1989 FJ 62 Transmission Problems (1 Viewer)

[chepack]

Please help. I just bought a 1989 FJ 62 with automatic transmission and really know very little about them. I am in the Salem, OR area.

I was entering the freeway tonight and was accelerating to match traffic when I heard a persistent whinning sound. When I got to my exit and stopped at the light the sound stopped. I shifted to neutral and revved the engine and it started up getting the stronger the more I accelerated. When I pulled out from the stop light my RPM's spiked and the vehicle would not shift out of what I think was first gear. I slowed down and started to accelerate again this time at a slower pace and it shifted fine. From that point til I parked it after every stop if I tried to accelerate normal it would spike the RPM's and wouldn't shift, only after accelerating slowly would it work. When I got to the house and put it in reverse to park it took several seconds to actually enter reverse and then it did so with a mild pop.

I checked the transmission fluid and the levels are fine. What should I do next? Does anyone have any recommendations for a tranny shop in the Salem, OR region? Any help would be appreciated.

chepack@hotmail.com

 

[vexx7001]

Well welcome to the fj62 world. Sorry to tell you the same thing has happened to me your transmission is toast. i'm trying to find a good trany shop myself in AZ to rebuild mine. well good luck

 

[teapot]

If it's the same, orangefj45 is selling a complete tranny/t-case out of an 88 FJ62. Send him a pm it might save you money.

 

[billmc]

Chepack

No need to rush to judgement yet. There's a number of inexpensive things to try before declaring the tranny toast. First is to make sure the fluid level is correct. The A440F is very sensitive to incorrect ATF levels. It should be checked when the engine is hot after driving around for a while. With the engine idling, move the gear shift back and forth through range a few times. Then, with the engine still idling check that the fluid is well within the "hot" range. Pretty close is not close enough. If you have to top up, the distance between the marks is IIRC ~ 1 pint. Don't overfill. Next, make sure the throttle cable and accelerator cable (ie, the one that goes to the back of the tranny) are not sticking and are adjusted correctly. (Do a search on "kickdown cable" for details). Next, clean or replace the tranny filter screen and do a passive flush of the ATF and replace with synthetic ATF. (Do a search on "Rodney passive flush" for details.) Do not take it to a tranny shop and have them do a power flush on it. You can do all of the above for < $200 ( < $100 if you don't use synthetic). Definitely do all of this before condemning the tranny. In fact, you should do them all even if the first fixes your problem.

If you still have no joy, then it's starting to look grim. You can try to clear obstuctions in the valve body by trying the "party trick", which involves driving down an empty road at ~60mph and putting it into park for a few seconds. Be sure to bring a helmet and a change of shorts. (Do a search on 'party trick' for details.)

If still no joy, you're probably SOL. Haven't heard of many stateside rebuilds that lasted very long. You'ld be better of swapping in a known good used tranny, buying a rebuilt valve body from Rodney in Australia, or switching over to an H55 5-speed manual.

HTH
Bill

 

[mtb_rider]

My dad has been a tranny guy for about 30 years, and has owned his own shop, where I worked for a few years. ( i have since gotten out of the tranny business, and turn wrenches on boats now) First off. If your trans is borderline, doing a flush may finish it off. ATF is very high in detergent, so if your clutch packs are worn, it may just "wash off" what ever clutch material you have left, then it won't go into gear at all. So be careful there. Also, I don't recommend switching an old tranny over to synthetic that has run on dinosaur oil for so long. If you get a new trans or have yours rebuilt, you can run synthetic if you want, but even then it has mixed feelings, but the synthetic fluids are soooo much slicker than regular ATF, that again if your tranny is borderline, the synthetic may make it slip or cause more shift problems. Also synthetic lubes are molecularly much smaller, so if you have worn or leaky seals, it will leak worse.

And sorry, but I can't recommend any good shops in the Salem area. I do know a few up in my area.

 

[daddyo]

I can't diagnose your tranny, but I can offer some advice.

Do a search, and you can find the name of the place that sells the bulletproof FJ62 trannies. Search using the keywords "Rodney", "transmission", and "Australia" (yes they are in Australia). His website has a lot of useful information.

Also in your research here, note that a lot of folks seem to have taken their tranny to the local shop only to have it go bad again in a short time. So, you need to find a competent FJ62 tranny rebuilder.

You can get used stuff from cruiserparts.net if you need to.

