Picked up a 62 this weekend...

[BlackCat]

Got myself an 89 FJ62 this weekend. I believe I'm the 3rd owner (carfax is a bit sketchy before 96). A little research shows the truck was bought new in Washington state, came down to Nevada in 96'ish, went to Arizona in 05, and I picked it up in Tucson on Sunday with 149,812mi.
The truck has some really nice mods, it has an OME lift, ARB front bumper, Ramsey winch, 4.88's, 33" BFG's, and ARB air lockers front and rear with a brand new ARB compressor. Rear swing out bumper was apparently fab'd by a shop years ago.
The only issue I'm having (and a lot of other people as well) is trans temp. It has a B&M trans temp gauge which reads hot around town (260-270 max) so I did a search here and had an B&M 70628 cooler overnighted off amazon and installed it last night. I haven't infrared'd the pan yet, but even in series with the factory cooler, it didn't seem to help much. The fan clutch seems to be working properly as well, I can hear it engaging around town when accelerating from a stop. Anybody ever bypass the factory cooler?(in case there's a restriction?)Again, a search here revealed the trans temp light should self check during startup, but mine does not, so I need to trouble shoot that as well.
Trans shifts very firm, no slipping, no shudders, etc. a nice, crisp shift, and fluid is not dark or burned smelling. I'll report back with any additional findings and welcome any advice on things to look for.

 

[mongoose2231]

Nice truck, fully equipped too!!

 

[gregnash]

Yes very nice looking truck.. looks like you have pretty minimal rust as well.
Wondering if there is a restriction or clog in the radiator.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

...I haven't infrared'd the pan yet, but even in series with the factory cooler, it didn't seem to help much. The fan clutch seems to be working properly as well, I can hear it engaging around town when accelerating from a stop. Anybody ever bypass the factory cooler?(in case there's a restriction?)Again, a search here revealed the trans temp light should self check during startup, but mine does not, so I need to trouble shoot that as well.
Trans shifts very firm, no slipping, no shudders, etc. a nice, crisp shift, and fluid is not dark or burned smelling. I'll report back with any additional findings and welcome any advice on things to look for.

Interesting. I've read one other account of a fellow installing a cooler and actually monitoring temperatures, and it didn't help at all in his case.

It'd be nice if anyone who has installed an aux cooler and has noted lower transmission temps would speak up on this. In Arizona, I wouldn't hesitate with bypassing the stock cooler and going straight to a large aftermarket unit.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I run a F250 trans cooler in series with the stock cooler. You NEED an auxiliary transmission cooler on these A440F's to keep them cool. Don't buy a cheap cooler. Buy a nice one and get it installed. The A440F will last forever if you keep it cool. My aux temp gauge shows I run nice and cool at 190°F unless I hit a large grade and I can jump up to 230°F when really pushing in the summer. I run 4.88 gearing and 35" tires.

 

[2mountainfish]

Very nice score. Often people overlook flushing the trans cooler during a trans service. It is very common for even modern day coolers to become restricted. I am not familiar with 62s, but the FSM should give a spec. for amount of flow in a certain amount of time. You can buy cans of flush at Napa,Kragen ect..... It would be a cheap place to start. Good luck, and have fun with your 62.

 

[D21FJ60]

That truck is beautiful.

 

[BlackCat]

Interesting. I've read one other account of a fellow installing a cooler and actually monitoring temperatures, and it didn't help at all in his case.

It'd be nice if anyone who has installed an aux cooler and has noted lower transmission temps would speak up on this. In Arizona, I wouldn't hesitate with bypassing the stock cooler and going straight to a large aftermarket unit.

Well, a bit of an update. I should clarify and mention I'm an Infiniti tech for a living, so I can/will do any of the work it requires. I installed a B&M 70268 cooler, I had one on my previous 4Runner which worked well.
This morning at work I let the truck idle a bit and warm up the trans. Inside gauge read 165F, infrared thermometer on trans pan and trans cooler lines reads 124F. I'm not out of the woods yet, but I'm beginning to think the aftermarket gauge is faulty.

 

[BlackCat]

I run a F250 trans cooler in series with the stock cooler. You NEED an auxiliary transmission cooler on these A440F's to keep them cool. Don't buy a cheap cooler. Buy a nice one and get it installed. The A440F will last forever if you keep it cool. My aux temp gauge shows I run nice and cool at 190°F unless I hit a large grade and I can jump up to 230°F when really pushing in the summer. I run 4.88 gearing and 35" tires.

I put a B&M 70268 in series with the factory cooler. Only reason I suggested possibly bypassing it was to see if it ran cooler without the factory cooler, suggesting either a restriction or weak flow.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

Having your trans cooler inline with stock means the radiator coolant heats up transmission to operating temp when you first start truck. Then aux cooler in series keeps it cool.

 

[BlackCat]

Another quick update. I'm 99% positive the aftermarket gauge is wrong. Just drove it 15-20 min around town. Gauge reads 220. Infrared'd the radiator- 180. Trans pan-175- cooler lines -130 trans cooler- 124

 

[ander42b]

Black cat......beautiful cruiser !!!!!!!! I can see you coming up to north Arizona soon. Can you post some more pictures or the rear bumper ???? Specially the side bars.

Jason

 

[87CRUSR]

Nice find...enjoy.

 

[rrv333]

Good looking 62

 

[BlackCat]

So I've been doing some reading up here and have a question. Ive seen several threads about the seal between the trans and t-case leaking, mixing ATF and gear oil. Should that seal be something I do as PM? If so, anyone have the toyota part number? I checked the FAQ but didn't see it there.

 

[gregnash]

So I've been doing some reading up here and have a question. Ive seen several threads about the seal between the trans and t-case leaking, mixing ATF and gear oil. Should that seal be something I do as PM? If so, anyone have the toyota part number? I checked the FAQ but didn't see it there.

If you have the ability to drop the split case to clean everything up then I would say go for it. Mine does the same thing and I installed one of those bypass hoses. I will let it be until I either need a new clutch or a new tranny and then rebuild the t-case while I have it apart.

Check my sig line for the FSMs and see if you can see what part it is you are looking for. There is always SOR for parts to get an idea or contact Onur (@beno) directly for the part, but he has a $100 minimum for orders.

 

[cruisermatt]

So I've been doing some reading up here and have a question. Ive seen several threads about the seal between the trans and t-case leaking, mixing ATF and gear oil. Should that seal be something I do as PM? If so, anyone have the toyota part number? I checked the FAQ but didn't see it there.

Only if it's leaking... the PM I would do is drain both the Transfer and Transmission into seperate clear containers and see if there's fluid separation (as you know the ATF will float on the gear heavier 90wt). If that seal isn't bad I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[BlackCat]

Only if it's leaking... the PM I would do is drain both the Transfer and Transmission into seperate clear containers and see if there's fluid separation (as you know the ATF will float on the gear heavier 90wt). If that seal isn't bad I wouldn't worry about it.

Cool. Fluids were just done and they're both clean. Good to know.

 

[Haggis]

Congrats!!