Nomad Valve body A440F Feedback has anyone had issues (1 Viewer)

[metro55]

G'Day guys,
I'm off to the Magistrates court in the next few weeks to get a transmission builder to refund me the $5k I have spent with him on reconditioning an A440f. for my HJ61
The story is long and convoluted, so in a nut shell.
Shop1, recons A440F, shocking slippage in lock-up, over heats can't tow a 6x4 trailer with out massive shudder.
it takes 12 months and some help from our consumer Protection Department to get his to re-do.

Note Wholesale temp gauge installed so I know if the TC is getting hot, temps hit 150c.

He insists I send my Nomad valve-body back to Wholesale for as once over despite telling me he has serviced it. But he was convinced it caused the issue. And I must source a new TC.
As that would take too long so I order another one, then I received an email from Wholesale , nothing wrong with mine they serviced and re-sold.
His Second rebuild fails 500K's from home TC seal blows out, shop1 owner tells to to P-off its the Valvebody not his fault.

Shop 2:
I ask for the TC to be re-built and the pump to be removed and inspected & write a report of what you find is wrong with pump.
My hunch it was the pump from all the posts I have read on here.
Pump is stuffed, shop 2 owner states it should never have been used, I took pictures whilst he explained what was wrong.
Rather than do what I asked for he re-built another unit (complete trans-& TC), he refused to install Nomad Valve-body.
Transmission fails within 10K's massive shudder in lock-up, no way the car was ever test driven.

Advice from Wholesale and I adjusted the kick-down to 3mm of pre-tension.
Almost solved, slight shudder. Went back to Trans Shop and asked for shudder fix which he made me pay for.
Then told me to expect it to "bed-in" as the lock-up clutch material was super-hard.
100K's later TC overheats shudder is back.
He re-builds again taking 4 weeks to do it.
This time he agrees to install the Nomad VB.
The drive home (70k) was a disaster gears held far too long then thumped into the next gear. On the freeway any slight right foot and the trans would drop a gear and revs would peak.
The shop owner had set the kick down with 6mm gap. Toyota spec show it should be between 0.5 and 1.5 mm.
I adjust the cable to the specs Wholesale told me to, drives much better no thump BUT......shudder is back and TC overheats.
Car has not done a 100ks

Shop owner states I have damaged the transmission by adjusting the kick down and therefore there is no warranty. GGF....
he is now also stating the Nomad Valve body has caused the leaking trans fluid which drops about 2ltrs every 100K
Also, despite telling me multiple time he was writing the report once I paid him for the job he states he is not willing as he knows the guy that re-built it the first time.

My understanding is Wholesale sell these Nomad Valve Bodies world wide and for many vehicles has anyone had issues with the Nomad VB they have installed?

Thanks for the help..

Metro

 

[yotadude520]

@RevISK can tell you a little bit about his experience with these

 

[RevISK]

@RevISK can tell you a little bit about his experience with these

Well, to be fair, I don’t know if my issues were from the rebuild or the Valve Body but I suspect the latter.

A few things I learned:
- don’t do a Rodney flush
- don’t do the party trick
- don’t put another A440f in, just go for the manual conversion now.

 

[metro55]

Hmm,
I have had three of these valve bodies installed over the years because the re-builders have insisted that they were the cause of my problems.
Two of them sent back to Wholesale only to be told (via email) they serviced them and re-sold.
At each swap out the issues remained the same.
Even with a standard replacement VB that the last re-builder installed.
In Fact, the standard VB he installed was the worst the car has ever had, or he F###d up elsewhere in the box.

If they are an unreliable upgrade I cannot see any examples turn up with a google search.

What has really P#ssed me off is the fact he adjusted the line pressure so high to disguise the fact the shudder still existed (not to mention the overheating)
but it made the car impossible to drive without gears thumping.
So far then just one person that believes the Nomad VB caused issues
Thanks for the info..
@RevISK, I'll take your advice and go manual, shame really

 

[Spook50]

Well, to be fair, I don’t know if my issues were from the rebuild or the Valve Body but I suspect the latter.

A few things I learned:
- don’t do a Rodney flush
- don’t do the party trick
- don’t put another A440f in, just go for the manual conversion now.

First I've heard of problems from the Rodney flush or the party trick, but I definitely second the H55F swap.

Worth EVERY penny.

 

[Michael Hanson]

I have two excellent transmission shops in Dallas that I have used. They stand behind their work fully. This has not been the case with well known sources. As my shops said either you can rebuild a transmission or you can not.

 

[RevISK]

First I've heard of problems from the Rodney flush or the party trick, but I definitely second the H55F swap.

Worth EVERY penny.

My results are thus:
100% of the transmissions (1) died after a Rodney flush.
And
100% of the transmissions (1) died after a party trick (that Rodney himself told me to do).

Hmmm…

That is my experience.

