mjwalfredo

Umm....

I have been mis-reading my Chilton's manual for a while and have been filling the tranny with 4 Qts of DEX 3. I noticed the last time I went to change that it actually says Pts. BUT when I put that much in, the tranny either slips terribly or won't go into gear at all. It actually works when I run it filled with 4Qts. (I know, way too much)

I think my transmission has serious problems. It shifts into D or R with a nice thud, it seems to always to bump when shifting... There seems to be a lot of drag on the motor when the truck is in gear. I am thinking these are symptoms of an overfilled transmission.

I really do think it is either time to get a new tranny or take it in to the shop but, I was think I might try draining it and filling with 1.7 qts of Lucas stop slip just to see what happens. Should I try it?

P.S. the fluid is pretty clean as I have been doing drain a fills with 4Qts every oil change lately....

mt_goat

You should have a dip stick for checking the ATF level. I wouldn't trust a Chilton's manual even if you could read it right.

mjwalfredo

The dipstick is next to useless in my opinion. It must be too high though because I can't really see a clear line where the fluid reaches. Plus if the truck didn't "go" when I had 4 pts in it, of course I am going to think it's low.

mt_goat

Are you checking it with the engine running? Engine should be running, ATF at normal temp (ideal) and run the gear selector through all the gears right before checking the level.

mjwalfredo

Checked with engine running and the gear selector in neutral. I did not run through all the gears first though. I'll try that tonight.

mt_goat

Should be in park too.

Here's a collection of online Toyota factory service manuals (FSM) for Tacomas. The Tacomas also use the A340F:
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum...ad.php?t=59089

Skrillah

Yeah, I agree with mt-goat (Dale). Don't trust the manual, not even the owners manual.

I have the exact same tranny as you do and it took just under 4 to fill mine. Like Dale said, check your dipstick as you refill it then take it for a spin and re-check to make sure you are at the proper level. My Haynes and owners manual both said different things, in fact I think the owners manual said it takes 2.1 quarts or something. When I used almost 4 quarts, it brought me out to being just even with the second (full) dot on the dipstick.

So when you fill it with 4 quarts...there is no thud or slippage at all?

Skrillah

You aren't seeing a clear line because you are filling through the dipstick hole (or should be). You have to wait until the fluid settles out of the dipstick tube to get a clear reading. The walls of the tube still have fluid on it.

Skrillah

Oh and did you say pints? I'm referring to 4 quarts in my posts.

mt_goat

Yeah, that has happened to me. Sometimes its hard to get the correct level right after adding ATF.

eric-the-red

I just did a drain and refill on my A340F tranny on the weekend, drained out almost 5 litres and put back 5 litres. The dipstick was right on the full mark.

mjwalfredo

When I put 4 Qts in, I get a nice thud at the end of each shift. I'll just try really hard to take a good reading on the dipstick tonight. Thanks. Lesson learned today is that a dipstick measurement is better than going by the book.

mjwalfredo

Damn, it sounds like I really outta take it to the tranmission shop when I can afford it...

Skrillah

Most definitely go with the dipstick. It should take probably no more than an hour or two for the fluid to settle off the dipstick tube. Check that and then get back to us...perhaps you have too little? I suppose now that I'm thinking about it, initially I added just a little less than 4 qts. However, I remember checking it at a later point after 50 miles drive time and added a little more. Not because of shifting though, because the dipstick said it was lower than the full mark. I can't remember how much I added though...maybe another half quart or so.

How many miles on your rig? Unless you've done a lot of towing or something, I wouldn't expect the tranny to be dead even if it did have 200k miles on it. What did the old fluid look like when you drained it?

mjwalfredo

I haven't done a lot of towing but I have done some. I think that plus 210,000 mi might have worn the tranny out a bit. The fluid was definitely not bright red like it is now when it came out but I don't think it was too bad.

Skrillah

That is a lot of miles buuttt...still I've seen a lot longer life out of them. Has the fluid ever been changed to your knowledge? Were there any sediments or chunks of metal that came out with the old fluid?

mkgarrison5

4.5 qts for me bc i let it drain for a long period of time.... never once had issues with my tranny but its half the miles you have... perhaps you need to try a different tranny atf dex3 fluid? of course after you figure out how to correctly measure the amount of fluid in your tranny.. thise trannies act funny with they are even low a quart so check it and get it perfect

mjwalfredo

I really don't feel like it's low. When it's low it seems like it is more prone to slip. They way it feels now is the exact opposite. It feels like it shifts too early and slams into gear when it slips.

Oh, and no there was nothing out of the ordinary with the fluid other than it being pretty dark. It should have been drain and filled at the 90k service from the dealer. I changed it maybe every 30k after that until recently where I have been draining and filling at oil changes to try and help with this hard shifting problem.

mkgarrison5

what brand of dex3 is it?? also did you quadruple check the atf level??

- note- to accurately check the atf level you need to run atleast 10-15 mins up and down the road not sitting still.. park on level ground and pull the dipstick while in park and the motor running.. check it two or three times to make sure the level is accurate


you may need to drop the pan and clean or replace the screen. then refill with dex3... M1 seems to be decent synthetic dex3 and by far a better upgrade than dino dex3 atf's..

mjwalfredo

I've been using Valvoline regular Dex 3 compatible fluid and dropped the pan, cleaned it and the magnets and replaced the filter last time I did a fluid change. I put about 4 quarts in after I dropped the pan and it seemed to do great except for some slippage when trying to get going from a dead stop.

I added about a pint of fluid at a time until it stopped slipping. Once I added enough to get it to stop slipping, I started getting the bumpy shifting again.....

I'll try to get some Synthetic fluid tonight and change it once more and try to use the dipstick to measure the levels using the procedures you guys mentioned.

I think I'll start out by adding 3 quarts, let it sit for an hour, crank it up, run it through the gears and then check the fluid level. It should still be warm if I drain it as soon as I get home. I'll add what is necessary to get the fluid to the low mark of H area today. Tomorrow I will run it good and then check the fluid once more to make sure it's at the right mark with the tranny completely warmed up.

Of course this all depends on my being able to get a good reading on the dipstick

And thanks for setting me straight guys...