Transgo 340-hd2 install and reveiw

So in the time that I have owned my 4runner I have always wanted to supercharge it. Living at 6000 feet and pulling a mountain pass every day; the added power would be very nice. But after reading through Gadget’s sight and seeing other peoples issues with the auto trans and the supercharger not being good playmates, I have decided I will not supercharge unless I do something to beef up the transmission. If I’m going to spend close to three grand on a supercharger from lce I’m not going to just ignore a notorious weak link. But despite that philosophy I just have never been able to justify having ipt or level 10 rework the valve body especially since I’m doing half the labor. Don’t get me wrong they are both great companies and they are very helpful people, but 600+ dollars for a few hours labor and a couple springs is just outrageous. So I’ve always been searching for an alternative and I believe I may have found it in the transgo 340-HD2 reprogramming kit. From what I have read in Dirtyfingers build thread and on some jeep forums the kit seems to work very well and produce the same results as ipt’s valve body upgrade. And for 100 dollars and a day’s worth of work it sure beats 600 and a week waiting on shipping. The only problem was that there is hardly any info on the thing besides a few jeep forums and some crappy youtube videos of a guy in a Lexus, so I’m planning on fixing that with the write up and some before and after videos. Hopefully this will help others that are looking to increase the performance of their 3rd gen auto trans without paying in body parts.
Parts Needed:
Optional Parts Are In Red.
• Transgo 340-hd2 kit (available here)
• Upper and lower valve body gasket (available at the dealer or online here)
• Trans Pan Gasket (available here)
• ATF Fluid (I chose Valvoline Max Life because that’s what AutoZone had at the time.)
• Transmission Assembly Lube makes reinstalling valve body way easier (available here)
•Transmission Sump Filter (I decided I did not need this since I have a magnefine inline filter.)
Tools Needed:
• Drain Pan for all the ATF and a container that allows you to tell how much you drained out
• Cardboard slip sheets if you care about your floor
• Lots of rags (use something that doesn’t produce a lot of lint or you may have major issues)
• 3/8 drive ratchet
• Inch pound torque wrench
• 10 mm socket, 14mm socket, 12mm socket, 8mm socket, 12mm deep socket
• Razor blade
• Putty knife or thin screwdriver
• Wire brush
• Red or green scotch brite
• 3 and 12 inch extensions
• Cordless drill or drill press
• Needle nose pliers
• Ziplocs to keep track of the bolts
• Funnel
Before you begin:
I’m providing this write up as a guide, I am not responsible for anything stupid you may do. Proceed at your own risk. Also the kit provides you the choice of race or truck shifts. I am choosing to go with the truck shifts but depending on the results I may change to the race shifts at a later time. Now with that out of the way let’s get to the good part.
Procedure:
1. First you will want to disconnect the negative battery terminal and remove the bolt that anchors the transmission dipstick to the motor. (the bolt is pictured below.)
IMGP0004 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
2. Second you will want to place the vehicle up on jack stands to give yourself some extra room to work (you’re going to need it; I also had to disconnect the sway bar to get more room to remove the pan.)
3. Next you will want to drain out the fluid in the pan. You will want to keep it in a container that will allow you to know how much fluid to replace. (I used a 2.5 gal jug that I had on hand.)
This looks like a good sign, nice and red and no bad smells.
IMGP0011 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

4. Next put the drain bolt back in the pan to keep the mess down and begin to remove the 19 pan bolts. I used a criss cross method to avoid warping the case or pan. You are going to have to find a way to break the seal of the stock gasket. I used a narrow scraper and hammer. (Go ahead and place these bolts in a Ziploc so that you don’t lose them.)
Here it is without the pan.
IMGP0008 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
5. Once you have the pan off make sure you have your drain pan under the trans because it will continue dripping fluid.
6. Go ahead and remove the sump filter and set it and the bolts aside.
Sump filter removed
IMGP0012 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
7. You will now remove the valve body from the truck by removing the wiring, feed tubes (on older models like my 98), kick down cable (if you have one, newer models don’t), and all of the bolts. I used a criss cross method to avoid warping (you could also use a cordless impact gun to speed up the process.) Also be sure to make a template to keep track of the bolts because they are different lengths. The valve body will also have some weight to it so be prepared and don’t let it fall.
The template I made for the bolts.
IMGP0016 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Trans without the valve body.
IMGP0019 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Sorry about the blurriness, my camera got drenched in atf when I pulled the valve body.

