Banshee365

'96 LS with 220k that is well maintained and taken care of. I've had 2 strainers clog in the transmission causing it to start starving of fluid and not going into gear. When the strainer is clean the transmission operates perfectly and has no driveability issues. There is no slipping at all and all works are advertised. I'm concerned as to where the clutch material is coming from. On the first strainer cleaning i reused the fluid by running it through a paint filter. I'm wandering if reusing the fluid caused the second strainer to clog again.

Originally my first plan was to flush the fluid and add a magnafine filter in the cooler return line to collect material before it gets to the strainer. I sort of feel like that is just covering up another problem.

This week I'm working with a guy who has owned and ran a transmission shop for most of his life and he say's usually when a transmission starts making clutch material that it is usually from the torque converter. He said most of the units he builds from sheading material he ends up throwing away good clutches from inside the transmission along while replacing the torque converter and doing a full build.

These tranmissions are well known for going 300k+ and I feel like mine still has a lot of life left in it and I'm trying to come up with a plan to get this thing back on the road without having to worry about the strainer clogging up in quick order again. I'm wandering if I should just replace the converter and flush the fluid and go from there. Even if I end up having to rebuild or replace with a salvaged trans I could probably always use the new converter.

Any input and experience with transmission/converter issues would really help out a lot! Thanks!

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

have you done a complete fluid exchange and checked the strainer a week or two after that? if you're just doing drain and fills its not going to get most of the crap out of it.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

PD: I didnt know you could do a complete fluid exchange, without R&R the transmission because of the T/converter?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

you can, undo the hoses going to the trans cooler in the radiator, feed to radiator goes into the drain bucket and drain from the radiator back into the trans goes into the bucket of clean T-IV. (or some variation of the routing)

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/trans...ransflush.html

Banshee365

No I havn't flushed the fluid totally in a couple of years. The strainer clogged and I replaced the strainer and reused the fluid drained from the pan through a paint filter. The strainer clogged again a month or two later and that is where it sit's now. I have cleaned the strainer and am trying to figure out the right plan of action to get this thing back on the road.

Should I suck it up and replace the converter and flush and fill the fluid or just do a good fluid flush and reassemble it as is? When the strainer is clean the transmission operates perfectly under any throttle conditions. Is there much of a theory to my work mate claiming that it is probably the converter sheading the material or do I have bigger problems? Being that it operates perfectly cold or hot when the strainer is clean I'm hoping that it's the converter at the worst and hopefully just the fluid at best.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

fluid flush + new strainer/cleaned strainer= <$100.
new anything= a hell of a lot more.

you decide. and who the hell reuses used trans fluid by putting it through a paint strainer T-IV isn't THAT expensive

no power flushing please.

Bill Dowd

I put a trans cooler at 40k miles and I unhook one side fill a gallon bottle and then refill the trans with 4 quarts of fluid I do this 2 more times each year and I have 270k on the clock now I clean the screen every 50k I switched to synthetic trans fluid at 40 k so far so good I also change my PS fluid each 25k with synthetic trans fluid and it's hold up fine I also put a small trans cooler on the PS a little over kill but it does help.You can do the same using Type T-lV trans fluid and get the same results I change the trans fluid at 25-30 k which is about a years worth of driving .

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

thanks guys, I did not know about that

deanshark

Wow that's one hella long sentence. Take a breathe dude. Punctuation, it helps people read the post easier and quicker. Especially for the non english speaking, and writing, members here............ Do you see, or feel, any difference with the trans cooler on your power steering? I wouldn't think it would actually do anything unless you're racing in an Autocross or some road course racing.

Banshee365

At that time in my life (a year ago or so) money was extremely tight and we had another car to use while the LS was having issues. I reused the fluid from the pan through a paint filter because I wasn't planning to do a full flush at that time. I couldn't see pouring a few quarts of new fluid into old fluid so I just filtered out what was drained from the pan until I could do a full flush again. Does it seem like a fluid flush with the clean strainer is a good way to go or does it seem like I've got more issues as to why the fluid became contaminated in the first place. This A340 trans seems to be used in everything from Supra's to Tundra's and they seem very tough. I'm hoping this trans still has a bit of life left in it before I have to go searching for a salvaged unit.