What should I expect from an Automatic?

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Droopynut

Droopynut

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 18, 2006
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40
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Location
Westchester County, NY
Hello all,

I have a few questions regarding Automatic Transmissions. All I have ever owned are manual shift cars...so i'm new to these.

It's a 1993 toyota pickup 4X4 extracab automatic V6.

When checking the fluid level, should it be in neutral or park?

What does it mean when the fluid is brown and gritty and should I worry?

Is it normal for these trucks to take forever going through the gears?

It seems like I have to give it alot of gas to get it out of 1st.

It's got 156K miles.

Thanks, Dan
 
Howdy! You definitely need to change the fluid and filter on that slush pumper. Probably make it shift better. After warming up to normal engine temp, run tranny thru the gears, and then check fluid level in Park, or Neutral. They are the same thing, other than Park locks the tailshaft from moving. John
 
With that mileage and the condition of the fluid you mentioned, if I were you, I will drop the pan, clean the magnets, and wipe off all the sludge. Get the Form In Place Gasket (FIPG) from Toyota to seal the pan and tranny, then flush the system through the tranny line attach to the radiator.

When checking the fluid, warm the engine to operating temp, tranny in park and engine on idle, then the fluid should be between hot and cold on the dipstick.
 
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If it is going to be used for rock crawling, pull that transmission and out in a W-56.
 
If you have the ect power button pressed it will rev higher before shifting.

If your gonna use it off road make sure you get a better tranny cooler. I would consider a temp gauge too. The single biggest thing that kills auto trannys is heat. If you can keep it cool you'll get tons of miles out of it. My 99 4Runner sport has 211,xxx miles and it still works perfectly. Its a differet variation of your tranny but the internals are essentially the same.

Change that fluid and filter. Tranny fluid is red - not brown. Smell the fluid. If it smells burnt your in trouble. If its as dirty as you claim it is you may need to change it twice. Run some new fluid through it for a week or so then change it again becaue the converter holds almost a quart that won't drain during a normal fluid change. If your gonna keep the tuck use synthetics in the final change. check level when hot in park or neutral
 
Here's the thing that is making me confusued.

I brought my truck to AAMCO. The guy there has done work for me before on other vehicles so I kind of trust him. But he says he will not replace the fluid and filter in my transmission. Why? He said that the fluid is varnishy...and he feels that all the parts in the transmission are being protected by this varnish. If he were to replace the fluid, the detergants in the fluid would eliminate the varnish and possibly cause problems. So I'm thinking if I shouldn't replace the fluid now...then when? It has to get done eventually.

My gut feeling says to replace the fluid and filter anyway.

What do you think of the whole varnish protection theory?
 
Howdy! I would go ahead and do a flush and filter, cause it ain't gunna get no better by itself, ha know? I would just plan on doing another service or two about every 3 - 6 months til it looks OK. John
 
Eventually I'm gonna need a new tranny.

Anyone know how much these things are?

I'm sure they are quite expensive so...let me rephrase that.

Anyone know where I can get a new tranny at a cheap price?

Dan
 
Droopynut said:
Here's the thing that is making me confusued.

I brought my truck to AAMCO. The guy there has done work for me before on other vehicles so I kind of trust him. But he says he will not replace the fluid and filter in my transmission. Why? He said that the fluid is varnishy...and he feels that all the parts in the transmission are being protected by this varnish. If he were to replace the fluid, the detergants in the fluid would eliminate the varnish and possibly cause problems. So I'm thinking if I shouldn't replace the fluid now...then when? It has to get done eventually.

My gut feeling says to replace the fluid and filter anyway.

What do you think of the whole varnish protection theory?
Click to expand...

This could very true. There is a very real chance that if you do flush and put a new filter in, the transmission could start to leak or even go out.
 
Droopynut said:
Eventually I'm gonna need a new tranny.

Anyone know how much these things are?

I'm sure they are quite expensive so...let me rephrase that.

Anyone know where I can get a new tranny at a cheap price?

Dan
Click to expand...

Just have yours rebuilt.
Any good shop can do it in a day. Add the R&R and it should only take 2 ~ 3 days. If you pull the tranny and take it on yourself, they should be able to do it in a day.



:)
Fred
 
FredTJ said:
If it's going to be used for rockcrawling, the auto is the perfect tranny for it.



:)
Fred
Click to expand...


Really? Then you must not know much about the Toyota automatic transmission. And that when you are trying to climb up and over something and don't do it quickly enough, all of the tranny fluid moves to the back of the pan causing the it to stall in it's tracks.
 
Hottrod81 said:
Really? Then you must not know much about the Toyota automatic transmission. And that when you are trying to climb up and over something and don't do it quickly enough, all of the tranny fluid moves to the back of the pan causing the it to stall in it's tracks.
Click to expand...


Yup, having been playing in the big stuff for years, and owning a tranny shop for several years, I know nothing.

We can always tell which are the manual tranny people, when in the big stuff, "herky, jerky, cough, stall, jerk, herk" ;)


:)
Fred
 
FredTJ said:
Yup, having been playing in the big stuff for years, and owning a tranny shop for several years, I know nothing.

We can always tell which are the manual tranny people, when in the big stuff, "herky, jerky, cough, stall, jerk, herk" ;)


:)
Fred
Click to expand...

That's great, you own a tranny shop. That doesn't mean you know how they work on the trail. There is a reason a person like Marlin Cjakowski did not make a dual case adapter for an automatic until after he had perfected the one for a Manual. I have seen the Toy automatic fail in person on Cadillac Hill which almost resulted in a death. 4WD Toyota Owner mentioned this exact tranny issue when they tested Inchworm's adapted.


Also, you don't have those herky jerky problems with a manual tranny when you have a crawl ratio of over 200:1.;)
 
Droopynut said:
Hello all,

I have a few questions regarding Automatic Transmissions. All I have ever owned are manual shift cars...so i'm new to these.

It's a 1993 toyota pickup 4X4 extracab automatic V6.

When checking the fluid level, should it be in neutral or park?

What does it mean when the fluid is brown and gritty and should I worry?

Is it normal for these trucks to take forever going through the gears?

It seems like I have to give it alot of gas to get it out of 1st.

It's got 156K miles.

Thanks, Dan
Click to expand...

Don't expect much out of that trans as far as power. My '85 runner was slower than a horse drawn carriage.
 
BooKilla said:
Don't expect much out of that trans as far as power. My '85 runner was slower than a horse drawn carriage.
Click to expand...


Your 85 had a V6 in it!...........:eek:





:flipoff2:


Droopynut said:
Hello all,

I have a few questions regarding Automatic Transmissions. All I have ever owned are manual shift cars...so i'm new to these.

It's a 1993 toyota pickup 4X4 extracab automatic V6.

When checking the fluid level, should it be in neutral or park?

What does it mean when the fluid is brown and gritty and should I worry?

Is it normal for these trucks to take forever going through the gears?

It seems like I have to give it alot of gas to get it out of 1st.

It's got 156K miles.

Thanks, Dan
Click to expand...


Every make of every auto known to man robs power. It's due to there nature, fluid, clutches, torque converter blah.


Put a header on it, the stock is not very efficient, keep it over geared it doesn't like low revs, its not a chevy. As long as you keep it in the range it wants and keep one eye on the road and one on the temp gauge it'll be fine.

V6's are sensitive to temp and being as though its not a cheap motor to begin with, best to keep your eyes moving and make the gages one of your stops ;)


Do not put a picture of your (insert family or loved one) over the gages!
 
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