1988 FJ62 tranny wont go through gears (1 Viewer)

[DanGant]

Happy Fall to all. Hoping for some help so I can get back out on the road with the widows down in the ole Cruiser.

I've got 207k on the dial in this one and the previous owner had a "new" transmission put in at 193k miles. Looking at all the service records someone wrote, "new tranny" at the bottom of it so take that with a grain of salt.

Last week I noticed she was sluggish when shifting into 3rd gear. Now I cant get her to shift through gears at all. Goes into gear fine and I can manually go from low to 2nd, but when I attempt manual shift from 2nd to 3rd it kicks back to low.

What does this sound like to y'all? Levels are good, fluid is red with no fowl smell and Temp light has never showed red.

 

[SteveH]

As always, check for a stuck kick-down cable. There are many threads on Mud on this. But, for a quick check - open the hood and find the 2 cables on the throttle body. If one is quite loose at idle (or when the throttle is not pressed), then it may be stuck or hung up. You need to check the adjustment per the FSM on this cable.

No 'fowl smell'? - glad there is no poultry involved!

 

[Gretsch]

Looking at all the service records someone wrote, "new tranny" at the bottom of it so take that with a grain of salt.

As in 'it needs one'?

 

[DanGant]

As always, check for a stuck kick-down cable. There are many threads on Mud on this. But, for a quick check - open the hood and find the 2 cables on the throttle body. If one is quite loose at idle (or when the throttle is not pressed), then it may be stuck or hung up. You need to check the adjustment per the FSM on this cable.

No 'fowl smell'? - glad there is no poultry involved!

Hahah thanks! No birds are safe with this tank. I’ll check on the kick-down this afternoon.

 

[DanGant]

As in 'it needs one'?

 

[DanGant]

As in it got one.. probably a rebuild.

 

[DanGant]

As always, check for a stuck kick-down cable. There are many threads on Mud on this. But, for a quick check - open the hood and find the 2 cables on the throttle body. If one is quite loose at idle (or when the throttle is not pressed), then it may be stuck or hung up. You need to check the adjustment per the FSM on this cable.

No 'fowl smell'? - glad there is no poultry involved!

Kick down is good under the hood..

Is this the same cable that runs from throttle body down under the truck and into the side of the drivers side of the transmission? Thanks

 

[SteveH]

Yes - that's the one. But, just because it doesn't have slack (which might mean it is stuck) doesn't mean it's adjusted correctly. Also, when you check your fluid level, be sure the truck is hot (trans oil) and idling in park.

More info: FJ62 Kickdown Cable Adjustment Measurement - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fj62-kickdown-cable-adjustment-measurement.1246604/

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[Lead Head]

Keep in mind that "3" in the FJ62 isn't manual 3rd, it's just "Drive" with OD (4th) locked out. So it's still an automatic mode. 2 and L are fully manual ranges.


...however, when looking at the A440F clutch application chart (shows which clutches are active in each gear), the only difference between "2" and 3rd gear while in the "3" position is the application of the C2 clutch and the release of the B2 brake. If the C2 clutch was smoked, you wouldn't have reverse (does reverse still work?). If the B2 brake isn't releasing, you'd get a bind up as the C2 clutch applied (transmission would lock up). So assuming L, 2 and R still work, I think your transmission is mechanically fine.

I'm betting it's a kickdown cable issue, or the governor is acting up.

 

[pithicus]

If you grab the kickdown cable with thumb and index finger and pull it , it should pull out a few cm and spring back freely when you let it go.

 

[DanGant]

Keep in mind that "3" in the FJ62 isn't manual 3rd, it's just "Drive" with OD (4th) locked out. So it's still an automatic mode. 2 and L are fully manual ranges.


...however, when looking at the A440F clutch application chart (shows which clutches are active in each gear), the only difference between "2" and 3rd gear while in the "3" position is the application of the C2 clutch and the release of the B2 brake. If the C2 clutch was smoked, you wouldn't have reverse (does reverse still work?). If the B2 brake isn't releasing, you'd get a bind up as the C2 clutch applied (transmission would lock up). So assuming L, 2 and R still work, I think your transmission is mechanically fine.

I'm betting it's a kickdown cable issue, or the governor is acting up.

Good evening Lead Head - Yep. Reverse is fine. It'll go into L, 2 and R just fine. Right now when I put it in Drive its stuck in 2. But I can still manually go from L, to 2. When I try to manually go into 3 it then kicks back down to L. But maybe it does that because 3 isn't manual?

 

[FJ Silver]

Does it change after you drive around some and the fluid gets hot?
Search Mud for the ' party trick ' to flush the governor. Slamming the car in P for 5 sec. While driving 60.
I'd try a passive flush / Rodney flush, but first drop the pan check your filter, make sure your valve body is still bolted on etc.
The fact that reverse is no issue, could give you some hope.