Hopefully, this will turn out to be something simple and cheap.

Andrew

 

[kevin g]

It sounds like your kick-down cable may be too tight.

 

[cajun65]

Well welcome to the fj62 world. Sorry to tell you the same thing has happened to me your transmission is toast. i'm trying to find a good trany shop myself in AZ to rebuild mine. well good luck

X2! Mine is getting rebuilt this week! Mine slipped when I got it so I drained the fluid (get a big a$$ bucket!), pulled the pan and replaced the filter. If I were you, I'd do the same first just to make sure. And about the level, these guys are correct. That A440 is finicky about how much oil is in there. Keep some extra quarts with you while you travel.

And best of luck to you. Post up what you discover.

 

[rommeldog]

The automatic transmission in my '87 hj60 went after 490,000km four years ago. I drove the vehicle less than 20,000km over the four years and last summer it showed the same syptoms as yours. The tranny shop in Vancouver was good enough to warranty their work as they know that I look after my truck. Needless to say, they are still working on the tranny (5 months). The original bill was in the $7,000 cdn range. Before I contacted the transmission shop, I cleaned the filter which was completely full of crud, and flushed the entire system. That worked for a little while, but was not a permanent fix.
Best of luck, Jason

 

[chrs_mrnd]

Check the transmission filter first. Mine did the same thing. Another cruiser and I pulled the filter and it was clogged with what looked like shredded pencil shavings. Cleaned out the filter and runs great.

 

[chepack]

Well on the way to the tranny shop this morning it finally gave out and wouldn't go unless I manually cycled through the L to D and then it only went into gear enough to get me off the road. I had it towed to the shop where they said it was definately something internal. I'll ask a lot more questions tomorrow.

Anyhow, I have been looking real hard at the H55 and will probably order it from cruiserparts.net tomorrow and schedule to have it installed. I'd love to do it myself but (A) I don't have the time and (B) I don't have the skill so I'll resort to paying someone else. My mechanic says he can do it but no idea of time. I am hopefully overestimating at 20 hours. Any thoughts?

 

[azaussie]

Anyhow, I have been looking real hard at the H55 and will probably order it from cruiserparts.net tomorrow and schedule to have it installed. I'd love to do it myself but (A) I don't have the time and (B) I don't have the skill so I'll resort to paying someone else. My mechanic says he can do it but no idea of time. I am hopefully overestimating at 20 hours. Any thoughts?

It may be too late now but I was sure my tranny was toast about 10,000 miles ago. I did the "Rodney Flush" (search for instructions) and it has run well ever since. I added a tranny cooler a couple of months ago to hopefully keep it around for a few more miles. When it dies I will eihter get a replacement from Rodney at Wholesale Automatic Transmissions or go the H55. A local shop that has converted atl east one 62 to stick quoted me an even $1,000 for the swap. I cannot remember what they charge per hour but I'm thinking they can do it in abot 15hrs.

 

[Cruzerman]

Before you order a H55 from across the country, check your local dealer. If they give a discount (and often you have to ask for one), it may be considerably cheaper since you won't have to pay shipping. Worth checking out.

 

[chicago]

Well on the way to the tranny shop this morning it finally gave out and wouldn't go unless I manually cycled through the L to D and then it only went into gear enough to get me off the road. I had it towed to the shop where they said it was definately something internal. I'll ask a lot more questions tomorrow.

Anyhow, I have been looking real hard at the H55 and will probably order it from cruiserparts.net tomorrow and schedule to have it installed. I'd love to do it myself but (A) I don't have the time and (B) I don't have the skill so I'll resort to paying someone else. My mechanic says he can do it but no idea of time. I am hopefully overestimating at 20 hours. Any thoughts?

Look at it this way...At least now youll be able to put some crawler gears behind the H55 at a later date!
Im thinking about doing the same swap when my auto goes!
I hope its not for a while though!
Sorry!
Did you have any symptoms BEFORE the major problems started?

Chicago

 

[cajun65]

What's a ballpark $ figure on that kind of conversion?

 

[offroadin4fun]

I may have a line on a 5 speed sitting in a fj60 at a nearby junkyard.... what is the criteria for the tranny and linkage in a 60 to bolt in to the 62 and does which year model it is come into play?

 

[integrin]

Hey chepack,
I'm still planning on pulling the good A440 out of my HJ60, but it sounds like you'll need to move faster than that. I'll let you know if I come across anything in the meantime.