8. Next go ahead and remove the accumulator pistons being sure to keep track of which one goes where as the springs are specific to each one. (I won’t detail which springs go where because they are very clear in the instructions.)
Stock accumulators:
IMGP0020 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Modified accumulators:
IMGP0027 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Note:
As a side note it was at this point that I took the opportunity to remove all of the old pan sealant remnants on the pan and case, clean up the pan magnets, and install the bung for the trans temp gauge I was also installing. Here is a link that has pictures of what it should look like all cleaned up.
And here is the bung welded in.
IMGP0031 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
I actually ended up having to move the bung because it was hitting the feed tube and not letting the pan fit back on, oops. So here is where it sits now.
IMGP0036 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
9. Now back to the install. Clean up the valve body and clear off plenty of space on the bench and disassemble the valve body exactly as the directions included with the kit indicate how to and get ready for the scary part of drilling holes in the separator plate.
That should do it for the disassembly part, and I’m sure you all can guess what comes next…

10. So once you get the valve body open you are going to see the innards of the two sides. Be careful to not drop any of the check balls or retainers out.
Here is what the inside of the valve body looks like
IMGP0032 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
IMGP0033 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
With the separator plate removed
IMGP0034 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr

11. Go ahead and clean up the separator plate and follow the directions as for what holes to drill. (Just take your time and make sure you are drilling the right hole because some of them don’t look exactly like the diagram but you can tell it’s the right one. It is pretty straight forward)
12. After you have the holes drilled set the plate to the side and go over the upper half of the valve body very closely and change the check ball locations according to the directions (I only had to remove one).
13. Now move to the lower valve body section and disassemble the indicated valve and swap out the spring
a. I didn’t take any pictures of this because it is very straight forward and there wasn’t much to show but I think [MENTION=83885]Dirtyfingers[/MENTION] has a picture of the valve in his build thread.
14. Once you have the necessary changes made to the valve body, clean up the mating surface making sure it is free of debris and transmission fluid.
15. Now place the new valve body gaskets on and reassemble the two halves in the reverse of how you took them apart.
16. Reinstall the bolts into the valve body and torque them to 55 inch pounds.
All back together
IMGP0035 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
17. Now that you have the valve body modified and the accumulator springs changed the rest is very straightforward. You will basically reverse your steps to remove the valve body making sure to torque the bolts securing the valve body to 80 inch pounds. (This is when the assembly lube and another set of hands come in very helpful to get everything lined up.)
18. Finally replace the pan and torque the bolts to 65 inch pounds, and put the new fluid in, start the car and put it through all the gears, check the fluid, and then go drive it and enjoy!
New shift solenoids
IMGP0040 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
All buttoned up
IMGP0044 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Here is the glowshift gauge I installed
IMGP0045 by Phoenix Black, on Flickr
Results and final thoughts:
Stock 0 to 60 time: 14.6 seconds
Modified 0 to 60 time: 14.2 so really no change.
Overall I am very happy with the results of the kit. Even though the actual acceleration times are basically the same it feels so much faster and connected. Under wot accelerations it holds the gear right up to redline and then instantly shifts into the next (it really makes you wish there was more power), it doesn’t feel soft or disconnected like before. Under normal driving however it is almost unchanged except for holding each gear about 500 rpms longer, the 1 – 2 shift will take some getting used to though because you actually feel the trans shift now. As far as the downshifts go, they are much improved, it doesn’t feel like the trans coasts for half a second before it goes down, you step on the gas and it immediately drops a gear and goes, and when you manually downshift it is smooth but quick. And for the temp, I don’t really know where my temp was before I did this because I didn’t have a gauge, but on my initial test drive it was 80 degrees outside and driving the snot out of it I was only able to get the trans temp in the pan up to 170. (I am running a B&M 20268 with the stock cooler bypassed.) Looking back on this I would defiantly do it again, but I think for a daily driver the race shifts would be too firm, I am very happy with the truck shifts. Seriously though, If you hate the stock grandma shift and aren’t afraid of getting a shower in atf and taking your time being very meticulous and clean this kit really is for you. The savings are so worth it ($500 in my case), the directions make it very straight forward, the tech support at transgo is top notch, and it really is just time consuming. I was able to finish this in a day taking my time and lots of pictures and finished with absolutely no problems. If you guys have any more questions feel free to ask and if any of you are in the Bozeman area and would like to drive it for yourself let me now.
I will also post an update on this after I get to put some more miles on it in the next few weeks and a video of before and after wot shifting once I get them off my phone.
Some useful links:
• IPT video for installing valvebody
• IPT written install instructions
• Valve body explanation and closer look
• Explanation of the valve body mod

Long term review

I have now had this kit installed for about a month and have put over 1500 miles on it. So far there have been no ill effects. Shifts are nice and crisp and temps are always under control. Never seen it go over 185 no matter what I throw at it. IMO this kit makes the trans what it should have been in the first place. The ect button actually does something now too, It may be just me but it seems like when that is on the shifts actually firm up a little more. And oddly enough the shifts in 4 low actually seems a little smoother. This kit is defiantly worth the time and money if you have the ability to install it.

