Stranded 1991 FJ80 named Vera - transmission stopped working

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Easier to just shift transfer case into neutral instead of raising on jack stands. Then shift trans though gears, pausing in neutral before between forward and reverse. Turn off engine before shifting to park or ..... transmission in neutral, pause before shifting transfer into high/low then transmission to park.
 
That could work as well; I was simply thinking having the minor resistance of rolling the axles would help more than actual free-cycling. I guess I could have clarified that point. Probably wouldn't hurt to do it with zero load as ppc described, then have it in the air and run it through with the axles spinning.

I just know that after spending that much time/money on this project, you want to be as cautious as possible in the final stages.
 
ppc said:
Easier to just shift transfer case into neutral instead of raising on jack stands. Then shift trans though gears, pausing in neutral before between forward and reverse. Turn off engine before shifting to park or ..... transmission in neutral, pause before shifting transfer into high/low then transmission to park.
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Freshmeat said:
That could work as well; I was simply thinking having the minor resistance of rolling the axles would help more than actual free-cycling. I guess I could have clarified that point. Probably wouldn't hurt to do it with zero load as ppc described, then have it in the air and run it through with the axles spinning.

I just know that after spending that much time/money on this project, you want to be as cautious as possible in the final stages.
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Thanks fellas! I will try this today.

Should I work these transmission gears at idle or is there some moderate RPM I should try to sit at?
 
Idle. If there's air you could cavitate the valvebody. It's a bit of desktop wrenching when you get into that possibility, but it's always a possibility. Just hold it in each gear idling for a few minutes and see if that helps.
 
Freshmeat said:
Idle. If there's air you could cavitate the valvebody. It's a bit of desktop wrenching when you get into that possibility, but it's always a possibility. Just hold it in each gear idling for a few minutes and see if that helps.
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Okay, thanks.

I'm working the process now, got another 15 or 20 minutes before I give it another shot to road test.

Out of curiosity, what's desktop wrenching?
 
Freshmeat said:
Similar to "web wheeling"... all theory, no specific proof to cite.
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Gotcha. So were you referring to the possibility of cavitation, or about what to do if it occurs?

Either way, I'm not much further forward at this point. I slowly limped over to a flat parking lot yesterday afternoon, ran through the gears with the t-case in neutral, but seemingly no effect. Before I drove away, I re-measured ATF level (which I'd foolishly been doing in my not-level driveway), and seemed to come up about a quart low. Added a quart, looked good, but still no shifting, unless I manually put the lever in 2.

I'm willing to give it another shot with the air-purge process just in case, and will triple check routing and function of the kick-down cable.

After that, I feel like prime suspects are governor and valve body, and I'm strongly considering bringing in a pro, if the local guy I trust is willing to troubleshoot an amateur's rebuild. I'm just perplexed how to t-shoot those things having just rebuilt them, wondering if he's got tools to help with that.
 
The reference was a "possibility" of cavitation... hadn't really heard of anyone doing it, but it *could*, technically, happen with the right circumstances

When you reassembled the valvebody were you keeping everything thoroughly lubricated with ATF?

It's been 15 years since I've been far into a hydraulically controlled automatic; just trying to throw out the ideas that I'm remembering as I go.
 
Freshmeat said:
The reference was a "possibility" of cavitation... hadn't really heard of anyone doing it, but it *could*, technically, happen with the right circumstances

When you reassembled the valvebody were you keeping everything thoroughly lubricated with ATF?

It's been 15 years since I've been far into a hydraulically controlled automatic; just trying to throw out the ideas that I'm remembering as I go.
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Yeah, cool deal, thanks for clarifying.


Short answer about valve body assembly - Yep, I made a mess.


Longer answer, I sprayed each of the three body components with ATF from a little spray bottle, trying to get it in the valve bores, and dipped each small part (spool, spring, other bits) into a shallow tupperware thing of ATF before inserting it. Same would have gone for the governor.


Definitely could be something stuck, I guess. Maybe what I though was "a mess" was stingy ATF use. That's part of why I'm thinking about getting help from a pro - I was so careful, I can't imagine what I could have done wrong, and I think an objective set of eyes will do better finding the problem, whether it's my mistake or something else. You know? I followed the FSM, Cruiser Jimmie's thread, and some general advice from a transmission SME friend, but there's still a ton I don't know about transmissions in general, so I don't even know what I forgot to ask! :confused:


As a side note for any watchers - there's a lot of detail I hope I can add to this thread once she's back on the road. The daily updates got overwhelming, so the details in the middle are lacking in this thread, but I have hundreds of pics.

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Well any updates? I had something weird happen yesterday with my 91. We were several miles into pushing some wet spring snow after 60 miles of mountain highway. 4LO, front and rear axles locked, and basically maximum effort. The snow was difficult to walk in, I know it was hard on the trans. The AT temp light came on and it felt like it was in neutral. I put it in park, shut it off and checked for leaks. I didn't see anything, so I started it and turned around. I put it in 4 hi and drove in my tracks on the way out without a problem, then slipped back into 4lo for a drifted section that was as deep as the doors and it did it again. Put it back in 4hi and drove home without issue. Thinking it was the T-case popping out of low I stopped at a gravel pull out, put it back in 4lo and ran through the gears several times without issue. Weird. Drove over the pass with no problems and everything seems fine. I can stand on the brakes and it will power through them, it is not slipping at all. Any advice?

