A440f flush (1 Viewer)

[juano46]

I want to change the transmission fluid in my FJ62 with A440f transmission. My plan was to (step 1) drain the tranny resevoir and then refill using a manual qt bottle fluid pump . (Step 2) Start the cruiser, foot on brake and shift through all positions for 30-45 seconds. Stop engine and repeat steps 1 and 2 repeatedly until I have added 6 quarts of new fluid. The quantity comes from the specs page in 1990 Owners Manual. Would this work? Any one see a problem with this?
Thanks,

Juano
1990 FJ62 stock
186,600 miles
no rust

 

[pithicus]

The a440 holds about 15 litres all up. One sump drain is 5 litres. I'm not 100% sure if your plan will get most of the old fluid out.
What I do is drain and refill through the dipstick [slow I know] and drive around for a day or 2. Then repeat the whole procedure 3 or 4 times.
There is another way that uses the tranny pump to suck in new fluid through the cooling line. Search "rodney flush" for info about that.

 

[HemiAlex]

The a440 holds about 15 litres all up. One sump drain is 5 litres. I'm not 100% sure if your plan will get most of the old fluid out.
What I do is drain and refill through the dipstick [slow I know] and drive around for a day or 2. Then repeat the whole procedure 3 or 4 times.
There is another way that uses the tranny pump to suck in new fluid through the cooling line. Search "rodney flush" for info about that.

I second this. There are some good tutorials.

 

[John McVicker]

I don’t have my 62 any more, but I did this once when I did. The A440 is very sensitive to fluid levels.

If all is well with your tranny and you are doing this as a PM, here is my suggestion: put the drained fluid in a container and mark it…discard the old fluid, and using the same container then put the EXACT same amount of new fluid back in.

 

[pithicus]

then put the EXACT same amount of new fluid back in.

This is very good advice. Also for the filling through dipstick, I use a 5 litre container with a tap at the bottom and a hose. Open the tap a bit and let it gravity trickle to refill. It takes about an hour for 5 litres.

 

[juano46]

First off, thanks everyone for your replies. The amount experience and knowledge in this group is sooo helpful.

I did eventually find the Rodney flush description and some alternative ways of doing it. A potential major drawback of my plan is that the old fluid in the torque converter may not be flushed as some on other threads have suggested. My thought there is that if I engage the drive gears and run the engine up to 2k rpm surely the torque converter would open and be flushed. If anyone knows how the torque converter operates that could shed some light on all the methods that have been discussed here.

Thanks again,

juano

 

[pithicus]

Unless the torque converter has a drain plug, unfortunately you have to use up to 20l of atf to get most of the old fluid replaced.

 

[juano46]

Unless the torque converter has a drain plug, unfortunately you have to use up to 20l of atf to get most of the old fluid replaced.

Pithicus,

thanks, that’s more good info on what this is going to take to get a complete flush.

juano

 

[HemiAlex]

Be careful with the Rodney flush if you suspect the transmission may be low on fluid.

I tried assuming it was normal, it wasn’t. I only had about a gallon in the pan and when we raised the rpm nothing came out from the low pressure hose.

It instead pushed from the radiator side at higher pressure and showered me. Getting a fresh 5 gallons into it is going to be a complete pain.

Don’t be like me.

 

[SteveH]

The method I use on every other vehicle is to drain and fill the pan first. Then pull a cooler line from the transmission and run the hose into a bucket. Have a buddy start the truck. When the cooler line starts to blow bubbles, shut off the truck, and add new fluid back in the amount you just pumped out. Repeat this until the fluid coming out goes from black to pink, and then you're done. You will have pumped out the converter, the cooler, and the pan.

On my FZJ-80, if you pulled the pan plug, you got 2.5 quarts out in the first 15 minutes. If you left it overnight, you got 4 quarts. I suspect the converter drained back some overnight, so this is a way to get a more 'complete drain'. May or may not work the same on an FJ62 - I have not tested it on mine.

 

[juano46]

The method I use on every other vehicle is to drain and fill the pan first. Then pull a cooler line from the transmission and run the hose into a bucket. Have a buddy start the truck. When the cooler line starts to blow bubbles, shut off the truck, and add new fluid back in the amount you just pumped out. Repeat this until the fluid coming out goes from black to pink, and then you're done. You will have pumped out the converter, the cooler, and the pan.

