Overdrive/Transmission Failure --> Replacement --> More Problems

I ended up relocating my gauge to the a-pillar with a pod. The lower left was just slightly out of my field of vision when driving. It was also a ton of work to put the gauge in the dash like that. I had to remove a bunch of material behind there.

 

Ok well it’s been awhile and I finally got the rebuilt transmission fully installed on the truck. I always get distracted trying fix every little thing I can while such big pieces are out. Anyway, when I fired it up for the first time there was a pretty significant vibration. It stuck around as I topped off the transmission fluid and is still persisting. It’s unlike any vibration I’ve chased down in this truck before, there have been many. It’s only there in park and neutral between about 800-1500 rpm. Can feel it pretty significantly through the seats. Because of this I haven’t done anymore than a quick test drive to about 30mph, and all good there. I replaced the spark plugs while it was down, and have double checked that all looks good. No stray Vaccum hoses. It really doesn’t feel like it’s misfiring and there’s no CEL but it’s possible. I’ve got it back in the garage now, and am going to disconnect the torque converter and start it up to confirm if it’s the engine or the transmission. After chasing down some threads on various forms it sounds like it could be that the new (rebuilt) torque converter is out of balance. So I’m wondering if anyone can offer any insight into that? Would that be internal or could it be how I bolted it on? Thanks!

 

To confirm, I just started it with the torque converter disconnected and there were no vibrations. Totally smooth. So it would either be something with the new transmission or torque converter…

 

Humm thats odd, how much trans fluid have you put in? the torque converter itself holds like 4.5 quarts a new trans will take a bunch of atf. Not second guessing you here but your absolutely positive the TC is fully seated on pump drive? when fully seated the TC will be recessed about 2 inches from bell housing mount surface. GL

 

I would also stick a magnefine filter on the return line to the transmission (after rad and any atf cooler you may have)

 

The transmission will slow the engine down, so it could just be that it’s spinning faster with it disconnected.

What does your exhaust look like when you feel the vibration? I chased a vibration in drive while stopped and it was ultimately the exhaust pipe vibrating at a resonant frequency and causing the whole truck to shake.

 

It is my understanding that Toyota did some internal changes in the transmission in 03 or 04 because of issues with the front planetary. My gut tells me that they either redessigned the planetary or increased the number of planetary gears or both to help with increased load. Can I find any specific information that actually says this, no. It seems that this is the weak point in this transmission and even though there are lots of peeps running around with larger tires I think it is just a matter of time that the addional strain and running around in O/D just hastened its demise.

 

Yeah for sure, I definitely could have done something wrong. My first time doing this. But pretty sure am all good on those fronts. In total I put 12 quarts in. 1 of which was pre-filled into the TC. Also added a new trans cooler and replaced the radiator. The dip stick is showing it as overfilled. I haven’t gotten around to draining the excess as it’s not much. It’s to the hot line when it’s cold, but I haven’t ran it long enough to heat up yet. As for full seating it I’m pretty sure I did, and figured it fit on the truck that would confirm it. And I was able to push it back a little to run the engine with it disconnected.

Yeah you I think I did notice it was shaking a good amount which I thought was odd. Figured it was just transferring through the body. But the way it’s so rpm specific this could make sense. What was actually causing your vibration, or how were you able to fix it? Weird to me that it wasn’t doing any of this before, but who knows.

I also replaced the trans mount so maybe it’s transmitting something which it wasn’t before. I might try and put the old one back on. Will also reconnect the TC and flex plate 180deg offset from where it was. We’ll see if any of this has an impact. Thanks for the replies!

 

Yes! This is exactly what I’ve found through my research over the past couple of months. In 01 and 02 they got an OD specific planetary which has been know to cause trouble. Then at least improved in future years. I can’t confirm this is what happened to mine without tearing the old transmission apart, which I may do eventually, but it is my best guess. As for the cause, yeah I would agree. Still a little surprised at it happening at relatively low miles but looking back I would’ve treated it better had I known they were prone to this. I think it’s only had a couple drain and fills in its lifetime so probably still had some of the stock fluid in there… Not great, especially since I know I overheated it once driving in some deep snow. Then there was also some infrequent towing in overdrive which I only learned afterwards is not a good idea. Finally running 33s on it which I could tell was straining things. Which is why I re-geared it, but I guess too little too late. At least I’ve learned a lot through this journey and am pretty sure once I figure out these problems with the new one I could easily get a couple hundred thousand miles out of it!

 

Did you end up going with Yota1? If so, have you reached out to Nick on the vibration issue?

While it is unlikely to be related to your vibration issue, before you reconnect the TC find the black bolt and make sure you install it first per attached file.

 

I did and I will tomorrow if I can’t figure it out. They’re closed on the weekend. If I have 1 black bolt I did not realize it so thank you for letting me know, I will go take a close look!

 

Ok well I did all that and no change. Very weird one. I drained the extra fluid at took it for a longer test drive to get everything up to temperature. Runs perfectly with no vibrations at all up to 60 mph. Just park and neutral when stopped between 800-1500 rpm, and it’s feels like a pretty large amplitude shake that can be felt throughout the whole truck. Does it when it revs up and down. Interestingly it doesn’t do it in neutral when I’m moving.

 

I installed an exhaust hanger at the mount with the most vibration (middle point between other hangers. It pretty much eliminated the vibration.