godam slushbox

Anyway, I'd recommend an aux cooler in all my post mordum analyses if you do not have one and put any extra load on your auto or just in general, also a way to monitor temps like a scan gauge. This is of course after regular 30k pampering and all the finest red port that it might indulge itself with and make sure it never spills a drop.

 

Treating them right goes a long ways. Fresh fluid is better for them than nasty burnt fluid, that's for sure. The biggest thing with an auto though is to make sure you don't overheat them.
I did a cooler line flush on the 4l60e in my sisters trailblazer a few years ago with maxlife atf, didn't drop the pan. Then this year while I had it on the lift putting a new sending unit in the gas tank, I went ahead and dropped the pan and changed the filter. The fluid was still bright red and looked new. The magnets had a minimal amought of sludge on them and there was almost no clutch material in the pan. I was impressed with how everything looked inside the pan, especially on a 12 year old car that has never had the pan off.... keep in mind that the 4l60e isn't known to be a fantastic transmission either. Sure, it may up and die anytime... but at least I know I did everything I could to keep it going.

 

My impression after only 160 miles on pure bright red maxlife fully flushed through the trans cooler is this thing's vomiting all it's clutch and band material. It's dark, smells horrible. I think I'm fooling myself thinking it could be fixed by refurbishing the valve body or changing out the torque converter. Maybe just park it til I can find a J.Y. replacement.

 

Could a slipping, burning TC account for that much black shit? Even so if this thing hit the 300 degree warning light threshold multiple times is it worth relying on just a valve body fluffing or TC replacement? Probably answered my own question there.

 

Fixing the valve body will repair the hydraulic loss of pressure , but at this point you have almost guaranteed cooked the clutches if the transmission went as high as 300 .
How did it upshift and downshift before you removed the pan ?

 

I have to characterize it at non-eventful. That is it presents no unusual symptoms that I would notice, other than maybe "soft shifts" if I understand that term correctly but really no, nothing out of the ordinary, except for maybe forgetting where it was last night.

 

UH, ya it's probably cooked, got up to 300 if that's when the light came on, multiple times now. I'm thinking I don't want to fool with this other than throw another scrap unit in there or find some way to trick the system into not trying to enter lock up mode.

 

Yeah 300 is approaching the temps where you could potentially be warping hard parts.

Running an unlocked TC is gonna put out a lot of heat. At this point, I think the question is really "is this truck worth fixing?". From everything I'm gathering here, the answer is no. You've got another taco, so I think you should part this one out and put money into the other truck if you need to.

 

You need lock up working as that will keep the converter and transmission much cooler but I agree that it may be time to look for another trans . These transmissions are cheap at the wrecking yards . They are also available from members here at Tacoma World . check out the buy and sell page . Hopefully you can find a low mileage unit

 

Not sure if I understand the lockup function and if that can be defeated. It seems like that is the source of the excess heat at highway speed. I have read that it comes into play at various speeds in the A340; at lower in the later models. One writeup mentioned disconnecting the S3 solenoid and running it.

 

I believe the source of the heat in your transmission is a damaged valve body allowing pressurized fluid to drop back to the transmission pan rather than travelling through the oil cooler .
You can disconnect the lock up function , however your fuel mileage will go through the roof and your check engine light will always be illuminated

 

Dunno man, this thing's like a part of me now. I put it through hell and expected it to die a long time ago so I could be rid of it. It's damn impossible to sell a salvage. I think I'll go the J.Y. route if I can grab one cheap, then make this thing into a dedicated bruiser.

 

If the body was straight I'd say fix it for sure, but given its history... I can't say that I would... unless I was needing a beater to knock around in, or if it had some sentimental value. Honestly it sounds like it should have been taken off the road and parted out/crushed when it was wrecked.

 

You're right, it should have been scrapped. I bought this thing 2 years into the second production run when they were going used in 20k range for 8k... It's pretty straight, it's got me all over the country to work in the National Parks for over a decade. It has always had a camber problem that comes into play at freeway speeds. I bought UCA's to deal with it though never installed. Other ongoing is HVAC box is cracked, making it leak rain.

I've only put brakes and changed oil on this truck really, that and installed dual battery, solar panels, onboard shower, many cheap/free mods from forums. Never had money to lift it. Still, I've had my ass in the wind on jeep trails jeeps avoid. There's still only 140 on the clock but those are hard miles - rack leaks like a sieve, cv's are gone - minor stuff really.

This truck has served me well despite it's faults - hell I've lived out of it for at least 4 years. I don't think I would have modified a more pristine vehicle, but everything done worked out well thanks to all the great write-ups and some creativity. When I start to pick it apart now it's just a bit sad.

 

MANY THANKS, I gotta say I'm pretty happy to be shifting my own gears again. The '02 auto was never more than a busted yuppie cruiser in my estimation. I gotta say overall, I kinda feel like if you are unwilling to operate a standard transmission you might as well be driving a AWD synchro, power everything, heated leather ass warmer, drive by wire, GPS navigated, cell phone integrated, windshield obfuscated, godam grocery getter and not a truck. Good riddance really.

 

Just a note on the reliability of a "casually maintained" A340.

These transmissions are almost identical to the AW4 in the Jeep Cherokee XJs. There are A LOT of those things that run several hundred thousand miles without being maintained religiously. Aisin knew what they were doing when making these transmissions and they are SUPER reliable when compared the autos of the same vintage from other manufacturers.

That being said, having 3 pedals and a gearshift is my preference as well. Though I've dealt with many more problems with Ford slave cylinders not holding a bleed than XJ or taco autos.

Man do I wish my 03 double cab came with a manual..especially a 6 speed!

 

The more I mull it over the more I realize deep down I did everything I could to kill that transmission. I really hated it - well that in combination with the whole truck. It had plenty of power but get it on the freeway and it was like forest gump trying to run. I even considered rolling it off a cliff more than once.

 

The only thing is I could have gotten rid of it easier if I hadn't been so mean to it, but then I am so cheap I probably would have just kept driving it. Now it's gonna get picked apart in the driveway and sold off. That's how we do in the desert.

 

I can agree with you that the freeway driving leaves much to be desired. With 32s and stock gears the damn thing won't stop gear searching between 3rd and OD anytime there is a hill or headwind or even if I go under 70mph. Drives me nuts! Most of the time I used the OD button on the shifter to force it to hold 3rd.

In comparison, I have a jeep XJ with the same transmission and 31s and it doesn't do any of that. Granted the inline 6 has more low rpm torque but still

Edit: The jeep even has higher axle gears at 3.55 than the taco with 4.10. I've considered going with 4.88s to see if that helps but I'm looking at $1500 to have it done and I'm cheap too

 

The valve body in the tranny requires a rebuild. Install Sonnax and Transgo or RatioTech kits in it. Enjoy your truck once again for miles and miles to come.