First generation shifting hard.

mastermechanicjt

mastermechanicjt

New member
First generation with automatic. Shifts hard into 3rd and is gutless. Any suggestions?
0a7c0267206558495bc9cd9623b3fade.jpg


Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
Register to hide this ad
Have you checked the level of the trans fluid? Engine warm and running, in PARK.

What does the fluid look like?
Should be red, not brown and not having a burned smell.
 
I have similar problems with my '85. The fluid is clean and red and seems to be at the right level. It smells okay as far as I can tell. The transfer case functions fine but the transmission is rubbish. It shifts hard on the upshifts most of the time, sometimes shifts abruptly/unexpectedly, and is also very rough going from Park into Reverse or Drive. It goes into gear with a hard bang and the whole truck lurches. I've taken it to a couple of transmission shops but neither one had much to say. I guess the A340H was just a piece of junk, if this is normal behavior.
 
85_4Runner said:
I have similar problems with my '85. The fluid is clean and red and seems to be at the right level. It smells okay as far as I can tell. The transfer case functions fine but the transmission is rubbish. It shifts hard on the upshifts most of the time, sometimes shifts abruptly/unexpectedly, and is also very rough going from Park into Reverse or Drive. It goes into gear with a hard bang and the whole truck lurches. I've taken it to a couple of transmission shops but neither one had much to say. I guess the A340H was just a piece of junk, if this is normal behavior.
Click to expand...

One of my worst complaints about the A340H is the shifts are too soft, not crisp enough. I wouldn't say hard shifting is normal at all.

I don't have any advice for you though, automatic transmissions are black magic to me. If your fluid is good, maybe something inside is buggy, there are springs and valves and solenoids and such that move fluid around here or there depending on what the transmission is trying to do, if one of them was faulty it might cause the behavior you're describing.
 
To the OP, there's a good FAQ on these transmissions on Pirate4x4:

A340 Transmission issues and FAQs - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

Discussion of the gutless aspect:

"Why are vehicles with the Toyota A340H trans/t-case so gutless?
(Compared to their 5 speed counterparts with the same motor). Normally, an auto tranny both consumes power and mutiplies torque. In the case of the A340H, the power consumption is doubled by the addition of the hydraulic transfer case, which is essentially like having another automatic transmission inline. But the torque multiplication of the single torque converter isn't enough to compensate for the additional drag."
 
Last edited:
KidVermicious said:
One of my worst complaints about the A340H is the shifts are too soft, not crisp enough. I wouldn't say hard shifting is normal at all.

I don't have any advice for you though, automatic transmissions are black magic to me. If your fluid is good, maybe something inside is buggy, there are springs and valves and solenoids and such that move fluid around here or there depending on what the transmission is trying to do, if one of them was faulty it might cause the behavior you're describing.
Click to expand...

I know this still may not resolve the OP's question, and I don't mean to hijack, but I did want to give an update on my transmission problems in case this thread turns up in somebody's future search. I was surprised to discover that none of the problems I mentioned earlier were internal to the transmission.

First, I had begun to suspect that my throttle position sensor might be involved in the rough idle problem I was also having. I had done all the usual tune-up stuff and have good compression, so I knew my idle shouldn't be as rough as it was.

My suspicion that the TPS was either bad or just in need of calibration grew when I read on the 4crawler site:

"Seemingly unrelated systems can also be affected by a malfunctioning TPS, including Electronically Controlled Transmissions (ECT). Problems can include poor shifting and hunting between gears due to the engine computer seeing apparent throttle position changes coming from a flaky TPS"

So I pulled the throttle body (makes checking the TPS easier and I figured the TB probably could use a cleaning anyway), grabbed my multi meter and checked it out. It was out of calibration. So by calibrating the TPS, I not only fixed the idle but also the hard upshifts and the wacky gear-hunting of the transmission.

Secondly, once I bothered to get out the FSM and look at the Auto Transmission chapter, in the troubleshooting section there is the problem "Harsh engagement into any drive range" and the first suggestion is "Throttle cable out of adjustment." Bingo. My throttle cable was way out of adjustment. That takes like five minutes to adjust, probably not even that. And it made a huge difference in the engagement when shifting the transmission from Park to Reverse or Drive. Now it (mostly) acts like a normal automatic transmission. It does still occasionally shift hard into third or fourth, like the OP's. But it's 32 years old, after all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 293 (members: 2, guests: 291)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,306
Messages
3,554,045
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top