A340E 30/40 LS transmission troubleshoot

[Bitsa]

Bought a MA61 a while back that's fitted with a 1jz ge vvti. Goes good, to a point. It's fitted with an auto A340E 30/40 LS transmission which I know nothing about except it seems to have a mind of it's own which I'll try to explain.

Shifts ok if you just drive it gently, but, give it a hard kick in the guts when going up hill and it doesn't like changing gear i.e. if it kicks back to 2nd it'll kick ok into 3rd but then doesn't want go into 4th without easing off the accelerator. Sometimes it won't even change when easing off. You have to ease off then give it a short squirt and it'll change, but, this doesn't happen if I'm driving on a flat road. Along a flat road it changes how it's supposed to.

Thing is, in attempting to find out why it does what it does when going uphill I decided to change manually. I did this along a flat road and this is what happened. Put in in 1, gently took off, it changed into 2 on it's own but didn't change to 3 or 4. I pulled up. Took off again in 1, it changed into 2 again so i decided to change the shifter into 2 manually and not long after I did this it changed into god knows what gear and revved it's head off without going any faster. I pulled up, put it in d, drove it home and haven't tried the manual shifting since.

Also what its' always done is if I'm in 2nd and give it a kick in the guts in changes back to 1st and revs it's head off but doesn't really go anywhere. Almost like a slipping clutch in a manual.

Am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what might be causing this.


Any help appreciated,

Trevor

[petergoudie]

I had a Cressida with A340e. To check if the solenoid valves were working I looked for an old computer in the rubbish and pulled out two of the front panel LEDs with long leads. I then slid the wires up inside the terminals on the computer. I then took it for a drive and you can see the when the leds glow whether the solenoids operate in the sequence they are supposed to.

The second test is to remove the plug from the computer and apply 12 volts to the solenoid connections. If they are working you can hear a definite click.

The third item is to check the fluid. My A340e was supposed to use Dex2 and I was told I could use Dex3 but it tore the fibres off the clutch packs and completely clogged the filter giving it strange changing patterns until it wouldn't move at all because the filter was fully clogged.

[Bitsa]

Thanks for the reply petergoudie. Think I'll start by checking the filter first!!!! Electrical things confuse me somewhat. The transmission probably needs an overhaul of some sort or at least checked by someone who knows what they're doing. I've had a bad experience or two with auto transmission blokes.

[TheStitt]

How is the level of the trans fluid? A340's don't like being over or under filled

[maj]

Are these transmissions cable controlled? I know Toyota electronically controlled transmissions still get themselves into a kerfuffle if the throttle control cable is incorrectly adjusted.

Drop the pan and check the fluid and magnets in the pan, at that point it's easy enough to pull out solenoids and bench test them. I just used some temporary wires hooked to the car battery and tested their clickiness. You can hear and see if the solenoid has gone bad at this point compared to it's brethren.

The first part of the symptoms you are explaining where it only changes on partial throttle definitely sounds like a control cable issue. The cable needs to be aligned first and whatever you do don't tighten it up too much (it needs a few mm slack, just not too lose).

The second part where it slips sounds like either it's underfilled and the torque converter isn't doing its job properly, or it's been overfilled and clutch packs are slowly on their way out.

[Bitsa]

Thanks for the replies men. This only the 2nd auto I've had in a million years of driving so know really nothing about them.

Re the fluid level. The fluid level on the dipstick is about 1/2" above the top line of the hot mark. I thought that might be close enough so to speak. If it has to be no higher than that mark then I'd better release some. I've checked it more than once after driving it for a while to get it hot. Thing is every time I've driven it to warm up the transmission fluid, the fluid doesn't get what you'd call hot, it's warm at best. Even that's stretching it a little.

