thook

right. i'd found their website. thanks! it does sound like a really great idea and i'm sure i could sell my wife on it. she is very pragmatic about these things. anyway, i'll know more this week and will update, of course.

thook

hypothetical situation...

let's say i don't find any particles when i drop the pan. and, let's say the symptoms clear up after a fluid change and the cable's adusted (if it needs that). could this kit still be installed? would it be a good idea? it wouldn't cause any kind of undue stress, would it? iow's, would installing it prolong the life until a is needed or bring one on unnecessarily sooner? apparently it doesn't require tranny removal to do it, so i'm just thinking here. how skilled does a guy have to be to install one of these kits? i'm able to do everything to these vehicles save trannies and diff's and wonder if i could do this myself.

millball

The valve body has to be completely disassembled to install these kits, so a stack of new gaskets is required for proper reassembly.

The Transgo kits don't come with any new gaskets, and valve body gaskets should'nt be reused, even if they might look good.

It can be daunting, if you've never had an auto tranny apart before. Absolute cleanleness is a must.

It has been my experience that valve body gaskets are hard to source without buying an overhaul set for $80-$100+

I doubt that the Transgo upgrade would shorten any remaining life that's left in your tranny, but it'd certainly be best to install these upgrades as part of a complete tranny overhaul.

I haven't had the pleasure of rebuilding a Toyota A340 tranny yet, but I've been very pleased with the Transgo brand upgrade products that I have used in other auto tranny rebuilds that I have done.

thook

well, after some more extensive reading, the transgo kit is a go. wife loves the idea! yeah...me, too. thanks, again, spacejunk! i'm very much looking forward to seeing how this vehicle works after the upgrade. speaking of which....

we're just gonna go ahead and have it overhauled as soon as we can get a new quote and align logistics on our hauling appointments. a new quote because i just spoke with my neighborhood who says it sounds like a pump issue. haha..."oh, it could it be this could that". my head spins. nevertheless, my neighbor recommended talking to the folks at turner transmission...the same source for the torque converter i mentioned. the nearby shop.....where i got my suby exhaust welded...uses them exclusively. reliable work. my neighbor also says their quotes have always been lower than everyone elses. less the $2400 would be quite lovely!

so, i'm not gonna do any of this myself. not that i don't feel capable of atleast the kit install and/or doing a carry in, but there's warranty involved on labor and parts if i have whatever shop do it. which is nice, too, and i didn't consider that up to this point

still gonna do the fluid change and all this week. i'll, again, update when that's done. thanks, once again, everyone for the inputzies!

thook

well, damn....turner trans. wants $2500 and won't install anything beyond oem/stock set up. anything like the transgo kit/mod'd valve body is considered a performance upgrade and therefore would void any warranty on parts or service. fark! i suppose i should have expected that. so, i'm gonna chew on this pickle a bit and figure what i want to do, now. errgh...

thook

i finally finished the fluid change today. started yesterday after holidays and some more cooperative weather, finally. i didn't find anything damning in either the tranny pan or the t-case pan. just some "normal" residue and a few "silvery threads" in the t-case pan, but i think the "threads" may have been some of the old grey rtv. didn't feel like metal and it didn't stick to the magnets. i'd forgotten that i'd put some magnets down in both pans years ago when i'd first done a complete fluid change, installed the auxiliary filters, and sealed the leak in the t-case pan the first time.

so, about the performance....

after the fluids were filled and the engine was still cold, there was some mild jerking into gear when manually shifting from P on through to D, at first. not so much going to into R, but certainly into D. then, while driving out, there was a jerk auto shifting from 1st to second, at first. of course, i was in lo 4wd pulling the trailer (empty) and didn't get up fast enough to shift into 3rd before the motor had warmed. but, after that, once we'd reached town, there were no symptoms even after having parked a couple of times for atleast 15-20min's..... long enough for things to cool down some. however, i do have to drive out tomorrow with trailer, again. so, i'll see if there's still the improvement.

my wife and i decided that if this tranny was/is going to need an overall, we'd just find a used one with lower miles and some form of records and guarantee. or, for the same amount of money or a little more (or even little less in some cases) than a damn overall we could actually find another 4rnr on CL. one with a 3.4 even!!! i was surprised to see that! and, a straight frame would be nice. i bent this one performing my culvert stunt.

thook

To update the thread....