Thanks for the write up! I wanted to get my trans rebuilt this summer but it quickly got taken off the table as an option this year. So I am looking to do the transgo upgrade. This is one of the better write ups for it IMO. I am curious if it has any effect on my MPG around town.

Good write up, thank you! Question, does it feel like it holds OD better now? One thing I have always hated about these transmissions is that the TQ goes into "slip" way to easy in OD. I feel like half the time I just kick it out of OD so the thing doesn't heat up!

Had no idea there were other options for the a340 besides sending it for a valvebody rebuild. Noice.

Too bad nobody does a manual valvebody...

Excellent write up. Please post your thoughts on this st a few intervals, and your impressions based on daily driving.

I think this needs to go in to the 3rd gen FAQs and tutorials guide. Great write up! [MENTION=65101]BrianSD_42[/MENTION]

Black798 said:

mine for long term review

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Wish I had known about this when I replaced my solenoids!

Three questions:

1) How does it shift when you push the ECT button?

2) Specifically what is the difference between this kit and what the IPT guys do? I've seen their stuff but it's been a while so I don't recall what-all they do.

3) What's the dealy-o with the bunghole? More accurate temps than tapping into a line? You doing a write-up on that by any chance?

Ok that was 5...

1) How does it shift when you push the ECT button?

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I always drive with the ect mode on, Ive found that I can get slightly better gas mileage with it. I would suspect that since doing the kit raised the shift points, that without ect on the shift points will just be slightly lower, probably closer to that of the stock trans with ect on.

2) Specifically what is the difference between this kit and what the IPT guys do?

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IPT is very vague about what they do, but reading through their site and talking with them, the link is in my last post, it seems they do three things, decrease shift time, increase line pressure, and increase fluid flow by "altering" the separator plate orifices. I know from seeing their videos they also change the spring rate in the accumulators. So in short, from now having a decent understanding of how the valve body works, i think the transgo kit does exactly the same thing as the ipt valve body because I changed the accumulator spring rate, "altered" orfices in the seperator plate, and changed the calibration of the main pressure valve. Its just a lot cheaper because you do the work.

What's the dealy-o with the bunghole

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After reading a lot of threads and arguments about where the best place to put the temp sender was I decided on the pan. Reason being was I had the pan off so it was easy, and it provides a better reading of the bulk of your fluid. Where as if you have it in the send line it is measuring the temp right after the fluid has done work and is in a temperature spike which the cooler will take away in a matter of seconds. And really it is the long term high temps, 200+ degrees in the pan, that kills the trans, not the short periods of time where the fluid is doing its job.

Question, does it feel like it holds OD better now

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I haven't really gotten to drive it enough to tell yet. But that is something that I have always hated as well. As I drive it more in the next week or so Ill let you guys know what I see.

Bump for the long term review

Black798 said:

Bump for the long term review

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Thanks for posting the detailed install. I've had this kit over a year now and still not put it in.I think this'll help be muster up the courage..so what's your review at this point?

TBuzz said:

Thanks for posting the detailed install. I've had this kit over a year now and still not put it in.I think this'll help be muster up the courage..so what's your review at this point?

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Third post is a little more detailed but. Overall I have no complaints and couldnt be happier, even without a S/C I love the more positive feel it gives the trans. I wouldnt recommend the race shift though, having installed the truck shift in mine I think the race shift would be too stiff for a daily driver.

Black798 said:

Third post is a little more detailed but. Overall I have no complaints and couldnt be happier, even without a S/C I love the more positive feel it gives the trans. I wouldnt recommend the race shift though, having installed the truck shift in mine I think the race shift would be too stiff for a daily driver.

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Thanks for posting this. I purchased this kit a couple years back and have been DREADING the install...

About how long did it take you to knock this project out? Is it an afternoon and a couple "sodas" (I see you're 17) or is it more of a weekend type deal?

Also, I think this write up would be PERFECT if you included the part numbers for the items, as opposed to a link. Or both?

Cool post. I'll definitely be installing this same kit on whatever I end up with. Do the 98's not have a factory trans temperature gauge that you could tap into?


Noticed you're chasing power due to your altitude. If you haven't pulled the trigger yet on a supercharger, I'd like to make a case for a turbo given your living situation! Like everything I post, this will be in list format.

