Transmission noise? 83 FJ60 (1 Viewer)

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Apr 18, 2017
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Location
Richmond VA

So, my FJ60 has been my daily driver for three years now, with minor hiccups along the way as any 40 year old car would have. But today, I started hearing a very awful noise coming from underneath. Fairly certain its something in the transmission or the transfer case. I have provided a video above of the noise. The noise goes away when I have the clutch pedal pressed, noise is very bad in first gear, bad in second, goes away in 3rd gear (I live in the city wasn't able to take it into 4th) Noise is also prevalent (but not as bad) when it is just idling like in the video above. Sounds almost like a chain pinging noise , transfercase in 2Hi is the only thing I have tested.
 
Is it that intermittent thunking? Or is that you? Pull your clutch inspection cover and see if it is the throw out bearing. Then drain the tranny and see what comes out. You could also pull the carpet up and take the top cover off the tranny to take a look in there.
 
I’d find a reliable & trustworthy, old school mechanic, and leave it with him. It’s a lot of work to remove & replace the shift boots & carpet, probably as much as a shop R&R the transmission & TC. And even if you pull the top plate of the transmission, you can’t fix it without removing it all from the truck.
 
Sure. At $80+/hr let someone else do the troubleshooting?

Or take a look yourself. I gave him options before pulling the top cover. And pulling a shifter and rolling the carpet back are not difficult.
 
Is it that intermittent thunking? Or is that you? Pull your clutch inspection cover and see if it is the throw out bearing. Then drain the tranny and see what comes out. You could also pull the carpet up and take the top cover off the tranny to take a look in there.


It's that clunking noise I am talking about, and at the end there is another noise that almost sounds like a chain ratteling, I'm gonna look at the service manual and see if I can take the clutch inspection cover off. Is there oil/or fluid behind the cover? Sorry if thats a silly question
 
It's that clunking noise I am talking about, and at the end there is another noise that almost sounds like a chain ratteling, I'm gonna look at the service manual and see if I can take the clutch inspection cover off. Is there oil/or fluid behind the cover? Sorry if thats a silly question
It should be dry behind the cover.
 
At the very bare minimum, the transfer case back cover could be removed to see if there's any shrapnel or metal mayhem going on in there. But if my transmission was making that racket, I'd stop driving it and remove it. If that's too daunting, an expensive trip to a transmission shop is the only other alternative. If the 4 speed transmission is messed up, it's really not worth it to try to fix it (in my opinion). Best to just replace it with a new 5 speed which costs about $2500 parts.

It's very doubtful that peering down the shift lever hole while the transmission is installed will reveal anything. Same with just removing the case top. Whatever the problem is, the remedy is the same: replace (or if you're very lucky) repair. But any way you go about it... the transmission has to be dropped
 
Consider this: the noise is present in neutral, that means the output shaft and, consequently,nothing in the transfer case is spinning. The problem does not lie in the transfer.

With the top cover off the transmission practically everything is visible.

I never said anything about peering down the shift tower.

Like I said, pull the clutch inspection cover and see if the throw out bearing is coming/ came apart or the pressure plate or the clutch disc. If everything is good there, drain the transmission and see what comes out. After that try the top cover and see what’s loose and bouncing around inside the transmission.
 
And 4-speeds can be had for a couple hundred dollars. Don’t know what your budget is. A five speed would be quite a bit more work seeing as you have an ‘83.
 
So, I found a local guy who works on FJs and took it to him, he told me the transmission is shot, he can't tell from the outside what exactly is wrong with it but it's something bad inside. He actually has a working 4 speed transmission he can swap it in with. I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and do this or try to put in a H55f myself, I know that's going to be more work, but might be worth it. Also I think I'm going to replace the clutch on it while I'm in there . This current clutch has 50k miles on it, so I'm not really sure if I should or not. Anyone have any suggestions on clutch kits? thanks
 
It always depends on your budget. If you have a tight budget, like a person with a new family and huge bills then I would say it isn't worth it to go for an H55F. Stick to a 4 speed.

But share the costs on here if you wish to see if the crowd thinks it's a good price. A clutch with 50k isn't worn out. It can be measured too. But one thing you may want to consider is the rear main seal on the engine.

I've seen people parting out trucks on here and decent 4spds are not too expensive.
 
Not too long ago you could find a used 4 speed for free, now they’re worth a little.

I’d replace the clutch and definitely the rear main seal. The 5 speed will require you to resize your driveshafts.
 
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I thought about doing a 5 speed but then I put some 31” tires on and decided to use the 5 speed money for other stuff.
 
There is a 4 speed with non split t case for sale in Maine for less than $200
 
Anyone know on pre-85s if the crossmember has to be changed as well? The cross members are different and I assume the trans mount pad changed as well. And, of course, with a setback transfer case the drive shaft won’t clear the crossmember without help?
 
Oh, and transfer case shift linkage is different.
 
Anyone know on pre-85s if the crossmember has to be changed as well? The cross members are different and I assume the trans mount pad changed as well. And, of course, with a setback transfer case the drive shaft won’t clear the crossmember without help?
I’m 99% sure the mounts are identical throughout the fj60 series. Someone may know better. I was also under the impression that the cross member is the same but may have different bolt locations on the frame rails. Pre 85 the transmission was shorter. After 85 they started putting 5speeds in some of them and the transmission is longer. There is a 4 speed with a spacer attached so that it fits in place of the 5speed. The drive shafts from pre 85 won’t work on post 85 trucks as the transmission sits in a different place.
 
Anyone know on pre-85s if the crossmember has to be changed as well? The cross members are different and I assume the trans mount pad changed as well. And, of course, with a setback transfer case the drive shaft won’t clear the crossmember without help?
I installed a 5 speed in my 1983 60 & used the existing cross member with no problem. I’m pretty sure the trans mount is the same. I also added a crawl box & had to notch the cross member. I don’t know if it would clear with just the 5 speed.
 
I’m 99% sure the mounts are identical throughout the fj60 series. Someone may know better. I was also under the impression that the cross member is the same but may have different bolt locations on the frame rails. Pre 85 the transmission was shorter. After 85 they started putting 5speeds in some of them and the transmission is longer. There is a 4 speed with a spacer attached so that it fits in place of the 5speed. The drive shafts from pre 85 won’t work on post 85 trucks as the transmission sits in a different place.

85-on

Pre-85
 

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