92 Overheating at low speeds
Looking for help on an issue I just noticed. I have a 92 4runner that I just took on a hunting trip. This meant crawling up logging roads at low speeds. The first day, the speedometer started going absolutely batshit jumping up and down, but nothing else happened and it drove fine. The second day, it started doing the same thing but then started jumping and the A/T oil light came on. I immediately pulled over and turned the truck off and walked away to let it cool down. When I came back it drove totally fine and shifted gears (automatic) no problem.
A few things:
I only bought this truck a couple months ago and have no clue when transmission fluid was last changed/serviced so that was going to be my first thing.
A lot of my tubing has dry rotted with age, which led to some coolant leaks. One was by the temperature gauge, which was causing my truck to stall if I turned it on when still warm (I.e. stop and go running errands). We replaced that piece and it stopped doing the stall HOWEVER it did low idle when we started it back up once yesterday (not the same time as the A/T light though).
The other leak was at the heater valve. We couldn’t find the correct replacement so right now I have a manual lever to turn my heat on and off. It’s not ideal and drips coolant ever so slightly but gets the job on. Currently I have it “on” but keep the heat in my truck off.
We checked for any leaks at the time and didn’t see any.
When we returned to the truck and drove off, we didn’t see any liquid on the ground so at least that’s a good thing.
I do think with all the hose changes some air got trapped in the coolant. I keep meaning to burp it but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I don’t think that’s related but I'm trying to provide as much info as possible to help haha.
Also have noticed that the interior plastic around the center console area has been getting warm (not hot, but you can feel it). I’m not sure if this has always been a thing because I know these old trucks don’t have a ton of insulation between the floor and the transmission, and I’ve only just noticed since it’s gotten warm enough to not have my heat turned on, or if it’s actually getting that hot.
Also, when the A/T light did turn on, the actual heat gauge was still at a normal level so at least the engine wasn’t overheating.
I hope this provides enough info. Ideally, I want to get home today but it’s a 400km drive on highways and through mountains with big hills and if the consensus is that it’s not safe I will bring it to a shop because I would rather spend a couple hundred on early maintenance than blow my transition on the side of a highway haha
thanksss