Popped a code today...

Got a 2007 Gen2 SR5 TRD king cab with 289,000km. She runs like a dream, sounds amazing. 5.7 w/cold air intake, custom dual exhaust, no cat. Bought in early 2018. I've put a lot of love into this truck and she's been thru a lot with me. Absolute workhorse. Only mechanical failure she experienced was when the dif blew out and I had it rebuilt for about $4k in late 2023. Until today...

Everything was normal, very rainy morning, turned left at a red light, engine light comes on. Traction control icon. 4lo flashing. LSD off. Pulled over to look at my diagnostic screen, popped a code. P0894. Transmission. Dammit.

She drove fairly normally the rest of the way to work. Went into limp mode right before the parking lot. I left work early, drove straight to my mechanic with the hazards on. Big power loss in 1st gear. Wouldn't shift past 3rd. Even in manual mode. By the time I got to the mechanic it had no power in reverse and very little in 1st.

I was looking on this forum, on Google, talked to Chat GPT, and felt confident it was an electronic or fluid related issue. I walked home from the shop and waited nervously for my mechanic to call.

He rings me at closing and says they cleared the codes, and now she won't even drive. He figures it's the torque converter. He wants to send her in for a rebuild. Could cost between $4k - $6k depending how grenaded it is. F**K!

Im kind of in disbelief. There were no weird sounds, transmission heat gauge was reading normal, didn't notice any leaking. But this truck does have high km, and I read those Aisin Transmissions have a life expectancy of about 200,000km.

This is my first time posting here, I'm not an expert, I honestly don't know much about my truck but I love it very much and this experience makes me want to know more and more about it. I don't want to lose this beautiful machine and I will spend the money to fix her up proper. I guess I'm just looking for advice, thoughts, opinions, similar experiences etc. Thanks guys.

 

It's 200,000-300,000 Miles not KM for Tundra transmission lifespan, but all depends on how much it got used/towed had maintenance done fluids drained and filled etc. If you still had it you could pull the drain and see what the fluid level was and what it looked/smelled like at least. Could always ask your mechanic, but if you didn't change all the fluids on it when you got it, you don't have a baseline. All kinds of youtube videos showing how to service transmissions including dropping the pan and checking the filter, changing solenoids, etc, but yeah if its toast then you are out for a replacement anyway. Good luck. Hope they can get her working again.

 

Yo thanks. But why do these AI bots keep saying km? Are they stuck in leaf mode?

 

While a failing TC can cause this, among several other things, so can severely low fluid levels or a failing SLT solenoid. I would want someone experienced to look for the easier stuff before ripping out the transmission and accepting a $6k rebuild. Clearly your mechanic cannot be bothered with such mundane tasks as diagnostics. Or possibly he knows nothing about transmissions and you should not have taken it to him. This will not be a simple task to diagnose and will need someone with transmission expertise

 

Here’s a thread about a problem like yours

https://www.tundras.com/threads/p0894.89690/

@blackdemon_tt was able to fix his as was @Reddog77. Fluid change, solenoid, ground strap etc. were all culprits.

**No Tundra transmissions were harmed or replaced in the discovery or repair of these codes**

 

@KNABORES sure did and sure fixed it, but now it's back.
So my conclusion it's dirty/old oil, I'm at 310k mi for context. I've ditched the Toyota fluid and have gone with Royal Purple Maxlife ATF. 4 quarts made a difference to be honest. I drained and filled and was able to take a 500 mile round trip before some other code came for the torque converter. I'm considering a valve body upgrade in case the oil changes get annoying. Currently on a biweekly subscription of stopping by the local autonparts store and purchasing a quart. Cuz $20 a pay period is less painfull than $110.

If you're considering replacing the transmission, I would look at the Toyota option, since it will be priced similarly to a salvage yard one without inheriting someone else's problems.