On my FZJ-80, if you pulled the pan plug, you got 2.5 quarts out in the first 15 minutes. If you left it overnight, you got 4 quarts. I suspect the converter drained back some overnight, so this is a way to get a more 'complete drain'. May or may not work the same on an FJ62 - I have not tested it on mine.

SteveH,

Thanks! More good info from experienced members. This sounds like a plan I want to think about and probably try. There has to be a way to accomplish a 90+% flush without pulling the front drive shaft or other types of forced entry. Really appreciate your help and that of everyone who has commented. There are lots of take-aways in this thread, such as collecting the old fluid and replacing with exactly the same amount of new fluid for one example.

juano

 

[SteveH]

There has to be a way to accomplish a 90+% flush without pulling the front drive shaft or other types of forced entry.

Pretty sure I just carefully unscrewed a cooler line fitting at the radiator.

 

[HemiAlex]

There has to be a way to accomplish a 90+% flush without pulling the front drive shaft or other types of forced entry.

Pretty sure I just carefully unscrewed a cooler line fitting at the radiator.

I didn’t touch the driveshaft.

 

[juano46]

There has to be a way to accomplish a 90+% flush without pulling the front drive shaft or other types of forced entry.

Pretty sure I just carefully unscrewed a cooler line fitting at the radiator.

Steve H

I think you misunderstood me. it was Rodney who suggested removing the front drive shaft. Another guy said he removed the driver’s seat and then removed the housing around the shifter, then removed the shifter and refilled the transmission “from the top”. Now something like those two methods is what I called forced entry. I like your method much better and will be using it. When I’m done I’ll post the results

 

[Benjaman]

I did a true flush on mine. Used Redline D4 ATF and it drove like a new truck. Much better shifting and no feeling of the old sluge box.

 

[too tall]

I use a bucket pump to Rodney flush. Just unhook the cooler lines at the rad and adapt clear poly onto them . Run them across a sheet of white so you can see the difference in tone color from the in and out . Start the truck and put in neutral, begin pumping. When the color is the same, reconnect the cooling lines and top up via the dipstick. No need to rev the engine . The torque converter will empty itself out the coolant lines as you pump at idle.

 

[juano46]

It’s NYs day and I completed my fluid change yesterday afternoon. Happy New Year to everyone here who contributed to my efforts. Good on Ya!

I began by searching for a fill plug, and as the Shop Manual says, Fill through the dipstick port. Next I drained the pan and got 4 qts. Left open overnight and got a very little more. I then went to the radiator and decided that it might be easier to open a return line fitting somewhere else. I found a pretty easy fitting to get to above the transfer case drive line to the front diff about halfway between the radiator and the pan. Undid that fitting and fit a 1/2” ID clear vinyl hose over the pipe and secured it with a hose clamp. Next I used a bottle pump fitted to a gallon jug of full synthetic ATF (recommended by Rodney and only $3 per gallon more) to pump most of a gallon down the tranny dipstick tube. @pithicus, this took about 15 to 18 minutes. Checked the level which was full to the cold mark on the dipstick. My wife started the cruiser in neutral and idled it. This flushed about 2 qts out of the torque converter before I saw pink. Immediately shut the engine down. Good thing too since the 4 qts had disappeared into the trans and my hose ran out of fluid. Yikes! Refilled 2 qts more and took the cruiser out for a spin just long enough to come to operating temperature. Right away I could tell the difference, sooo much better. Rechecked fluid level and added a little less than 2 qts to a “hot” reading of full. This Cruiser is now a joy to drive again. It doesn’t stick in 2nd, it doesn’t clunk any more, it doesn’t lurch anymor. I drive now and I don’t really feel or hear it shift. It feels like what I imagine brand new would feel like.
This will be so much easier the next time because I now know the drill and have the right stuff. If you are having transmission problems do this before doing anything else.
24mm socket for the drain plug
17mm open end wrench plus medium crescent wrench to open the return line fittings
1/2” ID clear vinyl hose for draining the torque converter.
2 gallons synthetic ATF. You’ll have some leftover

Thanks again to all who contributed their hard earned knowledge. It would have been much harder without your help!

juano