1-2 shift seems off....

[quicksilvr]

I'm a little worried about my auto trans. Overall, it shifts nicely. Firm and pretty quick. However, the 1-2 shift seems off. It shifts firmly...but then it feels like it pauses for a second. After the pause, I feel like the rpm's are higher than they should be. Not much, but just a little. Basically, it just doesn't seem like a normal shift.

I know the supercharger can kill the clutch packs. So I guess I'm trying to figure out what my best course of action is to save this transmission. I don't drive the truck hard at all myself. And honestly, I don't think anyone else would notice that the shift seems funny. I only notice, because I've driven 7 or 8 3rd gen 4Runners.....

 

[LittleCaesar]

Start draining and refilling the ATF; maxlife since it worked for ya in the past or Castrol Import ATF.You may even want to add a bottle of red Lubegard for s$%ts and giggles.

I wonder how hot a A340 E or F can get under the load of a supercharger sans a ATF cooler.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Is this with overdrive ON/OFF? ECT ON/OFF?

 

[quicksilvr]

Start draining and refilling the ATF; maxlife since it worked for ya in the past or Castrol Import ATF.You may even want to add a bottle of red Lubegard for s$%ts and giggles.

I wonder how hot a A340 E or F can get under the load of a supercharger sans a ATF cooler.

Yup, that's already in the works. This time, I'm having a local shop do the fluid swap with their BG machine. I'm carrying in 16 quarts of Maxlife, and they're doing the flush. AFTER they do that, I'm going to drop the pan and see what's up inside. And install my cooler and Magnafine filter.

The Lubeguard Red was actually what I was thinking about. Never used it....didn't know if it would prolong or eliminate the need for a rebuild.

 

[quicksilvr]

Is this with overdrive ON/OFF? ECT ON/OFF?

Overdrive on, ECT off. Well...I assume ECT off...the light seems to have stopped working. I changed the bulbs out in the center to LED's, and right after I did that, I checked the ECT button, the window button, etc. They all worked. Then yesterday (after I had the main cluster out), the ECT wouldn't light up when I pushed it. So I need to troubleshoot it some more.


But I think the ECT is off.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Maxlife is good as a stand alone ATF.

In regards to the Lubegard, I helped a friend do a full flush and fill on a Sienna. The old ATF was black, the new ATF was Castrol High Mileage. It helped smooth the shifts but then he ordered some Lubegard red. We drained a little of the new fluid and put in about 16 ounces. After about 2000 miles, the tranny was almost as smooth as butter with no slippage.

I don't like additives for fluids for most can be "snake oils" IMO but Lubegard rarely gets any bad PR on Web message boards so it could be considered.

 

[iRunner1999]

I have the same issue with my tranny, its not that big of a deal, and hardly noticeable, but drives me crazy. My transmission is always very smooth, but between 1st and 2nd it like lags...but only when I am at slow speeds (likes in a parking lot). Should I be concerned? My tranny fluid is at the right level and looks fine.
Oh and when I put it into ETC it doesn't do it. So weird.

 

[quicksilvr]

Just picked the truck up from getting the fluid changed. Now I have to decide if I want to use the BG ATC Plus that they gave me when they did the flush, or if I should buy some LubeGard Red and use it.


Since I have the BG stuff, I might just use that. Hopefully I'll have time to drop the pan and install my cooler/filter stuff next weekend.

 

[LittleCaesar]

There is nothing wrong with the BG IMHO. Use it and enjoy.

Any difference BTW or too early to tell?

 

[quicksilvr]

No, no difference that I can tell yet. After I drop the pan (and hopefully just find sludge, and not chunks) I'll refill with more Maxlife and add the BG. If the shifting never changes one bit from how it is now, it'll be fine. It doesn't have to get better....I just don't want it to get worse.

 

[Dirtco]

I'm a little worried about my auto trans. Overall, it shifts nicely. Firm and pretty quick. However, the 1-2 shift seems off. It shifts firmly...but then it feels like it pauses for a second. After the pause, I feel like the rpm's are higher than they should be. Not much, but just a little. Basically, it just doesn't seem like a normal shift.

I know the supercharger can kill the clutch packs. So I guess I'm trying to figure out what my best course of action is to save this transmission. I don't drive the truck hard at all myself. And honestly, I don't think anyone else would notice that the shift seems funny. I only notice, because I've driven 7 or 8 3rd gen 4Runners.....

Mine does the exact same thing. I drained and filled the transmission several times and it has not made any difference. I bought an IPT valve body, and I've waiting to drop the pan and replace the filter until I was ready to install it.

I'm pretty sure mine has been supercharged since it was new. I always thought it was a normal 3rd Gen 4Runner thing, but my 4Runner is the only 3rd Gen I have drove. Let me know if you find something that helps.

 

[quicksilvr]

Interesting to hear. I wouldn't be surprised if my supercharger has been on since day 1 as well. I'm hoping the guy that owned it all those years will see my facebook message and get back at me.

I'll definitely keep this updated if I notice any improvement. When you install your valve body, I'll be interested to see what change you see. I'm really hoping that the clutch pack is just slightly worn, due to the extra torque from the s/c. Clean atf and some good additives will keep a slightly worn unit working well for a long long time.