Advice needed on FJ62 88, with throttle issues (1 Viewer)

[Frkens]

Hey fellas!

I'm continuing my way down through Southamerica in my FJ62 and have made it to Ecuador this far. No breakdowns this far but... The engine is acting a little weird. I am driving in 3000 metres currently but it has been going on for a while and I can't find any explanation.

My concern is 3 problems which likely are related.

1. When I start the engine and drive the car won't change gear until it reached 4000 revs. After it has done this one time it runs without a problem for the rest of the day. Mind you that I'm not pressing the pedal to the metal.

2. Driving uphill the car sometimes doesn't want to use the kickdown function which results in uphill speeds on highways at 20mph which is outrageously annoying when I know the car has the power to run up the hill. I have tried to let totally go of the speeder and pressing it fully down again but without result.

3. When I park the car and go very slowly in reverse or D-gear, the engine stops. A certain winner is that I put the car in reverse gear, push the speeder down 40% and let go of it again. Then it stalls and turns off. I think the engine mostly do it when it's hot.

Advice or experience is much appreciated, thanks a lot guys, cheers!

 

[lechnito]

If nobody has told you lately that you're a badass for taking that trip in an FJ62, I'd be happy to remind you

Problems #1 and #2 sound like an issue with your kickdown cable, which connects the throttle body to the transmission. When you push down on the skinny pedal, the butterfly valve on the TB pulls the braided metal wire inside the kickdown cable, which in turn pulls a spring loaded switch inside your trans that causes more fluid to pump into the valve body, thereby causing a gear change.

Over a lot of miles, it's not unusual for the kickdown cable to deteriorate such that the internal wire binds up, inhibiting or preventing it from returning to the closed position after you let off from the throttle. As a result, your trans operates as though you are applying maximum throttle and you can't change gears.

The FSM has instructions for recalibrating and/or diagnosing issues with the kickdown cable. Basically, you want to make sure that the kickdown cable snaps back into place after the butterfly valve closes.

The OE replacement from Toyota is still available for something like $50 - $100 and it can be reinstalled after you drop the transmission pan, though it's a fiddly operation. Let me know if this turns out to be the issue and I'll share some tips!

 

[Frkens]

@lechnito thanks a lot! It's a lot easier with a forum full of guys like you, ready to help at all hours of the day. Much appreciated!!!

It's too bad I didn't look at this a month ago when I had the transmission pan down. But my Kickdown function is definetly weird. It will kick down for two seconds, change to higher gear, kick down again and so on... Maybe it's also just because I'm constantly driving up steep hills. Colombia and Ecuador definetly challenges the car!

I will dive into the FSM manuals and take a closer look on the Kickdown cable. Thanks a lot again. I'll let you know how it turns out