Pros of turbo:
- Very, very little power loss at altitude. It might help to think of a turbo as an altitude compensation device. Once boost is built, power will be more or less equal in all scenarios. Superchargers, on the other hand, require power to create boost. As atmospheric pressure lowers, the S/C will require even more power to create the same amount of boost. The loss isn't as great as with a naturally aspirated car, but it's still noticeable.
- Very easy to adjust. Simply put an inline boost controller between your turbo and wastegate, saves having to buy pulleys.
- More exciting powerband. There's something very addictive about a properly sized turbo's low-end torque. It's not instant, but that's ok, the slight delay makes it much more exciting. (Subjective)
- Incredible sound. There's nothing more exotic sounding than a turbo working hard, building boost. (Subjective)

Cons of turbo:
- More difficult to install. It's not nearly as common, so there will be parts you have to figure out for yourself. However, there are documented installs that you could theoretically copy and paste to your truck.
- Fabrication costs could make this install more expensive than a S/C setup if you don't do the work yourself, or seek cost-effective solutions.

Thanks again for the review, and be sure to post back with some long-term impressions. And just remember, go with a turbo, everyone and their mother has an S/C ... yawn.

How did I miss this the first time? Interested to hear more... I would like to clean up my shifts a bit too, I have a reman'd transmission in there that shifts decently well but there's always room to improve right?

I should also ask, is the "race shifts" just different springs than the "truck shifts"? Or is it more involved than that?

I just did the HD2 on mine a few days ago. Works great, as you said shifts are crisp, fast, like they should. No jerking, no banging....I mean it how this trans should have been setup stock!

But with mine being an 02/DBW, there seems to be some kind of code in the ECU that partially shuts the throttle plate during a WOT shift. And now I am getting that delay after the 1-2 shift. It shifts quick, and then there is a quick momentary drop in power (can hear the motor pull down like you tapped the brakes or slightly let off) and then it comes back. All happens very quick, right after the shift. I've seen this kind of thing before with Duramaxes defueling, and turbo AT subaru's cutting the throttle plate and timing during the shift. I can tune it on all of those to make it smooth/and or timed correctly when mods are done. Can't do that here.. can anyone else confirm what I'm seeing? It's not bad, but it's annoying...

About how long did it take you to knock this project out

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It took me a day and a half , but I think realistically you can have it done in a day especially with help. The majority of my time was chewed up by taking pictures and the fact I was on high strength pain killers from getting my wisdom teeth out the day before. Ill be sure and add the part numbers for things here soon too, thanks for the suggestion.

Do the 98's not have a factory trans temperature gauge that you could tap into?

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4runners weren't equipped with an actual temp sensor until 99. 96-98 just had a dummy light that turns on at like 250 degrees. In regards to the turbo setup, I would love to go that route and I like the challenge of all the fab work. I mainly lean towards the supercharger because its more of a "tried and true" approach on the 4runner when done right and the tuning is slightly easier. But I have always loved the setups similar to what [MENTION=9139]steezemcqueen[/MENTION] has on the rock lobster. But it will be a while before Im able to drop that much cash on a single mod, Id like to take care of the smaller things first.

I should also ask, is the "race shifts" just different springs than the "truck shifts"? Or is it more involved than that?

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IIRC the only difference was the race shifts have one more spring that gets swapped out and the holes in the separator plate get drilled out a little more. Really not anymore difficult than the truck shifts.

The issue [MENTION=145787]Gravity_Knight[/MENTION] is having does seem odd. I would think people that have the ipt upgrade would be having the same problem since this kit basically does the same thing. It would be interesting to see some recorded data from the computer to see if it is in fact trying to pull power out of itself at WOT.

Thanks for the response. How is the first shift from 1st to 2nd? That's probably the "sloppiest" shift I've got.

Any way you might be able to post a video of a WOT pull showing the RPM's, if you can do so in a safe manner? If not I'll live, please don't crash it trying to drive with one arm lol.

How is the first shift from 1st to 2nd?

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1st to 2nd is definitely the most improved out of all of them. Under normal driving conditions is pretty mellow, just a little thud when it shifts but under WOT its like someone kicks the trans out of gear and right into the next one. It feels much more like a manual tranny.

Any way you might be able to post a video of a WOT pull showing the RPM's

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I actually have a video of the stock shifts and I should be able to grab one of the modified shifts in thew next few days. Ive found that I can set my phone right in the gap between the steering wheel column and the dash and it tends to produces decent results.

I think i might give this a try. Doesn't seem too difficult. My 1-2 shift is definitely sloppy.