angrydogtattoo

Guys, I bought another truck for my small growing fleet of toyota trucks, so now I'm at three.

New truck is a 1990 xtra cab with a 22RE and a bad auto tranny and 315k miles. Looks like the PO PO did a lot of parts replacement and maybe some engine work, the door plate says I have an A340F which I feel is probably accurate, I have yet to inspect the plate on the tranny. I do have manual locking hubs so that does sound right.

From what the PO said and my own troubleshooting, I think the torque converter needs replaced. When it's cold I can get in reverse and move until it warms up, but no forward gears at all. I'm going to replace the TC to just get it back on the road for now. My question is, not knowing a lot about automatics....since this truck has 315k miles on it, can I get a newer A340F from say a 03 taco (after the bad tranny issue years) and swap bell housings and bolt it up?

I've also been thinking of just doing a 5 speed swap. I'm not much of a crawler, but I like to get things muddy once in a while.

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

angrydogtattoo

Well guys I finished up the frame repair on my 83 single cab today, wired up the lights and painted the rust.

That made room for the new 90 4WD to go in the garage, after getting into the 83 and taking it for a spin, I was a little worried that I might not have the rear aligned but it drove straight but it was great shifting gears again, I've been driving the wife's 90 2wd auto, so I'm thinking that I should do the 5 speed swap.

Any ideas on what transmission I should look for? Seems like there are a lot more manuals available out there than autos.

yotarob2005

Very few people around here will agree with me, but my 4runner is a dedicated trail rig & I love my auto.

Arkman

im not for sure what auto i have but mine has a fresh rebuild with less than 10,000 miles on it and love it too.

angrydogtattoo

well I pulled the tranny out, it's sitting on the garage floor, bought a FSM for it, so the question is rebuild it, or swap for the 5sp, found a nice list of things I need to replace while under the truck broke a few cross-member bolts, gonna use the grinder and remove that small area of frame and re-weld in metal and nuts, same for the say bar, PO tack welded on side, had to grind it off.

angrydogtattoo

Called a local Transmission shop, they said that for $25 they would open up my auto trans and give it a look and tell me exactly what it wrong, so for $25 I'll bite, they said that $100 would get me a new torque converter, but its whining because it's starving for fluid, so there is something else wrong as well. Maybe the converter is good not sure.

However, they wanted me to pull the transfer case off, so as I was removing it I found that at some point someone else has been into it and resealed the transfer case with RTV, that stuff is everywhere on the inside and is coming loose, my guess that is the problem, some of that has made it's way into the system and has "gummed" up the works, maybe a good cleaning and some new plates inside and it could be good to go. Worst case they are saying around $400, considering I paid $600 for the truck, $400 in the trans and maybe another say $500 in rebuilding the front (brakes, axles, ball joints, sway bar bushings and links, ect...) I'll have $1500 in it, so that's not too bad for a 90 in the heart of the "salt belt"

4x4jeffyota

you should make a build thread, I would enjoy reading it

tried4x2signN

I agree... B/c the A340H is NOT the A340f...

But if the 1st tranny lasted 315,000 miles, then yeah, at the 1st sign of it needing anytihng I'd swap it out for a good ol' trouble free 5 speed...





96 and 97 LANDCRUISER'S have a A343...

HighLux

$400/$500 for a rebuild is cheap...even with you pulling it. I just had the automatic in my 2006 e350 work van rebuild. I took it out...and put it back in. Cost $1688 for the bench rebuild and new convertor. (went at 57k miles...ouch)


Having blown more auto's than anyone I know...lol....

My advice. Have the trans rebuild. See if they can up the line pressure a bit for quicker/cooler shifts. Always get a new torque converter. Imagine the trash in it..... and ditch the factory trans cooler in the radiator. Get a good aftermarket tans cooler.

Bonus item
trans temp gauge

yada21

try seafoam

angrydogtattoo

Ok, talked with the transmission shop today after work, they had a chance to open it up and check out the transmission, I had given them the ok to start work as long as we didn't go over the $400 mark.

As I suspected from taking off the transfer case, at some point someone else has been into the transmission before. The guys at the shop said that the clutches are burned up. They think that the Throttle Pressure cable was not re-installed correctly when whom ever worked on it last and that trans was starved for ATF. It was probably really slow of the line and shifted very early until highway speeds. The clutches are all completely gone.

They have ordered all the parts and it should be ready by Friday, they said they would give me some flush to clean out the lines and to change the fluid a couple times and it should be fine. Also when I reinstall it to make sure that the Throttle line is tight and take it for a test drive, it should not shift out of first gear prior to reaching at least 15 mph, if it did pull over and adjust the cable, low pressure in the system is not good!

HighLux

Get a stacked plate tranny cooler. Cheap insurance. Easy install.

tried4x2signN

1: But a truck with a good A340/f in it.

Or 2: Rebuild the one ya got...

Swear I thought there was a thread around here...