A44D swap to A340E Tranny Install- 03' Tacoma 2.7l-Critical Job

This is my first post due to the importance of this job. I have been a lurker for years. I have a 2003 4 CYL. 2.7L 2WD Pre Runner ext. cab automatic. I have 130,000 miles on her and have recently experienced some major transmission issues. Long story short, the shifting has been delayed and the fluid is burnt. Without getting into the things I did...I just found a pulled A340E and bought online that was tested and good for $600 shipped. I just received it today. My first question is, and believe me I have looked everywhere for the answer....is the Man. tag inside my driver door lists my tranny as "A44D"?? I haven't seen this anywhere and when I ran my Repairlink on my vin it does show to be A340E. All my research shows A340E is my tranny thus that is what I have here to replace. The replacement has the housing, torque converter, etc.. I'm really hoping I didn't mess up and find out that these aren't compatible? Everywhere I look I see the A340E for my 2.7 2wd pre runner?

Also, assuming the A340E that I have is compatible...what else should I do while I have the tranny out? I plan to replace the rear main seal...because why not(it isn't leaking) but is right there and fairly easy to do. Anything other recommendations? Also, should I dump the fluid in the pulled unit and replace with new? Maybe clean the screen filter out too? This is my first Tranny swap and figured it was better than a rebuild. I do not have the $$ for that or for a shop that quoted me $2500 to do. I do all my own stuff anyways and have pulled a tranny before in a small mazda car a few years ago. I plan on getting a tranny jack and other various needed tools. I have spent hours researching this. This is my daily driver and I commute a few hours a day. This is very critical that I get it right because tbh not much has went right for me lately. i also have a P0550 IAC Code but I'll address that after I figure this tranny situation out. Any help is greatly appreciated...I'll post pics this evening.

 

You have a 2003? In the 2003-2004 trucks Toyota switched from fly-by-wire to throttle-by-wire so any transmission (someone chime in if I'm wrong) made before 2003 will not be compatible. You need a throttle-by-wire transmission on your truck. It became electronic instead of manual.

 

So the A340E that I have doesn't feature this? I spent hours researching this, and this is the first time I have heard anything throttle by wire. I've called dealers trans places etc.. pics are attached. This is the plate of the new tranny.

 

Here are more pics...first one off tranny on my truck.

 

03-72 is what the left #'s show.

 

New transmission...

 

Another angle...

 

You sure? 30-40LE is another name for A340E.

 

I was just looking at Wikipedia but it says the 30-40LE is the A340E. It could be wrong though.

 

Right. A340F has a longer output shaft & different cone to accommodate for the transfer case. The A340E is exactly the same besides the two aforementioned things. I believe you can turn an A340E into an an A340F by swapping the output shaft.

Can anyone confirm or deny the drive-by-wire/fly-by-wire inter-compatibility with the 03-04 trucks? I heard you can't use a fly-by-wire (pre-'02) transmission since the throttle on 03 and 04 is electronic.

 

As far as I know the 30-40LE is an A340E just going off what online sources say, but I could totally be wrong. You may or may not run into inter-compatibility issues with the fly-by-wire vs. the drive-by-wire that your '03 has.

 

The A44D reference is probably in relation to the mini-Tacoma's 2WD with 2.4L engines (Non-Prerunner, 5-lug wheels, etc)

I think the fact OP has the 2.7 powerplant negates the drive-by-wire argument. I thought that only affected the 3.4L powered trucks.

Check the current trans for the mechanical 'shift-down' cable - drivers side of trans...

 

So drive-by-wire in 03 and 04 only affected the 5VZ v6 and not the 2.4l/2.7l? Interesting.

 

@mechanicjon maybe you can chime in?

 

@gearcruncher