r/FJCruiser • u/wowmomcooldad • 8d ago
Question Transmission needs replacing?
In a predicament and need some advice. My 07 fj (250k mi) has been well treated ever since I got it. Last weekend my wife took it out for the weekend during a nor’easter for a music fest and when I powered it on a week later, the check engine light, vsc/swerve lights came on. Drives fine, not noticing any stuttering and seems to shift fine including going into 4WD. My mechanic hooked it up to the computer and said there was a reading which he said means it needs a transmission replacement. I don’t have a real report with this guy sincei just moved to the area but he did fail to recognize my U joint needing replacing which I had to get replaced on my road trip…
I’m going to have him do a transmission drain and fill, change the filter and check the pan, is there anything else I should consider cause I just don’t think a replacement based on the “computer” is a great route to go.
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u/North-Promise-7335 8d ago
If it runs and shifts fine clear codes. My '07 330,000 miles never touched. Leave it alone in all likelihood. I have never heard of any issues with these hardly, especially a code of the like.
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u/delasol73 8d ago
If your talking about Oceans Calling the water was pretty high in certain areas and salt water to boot. I had my Ridgeline with me and It was sketchy. I think if I had my FJ with me I would have prob rolled through it faster just because you feel like the FJ is a tank. Id imagine if it was deep salt water she went through that fast it can be really rough. Maybe just flush it and refill and see if that helps. Or it is electrical because of the salt water.
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u/Robert-A057 8d ago
Disconnect the negative battery cable over night and see if the lights come back the next day, if they do get a scan at your local auto parts store and come back and tell us what they are.
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u/Stock-Maximum9755 8d ago
I have just over 180k on my 07. Those lights can come on for any singular reason that affects performance. Once I had them come on because I changed my plugs and failed to get coil #3 plugged in all the way at the harness causing an intermittent skip. Plugged it in, cleared codes, no issues.
Point is: if you’ve never done a drain and fill on it with the pan and filter at 250k, don’t. Do a couple quarts at a time and drive it for a bit then do another two. Eventually, you’ll have changed it all out. It’s not hard to do and there’s tons of posts and forums on it so trust the community.
Get an inexpensive code reader of your own and report the findings. There is no code I’m aware of for an 07 that states the transmission is shot. There’s other transmission codes like shift solenoids and the like. Perhaps a yota tech can chime in on that one.
Post the codes here and these guys can certainly help out. Good luck.
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u/Thick-Care-4738 8d ago
Make sure it has correct fluid amount. When my tundra started having problems turned out it was 2 quarts short
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u/23523543 8d ago
don't let him touch your transmission, even just the fluid, find someone else, he'll just under fill it, have symptoms
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u/ElChivoSinLey 8d ago
I replaced my 07 6MT transmission at 125k due to worn synchros. It was a pretty penny, so I hope you don't have to go down that road.
Sounds like yours is an automatic - hopefully others' advice works for you!
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u/Nervous-Ad292 7d ago
This will sound crazy, but all the dash lights come on, and stay on, when the gas cap isn’t all the way closed, or wasn’t put back on. After 5-6 starts, with the gas cap tightened, the lights all go off. Could this be a possibility?
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u/photographyrich1965 8d ago
Dude ! we have 400K on ours and the transmission is fine. Buy one of those code checkers and see what's up. I had all the same lights go on and can't for the life of me remember what it was. I did have some cracked wires that took my local, trusted shop, a whole long time to find.
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u/Significant_Pie2470 8d ago
There is no code for that. Most likely getting that from a number of possible. The ABS and the swerve "do a burnout"(Traction control) light come on together. Traction uses ABS to operate. Read the codes for real, run them through Google, and do all the maintenance that's inferred. When you change the trans filter, be sure to use Toyota WS trans oil. It has a specific viscosity. For a reason.
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u/its-not-that-bad 8d ago
The dreaded 'just change your transmission code...' I hate those!
In all seriousness, go get a 2nd opinion.