Wholesale Automatics A442F valve body.

[iansplatinum]

I have complete fuel records going back to the day I bought the truck in 1993. All 829 times I've fueled it, including the day before yesterday right after the valve body went in. Any change should be evident.

Oh, 16,942 gallons so far.

Sorry to bump an old thread-

Dan, was wondering if I could get an MPG readout, or just general update. My A442F does some weird stuff, kinda like what you described your symptoms to be.

 

[DSRTRDR]

Dan is correct. A442F will always start off in first, I’ve owned both. 93-94’s don’t have the 2nd start button. Doesn’t bother me a bit.

I agree, no bother to me

 

[cruiserdan]

Sorry to bump an old thread-

Dan, was wondering if I could get an MPG readout, or just general update. My A442F does some weird stuff, kinda like what you described your symptoms to be.

My fuel economy did not change enough to make a difference. On the other hand, drive-ability and shift charateristics have been greatly enhanced. The lack of a change in fuel economy may be due to the vehicle weight (~6,400 lbs), 4.88 gears, 35 inch tires and a supercharged 1FZ with methanol injection.

 

[GeoEng]

FYI Because the A442F ('93-'94) doesn't have the 2nd gear start button and for those who don't need or want the whiplash like shifting from 1st to 2nd when in low range - I did this mod to be able to turn off power mode or turn it on at will with the ETC (power ) button while in low. Normally as soon as you shift the transfer case to low the transmission goes to power mode. Doing this mod, power mode is controllable with the ETC button in low range - it's great for slowly crawling in sand washes and moving slowly with really smooth shifts in low range. https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/making-the-ect-button-useful.1118558/

 

[dirtfinder]

C-dan, did George complete new instructions and are they available to us fellow Mudders?

The Australian instructions were brief, very brief and left a lot to an American's imagination. Fortunately I had my factory service manual handy and a Toyota Master Tech that likes a challenge. He put up with my "help" quite well.

Georg will draft additional instructions that are better suited to this market so future installations with be much more friendly.

There is an old saying that goes something like "This thing has more parts than an automatic transmission". I'm not sure that's possible.

 

[jellis]

This is a great writeup:

A442F Extreme valve body install / change over

The Wholesale Automatics Extreme valve body for the A442F automatic transmission is a handy piece of kit, you can google to get the low down on exactly what the benefits are, but the installation might scare some people off fitting one. I fitted one to my now RIP 80 and the gearbox from that...

www.landcruiserclub.net

Another one here:

Extreme Valve Body - just installed

After sitting in a box on my living room floor for around 6 weeks, my extreme valve body is finally in my truck and working. For those who aren't familiar, Wholesale Automatics is an outfit in Australia that does rebuilds and upgrades of Land Cruiser automatic transmissions (A440F, A442F, A343F)...

forum.ih8mud.com

The main thing is getting the sliding piece that controls gear selection properly reconnected ("manual valve and lever"), that wasn't clear in WAT's instructions IMO. If you do this wrong then shifting will do nothing to the transmission.

 

[Marco Lau]

Did this on my 3FE A440F a while back, easily the best bang for the bucks for the 3FE and now the rig drives more lively, sorta like having a manual (not really) but you get the idea. having 2nd and 3rd gear lockup is awesome. Pulling steep grade no longer feels like a chore.
Below a close up pic of the selector rod...

 

[Dusten]

Did this on my 3FE A440F a while back, easily the best bang for the bucks for the 3FE and now the rig drives more lively, sorta like having a manual (not really) but you get the idea. having 2nd and 3rd gear lockup is awesome. Pulling steep grade no longer feels like a chore.
Below a close up pic of the selector rod...
View attachment 3017162

2nd and third? I thought it was only third and only at road speeds above lockup for fourth

 

[Marco Lau]

2nd and third? I thought it was only third and only at road speeds above lockup for fourth

Sorry 3rd & 4th...typo.

 

[Dusten]

Sorry 3rd & 4th...typo.

You got me excited

 

[IanB]

You got me excited

I believe you can add the manual lockup switch and have the torque converter lock up in any gear, if that's what you're after. It WILL stall if you let revs drop too low though.

 

[Dusten]

I believe you can add the manual lockup switch and have the torque converter lock up in any gear, if that's what you're after. It WILL stall if you go too slow though.

I think that's only on the electronic transmission. Lockup on the hydraulic a442f in the 90-91 diesels is controlled via line pressure.

 

[IanB]

I think that's only on the electronic transmission. Lockup on the hydraulic a442f in the 90-91 diesels is controlled via line pressure.

You are correct on that point.

 

[jellis]

I'm not sure lockup in 2nd would be of any real value. There's no big gap between 2-3 like there is 3-4. The lockup in 3rd is literally like adding an extra gear to these rigs, it's totally amazing especially if you deal with hills constantly.

 

[Dusten]

I'm not sure lockup in 2nd would be of any real value. There's no big gap between 2-3 like there is 3-4. The lockup in 3rd is literally like adding an extra gear to these rigs, it's totally amazing especially if you deal with hills constantly.

Because I want lock up at slow speeds so on trails I'm not running around in lo

 

[baldilocks]

Lock up in second could be beneficial when towing up long grades in steep mountains and the engine can’t hold third. On the trail? Not so much. I am very interested to know why the hydraulically operated 440 runs notoriously hot when the 442 runs very cool. I have to be doing some heinous things in hot weather to my rig in order to push the trans temp gauge to 170. On the trail 120-140 is the norm depending on ambient temps. Even pushing deep snow when I’m getting 1 mpg, the trans stays cool.

 

[Dusten]

Lock up in second could be beneficial when towing up long grades in steep mountains and the engine can’t hold third. On the trail? Not so much. I am very interested to know why the hydraulically operated 440 runs notoriously hot when the 442 runs very cool. I have to be doing some heinous things in hot weather to my rig in order to push the trans temp gauge to 170. On the trail 120-140 is the norm depending on ambient temps. Even pushing deep snow when I’m getting 1 mpg, the trans stays cool.

It's a hydraulic 442f not a 440.

But I can back up all the reports. The two times I've gone off road it's got hot unless I run low and allow the converter to lock up.

The heat comes from converter slippage. The hydro a442f doesn't lock the converter until above about 38mph. So you're not locked when wheeling, ever. You're just sitting there slipping the converter and building heat.

 

[baldilocks]

It's a hydraulic 442f not a 440.

But I can back up all the reports. The two times I've gone off road it's got hot unless I run low and allow the converter to lock up.

The heat comes from converter slippage. The hydro a442f doesn't lock the converter until above about 38mph. So you're not locked when wheeling, ever. You're just sitting there slipping the converter and building heat.

I understand torque converters. This is why I’m curious about why the 442f runs hot and the a442f does not.

 

[Dusten]

I understand torque converters. This is why I’m curious about why the 442f runs hot and the a442f does not.

It's still called the a442f.

My guess is line pressure, allowing more converter slip along with the diesel torque causing a high flash on the converter.

You're comparing two totally different setups(hydro vs electric, gas vs diesel)

 

[baldilocks]

It's still called the a442f.

My guess is line pressure, allowing more converter slip along with the diesel torque causing a high flash on the converter.

You're comparing two totally different setups(hydro vs electric, gas vs diesel)

So no one knows why that trans runs hot? What is hot? Why would Toyota allow it to run hot when they know heat is what kills an auto? I’m seriously interested in the answer.