Drivetrain Concerns - Rough Shifting (1 Viewer)

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Location
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Hi Everyone, I just purchased a 2000 Land Cruiser with 230K miles and absolutely love it (even with all the imperfections).

The rig runs and drives great, however I've made some observations I'd like to address to see if they are cause for concern. I am not sure if I can chalk it up to normal wear for a vehicle that is 19 years old and 230K miles old, or something more serious.

1) In "low gear" when up shifting it feels like Thor himself picks me up and body slams me every gear shift. It's not a HORRIBLE feeling, but definitely rough when up-shifting, no issues when I slow down.

2) There is a noticeable "thunk" from Reverse to Drive.

Previous owner stated he had the transmission fluid changed last summer. I'd like to replace the transfer case fluid and diff fluid, though, i'm not sure if that would help or not.

Aside from that, the rig shifts perfectly fine in high, normal freeway and city driving.

Thanks very much!
 
I've had a lot of luck flushing all 12 qts of transmission fluid, with Mobil MV full synthetic ATF. Make sure level is dead on high mark, when warmed up, engine idling and in 'D' or "N".

Most common D-R-N clunk is worm hub flange and axle splines/teeth.

New OEM front drive shaft, hub flange and cone washers.
 
Huh! I'll have to check this out and see if that's where my clunking is coming from. It sounds almost identical.

Any idea on the rough shifts in the low gear range selector? Is that normal for it to almost hop while shifting?
 
Rougher shifting in low range doesn’t sound too abnormal, at least to me. The much lower gearing multiplies all that torque.
 
Try using the 2nd start button when in low range.
 
Just want to say THANK YOU to all the responses. The video posted earlier of the shifter going from R and D and vice versa, the clunking sound is coming from the axles as shown in those videos. Had the wife help me with the test real quick to confirm.

I also tried the low range in 2nd and it shifts just fine, not butter smooth, but probably as mentioned in an earlier post, it's the torque.

I wouldn't categorize the low range "rough" shifting as rough anymore, but "aggressive". There's no metal on metal, thunking, or extremely concerning symptoms that would leave me to believe there was anything extremely abnormal - and even if there was, oh well! It's got 230K and 19 years old.

Thank you for calming my nerves on my purchase. A quick picture of a small light trail we found today:

IMG-2709.jpg
 
On the subject of the low range shifting, if you’re sitting at a light and your passenger has water or something you can discreetly pop it into L and then punch it. Makes for some entertainment.
 
To have a smoother shifting in lower range you can unplug the lower range probe connector, it is accessible on the transfer case, it's the connector that is at 45° direction.
It seems that the shifting law for transmission is at a higher RPM.
 
First time I shifted out of first in low range I thought I broke something for sure. Do any of you guys run low range fast enough to get into 2nd? Is that not bad for the engine and transmission? Now I just take it out of low as soon as I'm over an obstacle to stop that stupid shift. I know I could run it in 2nd start or with the shifter in 1, but I don't like going fast enough in low range to need 2nd gear.

My clunk was mostly fixed with new CV's and hub flanges.
 
First time I shifted out of first in low range I thought I broke something for sure. Do any of you guys run low range fast enough to get into 2nd? Is that not bad for the engine and transmission? Now I just take it out of low as soon as I'm over an obstacle to stop that stupid shift. I know I could run it in 2nd start or with the shifter in 1, but I don't like going fast enough in low range to need 2nd gear.

My clunk was mostly fixed with new CV's and hub flanges.
My experience with this is to either use 1st only or 2nd start

Low 1st gear for steep incline / decline and very steady crawls.

Cruising down the trail with other obstacles or maybe going through a mud pit that needs a little higher RPM I just ride out low 2nd start and it has plenty of power. You don't necessarily need to be moving faster to utilize second start. This is my go to for almost all tough terrain unless we're dealing with very steep hills.
 
Did someone try to trigger the 2nd button automatically with Transfer case in low range ?
It should be possible to make a simple electrical logic by modifying the wiring.
 

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