So I finally got around to swapping out the tranny fluid in my '96 80 with the A343F. I bought twenty quarts of Amsoil Universal ATF and called every shop in the area to find one with a transmission powered fluid exchange machine like the one used by Christo and American Toyota. Unfortunately no shop had one of these and most did not even know these things exist. So after much reading I decided to try another approach. I ran the truck to warm up the transmission and then went through all the gears before I simply disconnected the bottom line going to the transmission cooler (near the radiator) and used two pieces of tubing to extend the this line and the male end of the tranny cooler itself. I put both of these tube ends in a clean five gallon bucket and started the engine with the transmission in park. Fluid then flowed quickly out of one of the tubes and into the bucket. As soon as it started to sputter and blow air I shut the engine off and refilled the transmission with approximately the same amount of fluid that was pumped into the bucket. I refilled through the transmission fluid dip stick with a very narrow tipped funnel. I then started the engine again and repeated this process several times until I could visibly see and smell the clean Amsoil flowing into the bucket. In the end the five gallon bucket was almost full (five gallons = twenty quarts) and I had gone through eighteen quarts of Amsoil Universal ATF.
Observations:
I bought the truck used with 70K and now have 90K. I do not know if the transmission fluid was ever changed before but it was extremely clean if it had 90K on it.
Be sure that the hose clamp for the cooler line is seated properly as these tubes sometimes need to heat up to re-create their initial seal.
I've only driven short distances so far but I swear that the truck shifts smoother. In fact I could not even feel the shift into overdrive and had to repeat this shift several times as it was so subtle.
Overall this procedure was very simple and according to my research much better for the tranny than a flush. For those of you without access to a fluid exchanger ala Christo, I would recomend this simple process.
Observations:
I bought the truck used with 70K and now have 90K. I do not know if the transmission fluid was ever changed before but it was extremely clean if it had 90K on it.
Be sure that the hose clamp for the cooler line is seated properly as these tubes sometimes need to heat up to re-create their initial seal.
I've only driven short distances so far but I swear that the truck shifts smoother. In fact I could not even feel the shift into overdrive and had to repeat this shift several times as it was so subtle.
Overall this procedure was very simple and according to my research much better for the tranny than a flush. For those of you without access to a fluid exchanger ala Christo, I would recomend this simple process.