I've not driven it much since the time of this thread, so I wanted to get enough time in for judging results of the fluid change and such and posting about it. So far, it's working much better. All symptoms have disappeared save the delayed upshift into 2nd. I'll either change the fluid again this summer or do what my friend does with his T100 and have it flushed. He does it every year or so at the Toyota dealer near him. He got his T100 used...had been a service truck for some utility company and came with some tranny symptoms like mine. But, he says as soon as his truck starts showing symptoms, he just has it flushed and they go away. After the change/flush I do, if everything seems good to go by fall, I'm gonna put the transgo kit in it.

So, there it is. Thanks everyone

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the update thookypoo!

thook

lol...thookypoo! i needed a laugh.

no problemo, amigo

thook

hey, hey, hey! i drove the ol' girl today and no delayed shifting! maybe because it was spring like warmth today. still....improvement!

thook

update, i suppose....

only one minor hiccup in the system since last posted. a delayed upshift into 2 with a minor kick. but, it was under heavy load after a somewhat lengthy park. otherwise, performing well. the leak i fixed is leaking, again...though, not as bad. not gonna bother trying for a long while since i'd had to drop the crossmember and driveline to get to the pan leaking. perhaps if/when i do the transgo kit.

in other news, finally found my mystery vac leak causing the lean code. it's not a vac leak...rather an exhaust leak. found a youtube vid; hook a shop vac up to the tailpipe with duct tape and spray soapy water around exhaust connections. leaking from the both crossover pipe connections and at the downpipe from the DS manifold. fixed the crossover connections, today. royal PITA getting to a couple of the stud nuts. otherwise went well. still have to do the downpipe, but getting to the innermost stud nut is not easy. i'll have to borrow a 17mm deep well and long 3/8in extension. can't find my deep well...pfffth. the real problem is i'm unable to get anything onto the nut from under the wheel well due to insufficient wrench room, and, getting something passed/between the downpipe and tranny is problematic. also very little room. double pffftthhh! anyhow, blocking off the PAIR while i'm at it since the EGR is also long gone. not sure if the PAIR even functions still, but not gonna bother testing..... just pull it!!! muaahahaha! yep....no emissions testing in arkansas.

thook

howdy....

anyone have good suggestions on an aftermarket tranny mount? where? brand? i'm seeing good prices for anchor, westar, dea, beck arnley, etc. but, much of the long term reviews don't rave about'em. early failures and the like

through toyota it'll be around $150. i'd like to think i should be able to get something that'll work well for a lower price

thanks!!

millball

Beck Arnley parts are often real Japanese made stuff, but, nowadays you can't depend on it. If you could look at the part and it's country of origin before you buy, It'd be a help.

thook

yeah, it would. otoh, i'd be content if it were made china but so and so put it on there rig says "oh, yeah...it's been on three years and going fine". hard to find stuff online when there aren't many follow up reviews to be found. bitog has some reviewing on mounts, but with any forum there are the purists = biased. and, then there's application.

i'll keep looking. thanks

thook

so, i settled on a B/A tranny mount for $20 on amazon. advance auto can get the BA for $70 w/ only a 90 day warranty. the amazon deal is 1yr or 12k miles. figure it's as fine a deal as i'm gonna get on an AM product. i scoured reviews and BA seems the best choice for AM. auto zone and o'reilly wants $120 for their respective offerings. figure for that much might as well do OEM, but just can't float that much expense right now

at any rate, i'm going to look at the motor mounts soon, also. my understanding is there is a certain tolerance for the amount of play in that area? millball...would you know?

i'm looking at all this because this tranny is displaying some shifting issues, again. not as severe or often as it was, but it's there. (delayed from 1st to 2nd and sometimes 3rd) i'd read recently twisting in the powertrain can cause valve body distortion even if only temporary. not sure how true that is, but the gear selectors rattle about too much, anyway. and, there's some clunking under the floor board when make tight turns on high traction offroad surfaces...namely my dirt/gravel driveway. so, new mounts are called for regardless

also doing a sequential drain and fill fluid change with perhaps a better synth fluid than i've been using. bitog folks highly recommend the valvoline maxlife for imports. apparently retains viscosity very well after UOA tests. and, dang...it's only about $18/gal. i'd put lucas additive in when i started this thread, but i read that really affects viscosity and so won't go that route, again. maybe it's atleast cleaned some doodah out

i know...before anyone says it, it's a high mileage tranny with severe duty usage. probably time for another one, soon. just trying to keep this one running as long as possible