tranny wont shift to third

[drew10x26]

i have a 1990 4 runner that i got through a trade. it runs great but it wont shift out of second gear so in order to drive it down the road im runen about 4000 rpms going fifty so i dont drive it the tranny fluid looks black almost would changing the fluid and filter fix it?

ive read on here about temperature problems causing it to not shift right. but the engine seems to be at normal running temperature the tranny is not slipping it just wont shift to third.

also when i hit the overdrive button while im going down the road its like it is in neutral and hit the button again it goes back to second gear. please help me figure this out.

[flyguy123]

Black fluid is bad for transmissions and changing your fluid and filter probably wont help but is worth a try. How is the linkage cable, it could be off a little. I would check and make sure that it is in fact in drive and not in 2cnd.

Maybe even try doing a transmission flush would help. Does it have a transmission cooler on it, check for clogs. It sounds like some type of pressure problem. Im no expert with automatics.

[Art559]

First change to the tranny fluid with filter change. Take it to a shop and have the pump out the tranny fluid out. It is a cable line they put in ur tranny to suck out the dirt. if it still doe that rebuild ur tranny or get rid of it if you don't want to spend the money. But to do what i said. it will cost u about 200 dollars max. maybe less

[drew10x26]

thanks ill do that but something else is messing up too i took it down the road because i was seeing what happens if i played with the shifter while driving it because it has alot of play in it that didnt help any but i pulled into a road to turn around and it just shut off the guy said it was having this problem before but he thought he fixed it by gutting the catalytic converter thought mabye it was clogged and that seemed to have fixed it but now its doing it again if you sit for a couple minutes then crank on it while giving it some gas it will start and then its fine. if its anything too seriouse im just going to get rid of it but i hope that its nothing big.

[flyguy123]

Originally Posted by drew10x26

thanks ill do that but something else is messing up too i took it down the road because i was seeing what happens if i played with the shifter while driving it because it has alot of play in it that didnt help any but i pulled into a road to turn around and it just shut off the guy said it was having this problem before but he thought he fixed it by gutting the catalytic converter thought mabye it was clogged and that seemed to have fixed it but now its doing it again if you sit for a couple minutes then crank on it while giving it some gas it will start and then its fine. if its anything too seriouse im just going to get rid of it but i hope that its nothing big.

I would guess that its an ignition problem. Maybe ignition module?