I was coming home from a trip yesterday and I started to lose the transmission coming up a long hill. When I stopped the truck there was trans oil everywhere. It appears that I may have blown a hose or something up near the trans cooler because there is oil from the trans cooler all the way back. Any hints on what it may be? I looked around but couldn't see anything obvious and wasn't in a position to really get into it. I'm having the truck towed to a dealer and any hints anyone can give me will prepare me for my "battle".

I started to notice a problem on a flat stretch before I started up the hill so I don't think the long climb caused a problem.

Any hints would be greatly appreciated. It's a '97, 4wd with an automatic, 148k miles.

Thanks.

well you should be able to see where the trans cooler sent and return lines bolt up to the transmission cooler. My T100 is a manual, but usually transmission cooler lines are metal lines like brake lines or a/c lines as oppossed to being soft rubber hoses. I'd look and see, maybe the line isn't blown but is leaking at the fitting for whatever reason.

I don't understand what battle you'll have. You'll pay a few hundred bucks for the tech to find the leak and fix the fitting or replace the hose and flush and fill the transmission.

The dealer called me today and said that one of the transmission lines was rubbed through and ruptured. He said you could see where it was rubbed on but they are not sure how the abrasion got there and seemed to think it was kind of strange. I did not ask which line but I will find out when I get the truck and post a reply. It must have happened close to the cooler because there was tranny fluid everywhere. It hit the fan which sprayed it all over the engine bay and onto the right front wheel which flung it down the side of the truck. The underside is completely covered including the tailgate and truck cap windows. What a mess.

The "battle" I was refering to was that it seems I'm always being hit up for some work that isn't needed when I take it in anywhere especially the dealers. I usually know exactly what is wrong and can argue with them that I don't need a new muffler bearing or whatever. I just didn't have any info on this one.

So was it the line to an aux trans cooler or to the one in the radiator? Usually Toyota is pretty good about anticipating what will rub and route or cover it accordingly. It would be interesting to know just where it rubbed through.

Betcha the hole through the panel next to the radiator did it. Motor flex on its mounts pulls everything and the hoses to the tranny are part of the flex. The pass-through the panel is grommetted, but the rub stillis there. Time takes its toll. That's why all aftermarket coolers I have installed go under the panel.

Finally got my truck back. It took awhile to order the part so this must be a rare occurance. The tech seemed puzzled as to where it rubbed through. It was the line that goes to the radiator on the drivers side. I don't know if that is the supply or the return. How can you tell? I didn't dig into it too deep but it looks as though there is some kind of grommet or holder there just like wsquaredodie said. I don't have an aux cooler just stock.

Everything seems to be running fine but the check engine light came on this morning. I don't know if it is related. I'll pull the codes and see what comes up.

I checked the fluid level in the trans and it seems to be way overfilled. This is the second time that a dealer has overfilled the transmission. When I do a drain and refill it comes out pretty close to what the manual says. I'm going to check it again and if it is high I'll have to drain a qt or two.

Thanks for the replies.

I had the codes pulled and it is a P0770 shift solenoid e malfunction. Did some searching and this seems to be related to the torque converter lockup. It registered twice. At one point when I drove it this morning I thought it seemed like it wasn't locked up but it was very hard to tell. Does anybody know what solenoid this is and if it can be accessed without dropping the tranny?

You can get to them by just droping the pan. Do yourself a favor and change all three solenoids.
Don't forget a new gasket and tranny fluid !!

You have to drop the pan to get to it. I would check the wiring, etc. If that is the hard line that comes out of the tranny maybe they pulled some wiring when they replaced it. I have a factory manual on it if you need more info. I can check to see what RPM mine runs at 65 with lockup. That should tell you if yours is really not locking, that is if you can't feel it lock.

I took in to the shop. They diagnosed the problem as a faulty lockup solenoid. They replaced the solenoid, cleaned the screen and flushed the system. They flushed it only by removing one of the lines and replenishing the system until new fluid was running out. No power flusher was used.

On the way home it was still not going into lockup and the check engine light came back on. I took it back in this morning. They are confused and are now looking at the tranmission ECU as the possible cause of the solenoid failure. They are indicating that I will probably need a complete rebuild as it could be in the valve body or torque converter if the ECU checks out.

Garym: Could you send me the pages of the service manual that have to do with testing the transmission ECU. I have a 1990 manual and I bet it is very similiar but would like the right one. Could you also find out what RPM it is at when driving at 65mph in lockup?

Thanks for your help.