Are you running a cooler? Maybe 6 an fittings? They restrict fluid flow quite a bit.

 

[Lead Head]

Sounds like a stuck governor or TV cable to me. Try the "party trick" as mentioned, and triple check your kickdown cable. Make sure you can pull on the cable and it freely returns under spring tension.

 

[Michael Hanson]

All my cruisers needed trans. Rebuilds around 230,00 except for the fj80 which has 450,00 on it. Mike

 

[DanGant]

UPDATE: After taking the Cruiser to a local Transmission shop, I went and picked it up after it sat for almost 3 weeks. They wanted to immediately pull it and open it up so I decided to bring it home and avoid that $800 Dr. visit.

After working with it a little more, I have found a constant. When I put the truck in drive it stays in L. So instead I manually drop in L, accelerate up to 3k RPM shift into 2nd, then accelerate at the same pace and kick into 3rd it will jump back down to L. BUT I have found if I hammer down when in 2nd and wait until I'm turning about 3500 - 4000 RPM I can then manually shift to 3rd without it jumping back down to L. After about a 3-5 second pause, it shifts into 3rd and from there I put it in drive and it works just fine. It'll cycle down through gears when stopping and go back through them when accelerating with no problem after I've gone through my manual dance. So it's almost as if something is a little sleepy in helping it go through gears but once it wakes up it is fine.

I am going to keep on trucking with this approach for now while putting a side a few bucks each paycheck in case this stops working....

 

[FJ Silver]

Interesting.
I had this issue, but not as bad. I would need to shift in 2nd and 3rd manually, only once when cold. After that, it would shift like normal.

- If you don't have gears slipping, definitely do a passive flush, unless the fluid is not that old.
- Do the "party trick" before you change the fluid, to flush the governor.
- Drop the pan so you can clean the filter, and make sure the valve body bolts are torqued properly.
- Add a Cooler, I added a 12x12 inch 2inch thick Derale stacked plate. ( Don't use 6AN couplings, they are too narrow inside)
- Use Allison rated synthetic transmission fluid. So Mobile 1 delvac atf, Transynd atf etc.
- Triple check your Kickdown.... Mine is really "lose" and shifts at lower RPM and loves it better than tight, high RPM.
- Release your kickdown from the throttle, tape a funnel to the end, tie it up to the hood and pour a little ATF down it. This will lubricate the whole cable.

Above solved ALL my transmission issues, its shifting great, has 275K miles on it and it never goes over 180 degrees.

 

[Lead Head]

Sounds like it's a sticky governor. As mentioned, the "party trick" might clear it up.

 

[YooperCruiser]

UPDATE: After taking the Cruiser to a local Transmission shop, I went and picked it up after it sat for almost 3 weeks. They wanted to immediately pull it and open it up so I decided to bring it home and avoid that $800 Dr. visit.

After working with it a little more, I have found a constant. When I put the truck in drive it stays in L. So instead I manually drop in L, accelerate up to 3k RPM shift into 2nd, then accelerate at the same pace and kick into 3rd it will jump back down to L. BUT I have found if I hammer down when in 2nd and wait until I'm turning about 3500 - 4000 RPM I can then manually shift to 3rd without it jumping back down to L. After about a 3-5 second pause, it shifts into 3rd and from there I put it in drive and it works just fine. It'll cycle down through gears when stopping and go back through them when accelerating with no problem after I've gone through my manual dance. So it's almost as if something is a little sleepy in helping it go through gears but once it wakes up it is fine.

I am going to keep on trucking with this approach for now while putting a side a few bucks each paycheck in case this stops working....

Are you absolutely 100% sure your kickdown cable is good, free, adjusted properly, not hanging up etc? If you can't answer yes to that you need to get on it cause a trans that will shift through the gears, although shifting at too high, or too low rpms is most often the cable.

 

[FJ Silver]

Are you absolutely 100% sure your kickdown cable is good, free, adjusted properly, not hanging up etc? If you can't answer yes to that you need to get on it cause a trans that will shift through the gears, although shifting at too high, or too low rpms is most often the cable.

Just to drive home this point, the kickdown is crazy sensitive. A few millimeters makes a difference. So triple checking, lubing it up with ATF might be the ticket.

 

[SteveH]

I intentionally adjusted the kickdown cable to both extremes of its range on my FJ62, and it shifted 'ok' throughout, but when misadjusted, it revved higher and shifted harder and was not pleasant. Clearly, it likes to be adjusted just where the FSM says it should be. Just a data point for us all.