What To Do With Your Tranny

[Iceaxe]

... And I aint' talking about your friend Margaret.

But seriously, what kind of maintenance / rebuild schedule are we talking about here? I ran a thread asking about mileage of the existing 80s in the forum, and this came up as a question...

 

[inkpot]

I'm almost at 200,000 miles and I beat mine pretty hard. The only maintenance I do is drain and fill a gallon of fresh fluid once a year.

 

[Iceaxe]

Is there a guideline for tranny rebuild / as in, when to consider it?

 

[inkpot]

Consider rebuilding it when it starts to fail. I would not do it as PM. Have worked on a lot of 80s over 300,000 miles and the transmissions are still just fine.

 

[Iceaxe]

Ok thanks inkpot!

 

[brockdeck]

These trannies are extremely stout, mine has had the pan dropped and filter changed once and the Toyota dealer has done a complete fluid replacement recently as well for cheap. Feels extremely good and crisp.

 

[Gabriel 71]

390,000 on the mill shifts great. although I considered changing the fluid when I bought it 3 years ago. Then i got another beer!

 

[gummycarbs]

I don't understand how Toyota makes such great transmissions. Mine is great at 255k yet my old Grand Cherokee (95, hydraulic, 720 variant) needed a rebuild before 100k.

 

[Dave 2000]

I don't understand how Toyota makes such great transmissions. Mine is great at 255k yet my old Grand Cherokee (95, hydraulic, 720 variant) needed a rebuild before 100k.

I am seeing Mercedes ML's in at 120k with valve chest failure or conductor plate issues, I swear modern vehicles are bring made from a cheese derivative!

Regards

Save

 

[flintknapper]

I'm almost at 200,000 miles and I beat mine pretty hard. The only maintenance I do is drain and fill a gallon of fresh fluid once a year.

^^^^^^^^ Drain and fill mine also about once a year. I am just shy of 300K on mine. I recently dropped the pan to install a temperature sensor and was amazed at how clean everything was. Just a light black film on the magnets. I did increase the line pressure while I had the pan removed and had easy access to the valve body. But I've never done anything else to the transmission and it still runs great.

These things run pretty cool though. Yesterday I made a run to town. It was about 75° F ambient. Not running fast (maybe 55 mph) but engine was up to operating temp and I'd gone about 15 miles already. Trans temp just under 120° F. My wife takes a shower that is hotter than that.

 

[bloc]

My 6L80 uses the stock Toyota heat exchangers inside and in front of the radiator and I have trouble getting the trans up to temp as well.

Actually had to sit still holding the brakes and giving it rpms in first to get the temp to 190F for the "fast learn" after a rebuild.

 

[cjmoon]

People beat on them with turbos/superchargers and big diesel cummins power without much issue. I've been reallreally suprised I was expecting issues with mine on the 4bt that seams to eat turbo 400 and 700r4's. 250k on mine with 30k 4bt all original minus shift kit. I just started running 2nd gear lock up on my trans tune to see if I can squess a little more mpg out of it.

 

[Tools R Us]

What To Do With Your Tranny...

Take "her" wheeling, maybe fun?

 

[Michael Hanson]

Hi, I have changed the 80s fluid probably 3 times in all these years. Toyota made these transmissions with extremely tight tolerances to begin with.. These are not built like most vehicles. Mike

 

[ewillis]

These are not built like most vehicles. Mike

True that Mike. Everything these days truly feels disposable...every vehicle in my own driveway, except the 80. Some people don't realize that these rigs were nearly $50,000 in 1994. That's $82,795.61 in 2017 cash. That price doesn't include leather, power seats, Apple car play, navigation, 12 airbags, backup cameras, lane departure assist, or even the ding...ding feature you get when your seat belt is unbuckled. That money is spent on producing one seriously rugged vehicle!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I do the drain and drop of 4 quarts once per year too. Never an issue. Shifts like new at 180k miles.

Seriously a better transmission than you can get from GM, but I don't know why. There can't be any secrets. Is it better cooling, tighter tolerances, hard to say.

 

[baldilocks]

Which transmission is being discused here. The OP’s signiature shows a 97 which has the physically smaller A343. I never owned one so I don’t know for sure who built it.

I have owned three 93-94 80’s which have the venerable A442f. This transmission was built by Aisin and Borg-Warner in a joint venture.

Toyota’s transfer cases are also made by Aisin so I would bet that the A343 is also.

Correct me if I’m wrong on this.

 

[flintknapper]

Seriously a better transmission than you can get from GM, but I don't know why. There can't be any secrets. Is it better cooling, tighter tolerances, hard to say.

^^^^^^ Fewer 'bean counters' is the answer.

 

[Qball]

True that Mike. Everything these days truly feels disposable...every vehicle in my own driveway, except the 80. Some people don't realize that these rigs were nearly $50,000 in 1994. That's $82,795.61 in 2017 cash. That price doesn't include leather, power seats, Apple car play, navigation, 12 airbags, backup cameras, lane departure assist, or even the ding...ding feature you get when your seat belt is unbuckled. That money is spent on producing one seriously rugged vehicle!

Yes except your Prius is also just as long lasting and dependable, it’s shocking how reliable and yet how complex it is. Why can’t Europeans make a car last pass 90k with half the complexity is beyond me.

 

[Qball]

Take "her" wheeling, maybe fun?

Totally, take “her” wheeling, camping, road trips and once a while treat her to a drink, “she” is the type that you keep for a long time and take to your mom type.