Edit: I just took it for a drive and wrung it out. Beat on it like a rental, up hills, 4lo on dirt roads for miles and could not replicate the problem. I checked the fluid level hot and it was high. Took out a couple of quarts of fluid and it is in the center of the "hot" range.
 
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tacosupreme said:
Well any updates? I had something weird happen yesterday with my 91. We were several miles into pushing some wet spring snow after 60 miles of mountain highway. 4LO, front and rear axles locked, and basically maximum effort. The snow was difficult to walk in, I know it was hard on the trans. The AT temp light came on and it felt like it was in neutral. I put it in park, shut it off and checked for leaks. I didn't see anything, so I started it and turned around. I put it in 4 hi and drove in my tracks on the way out without a problem, then slipped back into 4lo for a drifted section that was as deep as the doors and it did it again. Put it back in 4hi and drove home without issue. Thinking it was the T-case popping out of low I stopped at a gravel pull out, put it back in 4lo and ran through the gears several times without issue. Weird. Drove over the pass with no problems and everything seems fine. I can stand on the brakes and it will power through them, it is not slipping at all. Any advice?

Edit: I just took it for a drive and wrung it out. Beat on it like a rental, up hills, 4lo on dirt roads for miles and could not replicate the problem. I checked the fluid level hot and it was high. Took out a couple of quarts of fluid and it is in the center of the "hot" range.
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Minimal update from me. I'm getting some professional help to troubleshoot me across the finish line and it's taking a while. It's taken them several weeks to get it to the top of the queue, as they're doing me a favor troubleshooting an amateur rebuild. Anyway, it's now there, and they called me today to quiz me on symptoms before, what I replaced, and they know the symptoms after. It's good new/bad news - I'm glad they're working on it, but the fact that I got quizzed about the inside of the transmission means they didn't find some dumb/obvious mistake of mine on the outside.

For yours, it sounds like you got it sorted. Hopefully you were just dealing with slight overfill and heat expansion that put you over the relatively narrow range of fill levels that work.
 
You are the proud owner of the most unbelievable thread I have read here. You are a hero to the aspiring high end banana guy. Cant wait to see how it works out for you. Its gonna be something easy and cheap! I have the same truck and although this thread gives me anxiety it is great you took this on and shared it in the detail you have. Thank you. :clap:
 
roostabunny said:
Minimal update from me. I'm getting some professional help to troubleshoot me across the finish line and it's taking a while. It's taken them several weeks to get it to the top of the queue, as they're doing me a favor troubleshooting an amateur rebuild. Anyway, it's now there, and they called me today to quiz me on symptoms before, what I replaced, and they know the symptoms after. It's good new/bad news - I'm glad they're working on it, but the fact that I got quizzed about the inside of the transmission means they didn't find some dumb/obvious mistake of mine on the outside.

For yours, it sounds like you got it sorted. Hopefully you were just dealing with slight overfill and heat expansion that put you over the relatively narrow range of fill levels that work.
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So, Josh, youre getting some professional help for you? The association or for the truck? Youre my fricking hero man. I'm taking my tranny to ACC for a rebuild. I wouldn't even know where to start.

TJ
 
Josey1972 said:
So, Josh, youre getting some professional help for you? The association or for the truck? Youre my fricking hero man. I'm taking my tranny to ACC for a rebuild. I wouldn't even know where to start.

TJ
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Lol, just me and the tranny. The association (if you mean the folks that wrote me a ticket for my redneck yard art) can kindly suck tailpipe, thank you very much.
 
I'm still alive. My tranny shop thanked me for my patience, lol. The update was that they went through my transmission, couldn't find a problem, put it back together, and it still didn't shift. So they're still exploring one or two options, but thinking it's the valve body and that seems like a stopper for them. I'm not sure why that is, but I was talking to the lady in the office, not the owner or the builder who worked on it, so I'm going to go down there in the next week or so and talk with the owner about it.

I'm not sure how much I'm in for on the diagnostic work, but we agreed up front that I was paying for that. Now I'm wondering about a possible unit from Wholesale/Rodney. Is West coast Cruisers a state-side dealer for him? Anyway, if my rebuild plus a Nomad VB will get me back in the saddle, I feel like that might be a solid way to go. Not cheap, but solid. If it works. Anyway, noodling on it till I can go down and talk to the guys at the shop.
 
TomOsborne said:
You are the proud owner of the most unbelievable thread I have read here. You are a hero to the aspiring high end banana guy. Cant wait to see how it works out for you. Its gonna be something easy and cheap! I have the same truck and although this thread gives me anxiety it is great you took this on and shared it in the detail you have. Thank you. :clap:
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I agree! One hell of a thread!
 
Yea, Josh, what happened? This thread sparked a lot of thoughts in me. Ive got my truck almost completely gone through. The one big hitch is the tranny. There aren’t many options when it comes to the 3fe. I like the idea of an h55 conversion but I’d rather not be manual off-road. I wish there was an adapter to move to a newer Toyota auto of some kind. Knowing there aren’t many options Ive narrowed it down to 2. One, have it rebuilt and gone through at ACC who has rebuilt these trannys before with success. Two, order up one of Rocket Rod’s built A440’s with the upgraded TC and valve body. The rebuild costs almost 4K all in. The Rocket Rod would come in at around 7k. My end game here is for the truck to be my son’s after I’m gone. I cant quite decide. Both options are hugely expensive. My current A440 is running well and a fluid change found very little “crap” in the pan so i believe I’m healthy for now. I have no documentation but I believe the tranny has about 180k on it.
 
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