so, since ive obtained my 93 3vze sr5 4wd, i've been slowly putting $$ into it's tune up.

my next step is doing an atf fluid change. the fluid still has a hint of red in it but it is dark brown, not burnt. it has 240k on the tranny. im pretty positive my trans pan gasket is slowly leaking so i want to change it and clean out my filter. i have never done a trans service on a tranny with high mileage, so im wondering how everyone else goes about it. i know i cant fully flush or i could potentially stir up any bits and destroy my tranny.

if i pull the drain plug and then the pan, how much atf am i looking to see come out? if it drains a lot, is dropping the pan too risky because of how much new fluid i will have to add? my biggest fear of this job is adding too much new fluid and stirring up metal shavings.

i was thinking about doing something along the lines of 1-2 qt every 6months until the fluid looks nicer...
any advice is appreciated

 

If you plan on fixing the leak you'll have to drain it anyway.
When you pull the plug about 5 qts. will come out, so you'll basically be replacing half the fluid.
If the trans is bad enough that changing the fluid would ruin it, then it wouldn't last long anyway.
You have nothing to lose by fixing the leak and replacing the fluid.

 

if you do change the fluid, make sure you change all of it, ie the oil in the torque converter. You can do it by yourself by putting it in drive with the pb on, a bucket to catch the old oil from your return line and your new stuff to pour in; pretty easy to see the new stuff when it's circulated through - nice and bright red.

 

Sounds like your on the right track with just changing the fluid and no flushing .thats always the 1st thing I do when I get something with An auto. i drop pan and replace the filter and fluid.it allows me to inspect what's in the pan and let's me know either to keep it or sell it before it goes or start saving up for a rebuild.i have to agree I have never lost a tranny to a fluid change that wasn't on its way out anyway

 

yeah you need to drop the pan anyways because you need to change the filter, and when you buy the filter a new pan gasket should come with it. after you change the fluid make sure you check the fluid level a couple different times because sometimes the fluid level can take a little time to equalize. always remember to check the fluid level while its running and dont run it too high or too low

 

A340F A340H <-- anyone know which one i have or where i can find out which i've got? the last link for a fsm i tried didnt work.

i did a quick search and this is what i found
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...ier=66699_0_0_

is this the correct filter?
also, i was planning to use atf dexron II or III full synthetic...but with high mileage sometimes people recommend something else. anything better you guys would choose?

thanks for the help everyone.

 

as a side note, the other day in my neighborhood, i was in 2nd and all of the sudden it would not shift into 3rd. if i gave it throttle, rpms jumped as normal, but then it slowed down even more from about 28mph to around 15 as if it was trying to go into 1st. i took a left and came to a 4-way stop intersection on a hill, and took a right onto flat road and it would not shift out of first. i had to manually shift it from L to 2 and then into D. after manually shifting i went up 50mph or so to be sure it could still get up in mphs. it only did it that one time, hasnt since. that was about 3 weeks ago. my first thought was a relay/shift solenoid was bad. what should i try?

 

look at the sticker on your door, it will have one of those two numbers. but i think they might be the same filter. i would go with full syntheitc but make sure you get the right kind, i would get http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/..._ATF_3309.aspx it is made for toyota trans.

 

as for the shift problem it might have just been a bad egg or you have a solenoid going bad. its hard to tell

 

1993 4runer 3vze auto? a340h

 

thank you

 

so lets say hypothetically that i change the solenoids and it doesnt change. is there a cpu that controls the tranny?
the honda accord that i traded for this 4runner had a bad tcm (tranny control module) amongst other things, this cpu was fried and the tranny would not shift right.
is there something like this on these bad boys? or any other relays other than the solenoids?

 

It might be worth the $60-$90 to have a trans shop check it out they have a computer they can plug in to check all the solonoids and sensors and it also lets them manually shift it gear by gear or shift it automatically like the stock ecm to rule out ecm problems.if your like me you hate to spend the cash but sometimes it's well worth it

 

Have a read thru the manual

It covers the fluid amounts and shifting diagnostics.

The transmission type is located on the drivers door information placard, it's the 2nd half of the "ATM".

Most of the bad stuff will be in the bottom of the pan.

The Electronicly Controlled Transmission, is ran by the main ECM.