Stranded 1991 FJ80 named Vera - transmission stopped working (1 Viewer)

[Eicca]

I'd play it safe and put in the DexIII or whatever stuff it calls for.

If your kickdown cable was hella loose, that could cause low pressure and long shifts which can put extra wear on the clutches. That's my guess.

 

[jonheld]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Exactly my thoughts. Not sure which way causes soft/slipping shifts. I've always preferred firm shifts. Can't remember.

 

[roostabunny]

I'd play it safe and put in the DexIII or whatever stuff it calls for.

If your kickdown cable was hella loose, that could cause low pressure and long shifts which can put extra wear on the clutches. That's my guess.

OK, cool.

What I keep seeing is bottles that say Dexron-IIIH/Mercon or Dex/Merc. I'm getting very comfortable that I chose an OK ATF in the first place and that Dex/Merc is the Dex II/III equivalent nowadays, especially when all the ones I've seen list Dex III on the back. Looks like I can choose between multiple brands at Wally World for around $17/gal, so I'll probably only need to stand there in the aisle for 20 minutes agonizing over which one to get.

OCD aside, hopefully clean filter and new fluid gets me moving and adjusted kick-down keeps things snappy and happy for a while.

Off to buy fluid and pan gasket stuff.

 

[roostabunny]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Exactly my thoughts. Not sure which way causes soft/slipping shifts. I've always preferred firm shifts. Can't remember.

Righty tighty, lefty loosey, man. Unless it's Australia.

Seriously, though, will play with this once I'm in motion again.

 

[Irish Reiver]

This is what I have been using for the last year or so. Never had any problems.

 

[roostabunny]

This is what I have been using for the last year or so. Never had any problems.

View attachment 1446573

Yah, it's either that or the Castrol Transmax. Both seem to do well.

 

[Eicca]

Righty tighty, lefty loosey, man. Unless it's Australia.

Seriously, though, will play with this once I'm in motion again.

Adjusting the bead away from the boot tightens the cable. So, whatever turns of those lock notes accomplish that, that's the way to go

 

[shocktower]

Buy the cheap, and get the results you don't want

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, The filter looked really bad to me, I think your transmission deserves a tear down. I know it's not what you want to hear. Adjusting the cable and new fluid might buy you a little time , but I'd stay close to home with that cruiser. Mike

 

[roostabunny]

Hi, The filter looked really bad to me, I think your transmission deserves a tear down. I know it's not what you want to hear. Adjusting the cable and new fluid might buy you a little time , but I'd stay close to home with that cruiser. Mike

Tell me more if you're willing, Mike - I'm a transmission noob, but a quick study. What'd you observe in the pre-clean filter pics and what'd it mean to you?

 

[roostabunny]

Quick update.

Cleaned strainer & new gasket installed.

Pan mostly installed. It's in "finger tight" for an hour (25 minutes to go) then I'll tighten down, per the instructions on the ultra grey Permatex.

That was pretty nerve wracking getting the pan mounted. Trying to mate up the dipstick tube and thread the pan between the cross member and the valve body without smearing the gasket was tough. I'm a nerd, so I actually practiced it dry before hand. Felt like a bomb squad guy.

Anyway, it's in and about to be snug. Will let it cure and I'll refill tomorrow.

 

[roostabunny]

This is what I have been using for the last year or so. Never had any problems.

View attachment 1446573

Looked at this more carefully and noticed that it's the full synthetic. I'm going to stay with conventional just in case this fix is incomplete and I have to drain again soon.

But thinking about a switch to synthetic in the near future.

Funny, my thinking is shifting from "even inexpensive lubes of today are better than the best of 1991" to "when approaching a quarter million miles, and wanting another 100k+, maybe the upgrade is a good investment".

 

[roostabunny]

I have a local friend who's rolling his eyes at me thinking I might drive away from this one.

Since he's the kind of friend who rebuilds automatic transitions in his spare time (the way other people work on puzzles), I'm taking his opinion with a little more than a grain of salt. He thinks my clutches are toast, which might be along the lines of what Michael Hanson was thinking, and he also recommends rebuild. Course, he's recommending DIY and he's excited to help out.

Anyway, no change at the moment. I told him I was going to refill and see.

 

[ZackR]

Looked at this more carefully and noticed that it's the full synthetic. I'm going to stay with conventional just in case this fix is incomplete and I have to drain again soon.

But thinking about a switch to synthetic in the near future.

Funny, my thinking is shifting from "even inexpensive lubes of today are better than the best of 1991" to "when approaching a quarter million miles, and wanting another 100k+, maybe the upgrade is a good investment".

Even though its full synthetic its pretty cheap for what it is. $17 per 4 quart jug at walmart. I bought 4 jugs when I exchanged my transmission fluid.

 

[roostabunny]

Back together, and went to test.

No reverse.

She'll pull forward up the slight incline of the driveway, and roll backwards, but doesn't seem to want to engage in reverse. Feathered the gas a bit, no effect. In both drive and reverse, RPMs drop and I can feel the engagement in both directions, even a slight clunk after shifting into reverse, but it only actually seems to go in forward gears.

I can't imagine this has anything to do with the fairly subtle adjustment I made to the kick-down cable, and at this point I'm skittish to even test drive it on my street and try to see how it shifts in Drive.

Any thoughts?

Edit: No change in center-locked high or in low range. Same behavior.

 

[Eicca]

Tighten that cable up a little more and see if it helps, but it sounds like the clutch packs are toast and won't hold when power is applied.

 

[roostabunny]

Tighten that cable up a little more and see if it helps, but it sounds like the clutch packs are toast and won't hold when power is applied.

No, I haven't been sitting here watching for the "alert" to flash.

OK thanks, Eicca. I think my transmission expert friend agrees with you. But why total slippage only in reverse when Drive "seems" to work? (I say "seems" because I haven't left the driveway yet, only driven 5ft at a time)

I'll tighten the kick-down a bit more in the morning while I'm waiting for my ride to work (*sigh*) - see if that adjustment changes anything.

 

[Eicca]

No, I haven't been sitting here watching for the "alert" to flash.

OK thanks, Eicca. I think my transmission expert friend agrees with you. But why total slippage only in reverse when Drive "seems" to work? (I say "seems" because I haven't left the driveway yet, only driven 5ft at a time)

I'll tighten the kick-down a bit more in the morning while I'm waiting for my ride to work (*sigh*) - see if that adjustment changes anything.

I'll indulge you a little more

Reverse is a different combination of clutches than drive, but given that reverse will share one of the clutches with the forward gears, I'd suspect that one of the forward gears will not work either. Question is, which one?

 

[roostabunny]

I'll indulge you a little more

Reverse is a different combination of clutches than drive, but given that reverse will share one of the clutches with the forward gears, I'd suspect that one of the forward gears will not work either. Question is, which one?

Well, from my 5ft long test drives, we only know that it's not 1st, lol.

Appreciate the info. Hopefully kickdown will buy me some time, but I guess what's left of the tax refund is going to transmission rebuild parts.

 

[Eicca]

Well, from my 5ft long test drives, we only know that it's not 1st, lol.

Appreciate the info. Hopefully kickdown will buy me some time, but I guess what's left of the tax refund is going to transmission rebuild parts.

Good plan. If there was enough clutch material wearing off to clog the filter then even if it does end up working it's a time bomb.