Unsettling A440F behavior

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Demonic92

Demonic92

Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Threads
72
Messages
328
Location
Salt Lake City
Hi everyone,
I have a 91 FJ80 with the 3FE and A440F. 275k miles, transmission has been drained/filled pretty consistently every 30-40k miles, with last drain and fill being in July 2025 at 271k miles. Have done it myself since 230k miles with Valvoline Dex/Merc ATF. Fluid was bright red as usual. Does not appear to be under/overfilled but maybe I’m misreading it.

A few weeks ago, I was doing a three point turn and when I went from drive to reverse, the engine would rev up and the car wouldn’t move. Took a couple second before grabbing. This happened again later. Then I started noticing it happening when I would go to take off from stop. Would slip a little before grabbing and moving. Today, it slipped pretty good going from 2nd to 3rd accelerating up a slight incline. All of this only happens when the car/transmission are cold. Once it warms up, nothing wrong. Any ideas here?
 
Demonic92 said:
Hi everyone,
I have a 91 FJ80 with the 3FE and A440F. 275k miles, transmission has been drained/filled pretty consistently every 30-40k miles, with last drain and fill being in July 2025 at 271k miles. Have done it myself since 230k miles with Valvoline Dex/Merc ATF. Fluid was bright red as usual. Does not appear to be under/overfilled but maybe I’m misreading it.

A few weeks ago, I was doing a three point turn and when I went from drive to reverse, the engine would rev up and the car wouldn’t move. Took a couple second before grabbing. This happened again later. Then I started noticing it happening when I would go to take off from stop. Would slip a little before grabbing and moving. Today, it slipped pretty good going from 2nd to 3rd accelerating up a slight incline. All of this only happens when the car/transmission are cold. Once it warms up, nothing wrong. Any ideas here?
Click to expand...
The A440F is sensitive to fluid level.
I always go for a decent drive to get up to normal operating temperature, park on level ground with the engine running after shifting through all the gears and back to park. Again, engine running, transmission in park. Fluid should be exactly at the HOT mark on the dipstick.
 
jonheld said:
The A440F is sensitive to fluid level.
I always go for a decent drive to get up to normal operating temperature, park on level ground with the engine running after shifting through all the gears and back to park. Again, engine running, transmission in park. Fluid should be exactly at the HOT mark on the dipstick.
Click to expand...
IMG_0820.webp

That must be it. This was the fluid level while running after a 45+ minute highway/city drive. I added a good bit of fluid and did a quick drive around the block, checked again but it didn’t go up much. Wondering if the trans cools down a little while I’m checking it and makes the level go down? Or do I really just need to add like a full quart?
 
Demonic92 said:
That must be it. This was the fluid level while running after a 45+ minute highway/city drive. I added a good bit of fluid and did a quick drive around the block, checked again but it didn’t go up much. Wondering if the trans cools down a little while I’m checking it and makes the level go down? Or do I really just need to add like a full quart?
Click to expand...
It is not possible for the transmission fluid to cool in the 45 to 60 seconds it takes to check the level. You are way low which is why it's having problems when cold.
I can't tell from the picture, but the fluid should be a bright candy red color.
 
Trivia/OCD point: IME it helps to hold the dipstick almost horizontal, slightly tip down, when checking the level to prevent the fluid from running in either direction (up/down) to get an accurate reading. Try taking the next photo of the dipstick/fluid level outside on a sunny day ie: phone/camera pointed away from the sun, dipstick held out (still slighty tip down) in full bright natural sunlight. FWIW
 
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