Replace backup display in rearview mirror? (also 2011 transmission replacement)

Hey all,

I've searched all over, and I don't know why I can't find any good information on this topic.

I've got a 2011 Trail Edition that I love, despite the fact that I need to put a new transmission in it at 170k miles.

The one thing that bugs me is the tiny backup camera display in the rear view mirror. I put a new Kenwood head unit in when I bought the Runner, and asked them to move that display to the new touchscreen, but they didn't and didn't mention it afterwards. But surely there must be others out there who have upgraded their pre-2014 4Runners to display in a touchscreen, or even better, installed one of the new digital rear view mirrors with the gorgeous camera displays in them?

Any advice would be appreciated. I find myself considering spending $40k on a newer Runner just because of this silly thing. But I really love my Salsa Red, and $6k for a new transmission is way less than $40k (or more)

 

I feel your pain. My 2013 Tacoma had that stupid backup camera display in the rearview mirror also. I think they changed it to the head unit in 2014...I have no experience with what you're asking about, but I'm relatively sure you can get a backup camera display in an aftermarket head unit. It may take some searching for one to fit a 2011, but certainly sounds doable.

 

Interested to read more of what happened to the transmission or a link to the discussion about it. We have a 2014 with rear camera display showing in the radio screen, works great but need reverse sensors to make it perfect.

 

I haven't addressed it here, as it's all seemed rather straight forward. I bought this Runner four years ago with 100k miles on it, and my mechanic gave it a big thumbs up. Having driven a Tacoma stick shift to 300k miles with no transmission issues aside from one clutch replacement, I was a little wary of an automatic transmission, but I needed something with more enclosed space and the 4Runner fit the bill. The first thing I did after buying it was take to a shop (not my usual mechanic, for various reasons) and have all the fluids replaced, and I've been putting a lot of miles on it the last four years, doing long road trips around the country with no issues other than having to replace the alternator a couple years ago.

But on the latest trip up to Montana and back, as I was headed back I noticed that I was occasionally getting a shudder when accelerating through 35-40 mph. Consciously I assumed it was rough patches on roads, but then I realized that I'd subconsciously learned that if I took my foot off the gas for a moment it went away... And that's not really good. I also realized it had probably been happening longer than I was aware of. Even though it didn't "feel" like a transmission problem, the fact that it happened only when accelerating (and shifting) to the same speed every time made me suspicious, so I asked a few car-centric friends what transmission shop they recommended here in Austin. All of them recommended the same place, which makes it easy (Eagle Transmissions, for those interested). I took it to them, and had them check it out, and sure enough, they came back with the worst possible news - the thrust converter is in rough shape and likely to fail soon. The owner, Tim, seemed very straight forward and answered all of my questions to my satisfaction, and said that they do not typically have good results with just replacing the converter unless the problem is caught very early, so they recommend replacing the transmission with a rebuilt one. He also told me that the transmission fluid had definitely *NOT* been changed at 100k miles, which made me even more unhappy.

After doing a lot of reading and research, and considering that the truck has 170k miles on it, and given the folks that recommended the shop, I'm inclined to figure he's probably being straight with me and knows what he's doing. Reading here, you'll get a lot of people saying to just do a fluid flush, etc, or various other quick fixes, but with the way I travel, I need my vehicle to be rock solid reliable, so while I may take it somewhere else for a second opinion, the $6k repair seems the most likely scenario. I've been doing a lot of math in my head the last couple weeks - $6k for another 100k miles on this one vs $40k for a recent model I know I can take care of and drive to high mileage, but as silly as it is, I really do like the Salsa Red and the black fenders, and if I owned something newer I'd just be putting dings and pinstripes on it and feeling bad about that.

So that's where things stand with the transmission. I'll likely get it replaced in January, before I start going back out on the road again in the spring, and if I'm keeping this truck, then I should fix anything else that's annoying me, and the ridiculous rear view mirror display is the top of that list.

 

Something worth checking before you shell out 6 grand would be the front diff needle bearings. Your symptoms are similar to those demonstrated by failing needle bearings. It's a known issue and there's numerous threads with more details. Not suggesting that the shop is wrong but I'd consider the cheaper and easier possibility first.

A good test next time it does that is to shift into 4hi and see if the issue goes away. If it did I just saved you $5,920.