 

[RevISK]

I have two excellent transmission shops in Dallas that I have used. They stand behind their work fully. This has not been the case with well known sources. As my shops said either you can rebuild a transmission or you can not.

My second auto was rebuilt by one of the best rebuilders on mud which is one reason why I’m leaning towards the VB in my case.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@RevISK I don't know really anything about automatic transmissions or even A4440s so I can't help the guy who posted this, but ... while Wholesale Transmissions rebuilt A440s are pretty rare here in the US, I do know a couple people that have them and they've had decades of trouble-free service. I've driven one. Couldn't tell you if it was any different than a "normal" A440, but it did feel nice.

 

[RevISK]

@CruiserTrash et al...
Allow me to clarify:
My first A440f that failed was original to the truck and had been previously "worked on" for the PO by a questionable local shop. Loose bolts rolling around the pan, gobs of RTV and SAE shoved into metric holes. That tranny was giving me issues and went belly up shortly after a Rodney flush.

My 2nd A440f was a low miles rebuild (+/- 750 miles) that had been rebuilt by Georg/Valley Hybrids's preferred rebuilder. It had a Wholesale Auto Nomad valve body as part of the rebuild. During this transmissions failure, I spoke with both Georg and Rodney at great length. They were both very accommodating with their time and info. The behavior before this tranny died strongly suggested it was the VB, per Rodney's advice I performed the party trick... the trans died within a mile afterwards. Post mortem (pan removal) reveled no clutch material or excessive metal dust. The transmission was just more dead than the first one.

That is my experience with the A440f.

Every time I look down at the trans tunnel and don't see that hateful auto shifter I smile.
As everyone who has done it, going manual with a 3FE really wakes up the engine. It is a whole new truck.

 

[metro55]

@CruiserTrash I had 15 years of trouble free running with the second VB from Wholesale.
The other two units that were replaced received a clean bill of health once inspected at Wholesale.

I found the mod to be well worth the cost and noticed an improvement in how the car drove immediately.
The reason I posted here was to establish just how many people across the world have had issues.
Obviously it is not just guys from the U.S. that visit here.

What I find frustrating is the assertions made by the re-builders here that the VB is the sole reason their work has failed.
Just because they can't fault their own work.

Me, for what it's worth, I understand Sh#t happens and sometime you stuff-up it's how you deal with that sh#t that matters.
because the shop owner is under the pump I offered to pull the trans out at his shop to save him or his staff doing it but I was
still told "not my problem"... I'm only 70 and can still rip things apart.
I am of the opinion that it is the re-built std Toyota TC that is the issue and not the box nor the VB.

I had a Billet TC in there before one re-builder here made a monumental stuff up rebuilding that and the wait time for another one was too long.
so I went for a rebuilt standard one.

I was correct in blaming the pump for the failure of two re-builds which saw the TC sh#t itself because of low line pressure due to the pump.
So far the news is good here , really only one "suspect" VB complaint.
No other criticism of Wholesale's products.
Which supports my theory their products usually do not fail.
Metro

 

[CruiserTrash]

@CruiserTrash I had 15 years of trouble free running with the second VB from Wholesale.
The other two units that were replaced received a clean bill of health once inspected at Wholesale.

I found the mod to be well worth the cost and noticed an improvement in how the car drove immediately.
The reason I posted here was to establish just how many people across the world have had issues.
Obviously it is not just guys from the U.S. that visit here.

What I find frustrating is the assertions made by the re-builders here that the VB is the sole reason their work has failed.
Just because they can't fault their own work.

Me, for what it's worth, I understand Sh#t happens and sometime you stuff-up it's how you deal with that sh#t that matters.
because the shop owner is under the pump I offered to pull the trans out at his shop to save him or his staff doing it but I was
still told "not my problem"... I'm only 70 and can still rip things apart.
I am of the opinion that it is the re-built std Toyota TC that is the issue and not the box nor the VB.

I had a Billet TC in there before one re-builder here made a monumental stuff up rebuilding that and the wait time for another one was too long.
so I went for a rebuilt standard one.

I was correct in blaming the pump for the failure of two re-builds which saw the TC sh#t itself because of low line pressure due to the pump.
So far the news is good here , really only one "suspect" VB complaint.
No other criticism of Wholesale's products.
Which supports my theory their products usually do not fail.
Metro

Totally understand, what a nightmare. All too often a shop will blame somebody else's work, often without even looking at the issue. They just dismiss your concerns and analysis out of hand. Owning up to your mistakes is one of the most honorable things one can do, but I suppose people value money more and will sadly lie about stuff to save a buck.

I'm well aware there are plenty of folks on here from outside the US - us folks in the states drool over the cool options and diesel motors people elsewhere received haha. On the other hand stuff from Wholesale Automatics is relatively rare here, although I think they have a new US liaison as of recently so perhaps that will change.

Best of luck to ya!