let them replace the fan clutch and drive it a bit.

I think you will be fine, but have to address one thing at a time. If it still shifts oddly, take it back and make them fix it. You are the customer.

 

Thanks, I would agree with that.

What they said was something to the sort of "We are going to put the new clutch fan in, then drive it around and see how it drives. If it's all good after that, you can come pick it up at some point tomorrow afternoon after we have it all done."

But yes, one step at a time, and I will definitely keep things updated in this thread. Thanks for the help and info

 

Weirdly, the guy I spoke to on the phone today (who is the service manager) said "it looks like you go offroading a fair amount. That is totally okay, and you are allowed to, you just have to make sure to clean out the fan and the engine bay really well after."

WTF?! I thought that offroading voided the warranty, lol

 

LOL, ask them to define "offroading." I just did Tincup Pass in CO and stayed on the "road." That was no road.

I would bet that most of the reports you hear are less about using the truck as intended and more about some jackass beating the hell out of his truck and wanting Toyota to fix it. They know what the truck is sold as, but also expect people to take reasonable care of their equipment. Respect and care for your stuff, it will be fine.

 

Yep! I have a RTT, offroad tires, king shocks... Offroad who? Offroad what?

Going back to your previous post, if the fan was actually caked up with mud or broken, would that spit its own code out??

 

Nope, there are no sensors for that specifically. You could completely remove the fan and get no code. However, if it resulted in another problem either with the engine overheating or the A/C, it might spit out a code.

Hey, sounds like you always wanted a good brother. Tell your dad I am available for adoption.

 

Really hoping that the only issue was the fan!!

My summer money from starting my own business payed off with all my mods