Hi all.
I suspect my transmission is on the way out.
I believe its the A750F 5-speed transmission.
The vehicle is a 2003 Toyota Land cruiser GXL 4.7 V8 Auto UZJ100R with 230,000KM on the clock.
I've only been driving the car for the last week or so, after purchasing it second hand 4 or so months ago. (Details below).
THE PROBLEM:
I think the gears are slipping, and its especially noticeable in the mornings, while under acceleration, and while going uphill. At first I thought it might have been a blocked fuel filter, as it would lurch a bit, sort of like you had a bit of crap in the fuel tank, so I switched tanks and the issue seemed to disappear, until it recurred and I've since confirmed it happens on either tank.
This is during my trip to work, which only takes around 15-20 minutes.
Its intermittent.
I have not noticed it in the evenings, despite driving the same incline hills and bridges, which is odd, however perhaps I'm slower on the way home from work, and haven't noticed it...Its probably a few degrees warmer in the evenings... around 8 degrees C compared to around 2-4 degrees C in the mornings.
WHAT I'VE CHECKED:
I checked the ATF level via the dipstick, and it may be a little bit low.
The procedure I used was to drive the car to the local Repco store to buy some ATF fluid, got lunch, bought the car back, left it idling for around 15 mins, (a total running time of around 30mins, but most while idling) then, while it was idling, on level ground, I cleaned off the dipstick, reinserted it, removed it and inspected.
The dipstick seems to have 4 notches, two at the "hot" part, about an inch apart, and a couple of inches down two at the "cold" part, also about an inch apart. When I checked, the level was approx half way between them, ie, about halfway from the very top "hot" notch, and halfway from the very bottom "cold" notch.
Now, I'm guessing that would indicate that the fluid may be low, given the engine should be hot, and if so, I'm guessing the line should be between the two "hot" notches?
Does that sound correct?
Or should I actually drive the car for 30 mins or so to make sure its hot?
I also had a look at the fluid, and it was bright pink, and I couldn't see any obvious signs of metal or other foreign particles in it, although I will retest it with some clean paper towel and a magnifying glass tomorrow.
BACKGROUND
I purchased this vehicle second hand near the start of the year, then drove it home 2000KM.
On the drive home I didn't notice this issue, although admittedly most of it was continuous highway driving.
I DID however notice on that drive that sometimes when I rapidly accelerated, such as when going to overtake, sometimes the engine would rev high without actually doing anything, like it wouldn't drop down a gear, and/or almost like it was in neutral, although it didn't actually lose speed, it just didnt gain speed.
As the vehicle was unregistered, and purchased interstate, I had to do a fair bit of work on it to get it up to roadworthy, although none of the work so far has been on the engine or transmission. (Nearly everything else in it though, lol, but that's another story).
Its got 230,000KMs on it, and has been used a lot in the sand, from the amount of rust...
The service manual had each check up until about 7 years ago...so I suspect a lot of servicing hasn't been done in years...
---------------
Anyway, after working on it for three months or more on weekends, its finally registered and roadworthy.
However, now I'm worried I may be looking at getting a new transmission.
Does this sound terminal to you?
I can't imagine topping it up a bit will really help matters...
Given I suspect the servicing of this vehicle has been fairly nonexistent, would you advise dropping out the transmission cover and cleaning the mesh/filter thingy and adding new ATF?
I was already planning on draining the ATF when I get the engine serviced.
Please note, while I think it is the transmission, I'm not a mechanic, so I could be completely wrong.
Its just an assumption, but I can't rule it out or point to anything else yet.
Thanks for any advice you can provide, and if you need any more info, please let me know.
I suspect my transmission is on the way out.
I believe its the A750F 5-speed transmission.
The vehicle is a 2003 Toyota Land cruiser GXL 4.7 V8 Auto UZJ100R with 230,000KM on the clock.
I've only been driving the car for the last week or so, after purchasing it second hand 4 or so months ago. (Details below).
THE PROBLEM:
I think the gears are slipping, and its especially noticeable in the mornings, while under acceleration, and while going uphill. At first I thought it might have been a blocked fuel filter, as it would lurch a bit, sort of like you had a bit of crap in the fuel tank, so I switched tanks and the issue seemed to disappear, until it recurred and I've since confirmed it happens on either tank.
This is during my trip to work, which only takes around 15-20 minutes.
Its intermittent.
I have not noticed it in the evenings, despite driving the same incline hills and bridges, which is odd, however perhaps I'm slower on the way home from work, and haven't noticed it...Its probably a few degrees warmer in the evenings... around 8 degrees C compared to around 2-4 degrees C in the mornings.
WHAT I'VE CHECKED:
I checked the ATF level via the dipstick, and it may be a little bit low.
The procedure I used was to drive the car to the local Repco store to buy some ATF fluid, got lunch, bought the car back, left it idling for around 15 mins, (a total running time of around 30mins, but most while idling) then, while it was idling, on level ground, I cleaned off the dipstick, reinserted it, removed it and inspected.
The dipstick seems to have 4 notches, two at the "hot" part, about an inch apart, and a couple of inches down two at the "cold" part, also about an inch apart. When I checked, the level was approx half way between them, ie, about halfway from the very top "hot" notch, and halfway from the very bottom "cold" notch.
Now, I'm guessing that would indicate that the fluid may be low, given the engine should be hot, and if so, I'm guessing the line should be between the two "hot" notches?
Does that sound correct?
Or should I actually drive the car for 30 mins or so to make sure its hot?
I also had a look at the fluid, and it was bright pink, and I couldn't see any obvious signs of metal or other foreign particles in it, although I will retest it with some clean paper towel and a magnifying glass tomorrow.
BACKGROUND
I purchased this vehicle second hand near the start of the year, then drove it home 2000KM.
On the drive home I didn't notice this issue, although admittedly most of it was continuous highway driving.
I DID however notice on that drive that sometimes when I rapidly accelerated, such as when going to overtake, sometimes the engine would rev high without actually doing anything, like it wouldn't drop down a gear, and/or almost like it was in neutral, although it didn't actually lose speed, it just didnt gain speed.
As the vehicle was unregistered, and purchased interstate, I had to do a fair bit of work on it to get it up to roadworthy, although none of the work so far has been on the engine or transmission. (Nearly everything else in it though, lol, but that's another story).
Its got 230,000KMs on it, and has been used a lot in the sand, from the amount of rust...
The service manual had each check up until about 7 years ago...so I suspect a lot of servicing hasn't been done in years...
---------------
Anyway, after working on it for three months or more on weekends, its finally registered and roadworthy.
However, now I'm worried I may be looking at getting a new transmission.
Does this sound terminal to you?
I can't imagine topping it up a bit will really help matters...
Given I suspect the servicing of this vehicle has been fairly nonexistent, would you advise dropping out the transmission cover and cleaning the mesh/filter thingy and adding new ATF?
I was already planning on draining the ATF when I get the engine serviced.
Please note, while I think it is the transmission, I'm not a mechanic, so I could be completely wrong.
Its just an assumption, but I can't rule it out or point to anything else yet.
Thanks for any advice you can provide, and if you need any more info, please let me know.