Re the cable. Yes it's cable controlled. The throttle cable itself is the original cable from the 5m that was in it. When I picked this car up it took 1/2 an hour to get to 100kph. It was only after adjusting the throttle and transmission cables that it went half decent, but, it didn't fix the slippage or whatever it is when it goes from 2nd back to 1st when giving it a kick. It's a bit dangerous actually. Pulling into traffic, giving it a kick and going nowhere.

[maj]

Drive the car for a good 30mins so it's properly warmed up. I don't think transmission fluid has the same heat range as oils do but as long as the cooling system is up to max temp and the transmission is plumbed into it, then that's about as good as you're going to get it.
At that point it definitely shouldn't exceed the top mark. If it's overfilled then it's known to churn and foam which can explain a lot of the issues you are experiencing.

I burnt through clutch packs on my A241E very quickly by simply overfilling it, trying to fix a slippage issue which was actually a failing solenoid.

[Bitsa]

Ok thanks maj. I'll do that later this afternoon and see what happens.

[cresslux]

is it the original gearbox for the engine?

what is the engine from? i dont think i have ever seen a 1jz-ge vvti (i know they exist, just uncommon)

are you checking the oil level with the engine running?

a simple trouble shooting method with a340 is this:

unplug the solenoid connector from the gearbox (rear passenger side fo the box) and go for a drive.

it wil no longer shift by itself but will do the follwing
D = 4th (O/D)
2 = 3rd
L = 1st

there will be no 2nd gear at all, and you have to take off in L othersie you will be trying to take off in 4th (if you put it in D that is). if it behaves exactly as above, and doesnt slip, then i would be looking at electrics. if its does funny things still, its a mechanical inssue.

[Bitsa]

Took it for a run tonight. Fluid level is 1/2" above the top hot line. I'll get rid of some in the morning and see if it makes a difference. Also I fiddled the trans cable a little and it appears to have made a slight difference. Could be wishful thinking though.

Yes cresslux checking it with the engine running. I was told the motor was from a JZX100 Chaser Tourer S, series 2. Not sure that's true though because as far as I can work out the series 2 had a 5 speed auto. Anyway don't know if it's the original trans. Could be because I was also told the motor had done around 70k and there's no oil leaks in either it or the trans. Very clean both of them. I'll do what you said re the solenoid and see what happens. Cheers for the info.

[dumbass]

it could be a mismatched auto
afew years ago I wired up a 1uz 1995 1996 model with a 1992 crown auto

was a big mistake
the gearbox seemed ok sometimes then other times had mind of its own

basically the older boxes have pos signal to solenoids and earth thru box body

the newer boxes have both pos and neg solenoid wires going back to ecu
they still sort of trigger similar way but there must be a slight difference in the early and late
in how the ecu controls the shift solenoids

well the shop fitted the correct auto and it all changed fine
so I would get all part numbers of gbox and see if its correct one

[Bitsa]

Thanks for that info dumbass. I've just sent an email to the bloke who did the conversion re the trans so hopefully he'll be able to put things straight. I do know it's a trans for the vvti because it's a LS as apposed to a LE which is non vvti.

[cresslux]

unsure about the GE, but i know that GTE vvti do not even have a cable for the line pressure, its electronic.

i'm thinking dumbass is on the money, as i have tried missmatching autos and had mixed results, and they are usually bad.

[cresslux]

part number 350002C200 is the auto to suit 1JZ-GE vvti in jzx100 and a few other other cars, it is a 3040LS.

confirm its the right auto, drain a little oil, if that still doesnt work, unplug the solenoids and try again.

if no luck then mgiht be in for a new box

[Bitsa]

cresslux the auto has part number 35000 2C211. From what I can gather that trans number appears to be right for the motor. I checked that a few days ago but haven't been able to reply as my communications have been down after the storm we had here in Newcastle. I'll do that solenoid test today. You did say it could be electrical and given quite a few electrical bits aren't hooked up on this car that wouldn't surprise me as after having the car for a while I feel qualified to say the conversion on this car was half arsed at best. Thanks for the replies.