 

If I had a transmission going out I'd phone local dealerships to get a quote on a Toyota remanufactured (reman) tranny, price for that year should be about $4300 and usually comes with a fairly lengthy warranty. If you find a helpful dealership service manager they can often drop the installation price down to close to actual hours spent on the repair or give a good discounted price plus will do things a tranny shop don't such as replace main seal etc. You may want to check with dealership to confirm the tranny shop diagnosis. You can also buy a third party reman transmission yourself and get a dealership or any other shop to install, reman are better than rebuilt.

 

Sorry... I wasn't being precise. You're right... what the shop recommended was a remanufactured transmission, not a rebuilt. I'm curious about when you last priced them out was though... The reputation of this shop is for doing excellent work at a reasonable price, but what they quoted me was a higher price than what you're indicating. Looking at the estimate now, they offered two options:

Overhaul with a 3yr/50k mile warranty - $4000-$5000 (dependent on what they find when they tear it down) or
Replace with a remanufactured transmission for $5500+ tax with a 3yr/100k mile warranty.

The cost of the transmission itself is estimated at $4000, which is a long way from $2500. He also warned me that it's taking a longer than usual to get them, and that I should expect them to have my truck for 3-4 weeks once they start the work. I may take your advice and call some dealerships, if only to see if I can get a better warranty and less time in the shop.

 

I appreciate this, but it's pretty tough to reach over and shift the transfer case without letting up on the gas at all (and at 35mph, I very much would let up on the gas to let it shift into 4wd), and as I noted, all it takes to stop it is a very minor ease up on the gas. At this point, when I'm trying to baby it so as to not ruin the transmission and have to pay the core charge when I get the work done, I'm essentially backing off without even thinking about it, as soon as I feel even a shiver at that speed. Are there any other ways to check those? Hell, for $80 I'd just replace them and see what happens. The truck has 170k miles on it, it probably needs new needle bearings.

Edit: After doing some reading and watching a couple videos about this known problem, I can say that the vibration/noise that people are describing is not what I am getting on mine - the symptoms are similar, but not the same. The thrust converter vibration is super specific, and as soon as I started reading other people's descriptions, I was confident that's what my problem was. I also just revised the title since more of this thread talks about the transmission than the display. Ha!

 

Back to your original question. I found this. I'm looking to do the same thing.

https://youtu.be/9XWUxCGIpXQ

 

I have two Toyota’s, one with the camera in the mirror and one on the radio display. To me, the one in the mirror feels more natural. It seems counterintuitive to look down at the radio rather than the backup mirror when backing up.

But then again, I’m Old School.

 

I’m kinda surprised at how expensive it is to get a reman installed, and the time….good lord, 3 to 4 weeks??? And that’s when they are ready to start install it? Why on earth would a shop want a car hanging around the property that long? Also, with mechanic liens, I do not want to give up my car to anyone that long. A month is a long time…enough for a place to shut down all together and you to be left having to fight a legal battle to trailer your car back home. I’d want shop to do my work start to finish in one go, with one or two techs. Having my car sit, getting shuffled around for near a month does not inspire confidence in their work flow. Is it a normal thing for shops to take this long, generally speaking? Maybe I could understand if they were rebuilding it on a bench themselves.

I dont have much experience with this, and it might be apples to oranges, but I had a transmission failure in an Accord I owned. Took it to a Honda dealer. They quoted me 2800 bucks for a reman unit, installed. Even back then, I was expecting the price to be way higher. I dropped it off, and they were done end of the next day, and I picked it up the following day. I kept it for another 13 years or so without any more problems. Granted the price was 10 years ago, so Im sure it’s a little higher now…but by chance I had a work buddy dealing with a chrysler transmission failure at the same time. He was quoted around 6k, and it had already been in the transmission shop for weeks.

All this to say dont overlook dealers. I’m not usually a fan of dealers, but they did me right on that one. Definitely worth calling several of them.

By the way, I fully support keeping that TE! Awesome color, awesome trim, awesome pre-facelift look

 

I bought a 2013 TE with a crappy aftermarket head unit. I didn’t have a backup display at all. I purchased a 2015 factory unit. If memory serves me, I bought an adapter for the main harness. It was pretty much plug and play. I did have to purchase a couple of adapters for GPS cable, and sirus radio or camera, don’t recall. The camera works great but no lines for how close your getting to obstacles.