₦airaland Forum

GAZZUZZ, you did this behind me abi? I will retaliate

Weldone bro! You are doing great.

Friends, I apologise for leaving this thread dry for a long time. The only way out would have been to duplicate myself. It has been that demanding!

Mod, thanks for sticking this to the first page.

Apart from the time factor, determining the correct kit for the valve body has been a challenge. I had stated earlier that Sonnax has a very different approach than the others. The elders have not been forthcoming with brand recommendation so, I have had to do my analysis myself! I could not get the hydraulic diagram for this transmission either.

I have spent hours in the last week studying the valve body, to justify spending $280 on VB kit going the Sonnax route. My analysis showed that the pressure regulators (primary and secondary) do not need absolute seal. Once the engine is running, they are at work, sharing a common feed straight from the pump. Leakages are source of concern where absolute seal is required. This is not the case here.

I am glad that the VB kit I have ordered has all the valve seals covered just like snx, but without the burden of reaming. The transmission rebuild kit has also been ordered. I hope the kit gets the clutch clearances within spec, as it contains a plate for each clutch.

Cheers!

mastro:
Waiting patiently for the next episode

My employers seem to know what am doing, and have been bombarding me with record workload. . So much I broke down! Even as I recovered, my drive for triumph over this knows no bounds.

Here is the challenge:

Training does not tell you how to fix valve bodies, but tell you what to look out for - dos and donts. Things like, ensure the valves drop by their weight, ensure the bores are clean, ensure solenoids are not mixed/sticky, solenoid performance tests etc. This transmission of mine failed after atf change! On taking the valve body apart, I made some discoveries - the full wrath of clean atf in a dirty transmission!

Yes, the primary and secondary pressure regulator valves/bores are worn but, why did the transmission not fail before the atf change, given same condition? It showed no sign of malfunction!

I will make up my mind soon on which kit to go with. I have been spending some time studying the hydraulics of this valve body, and Aisin is not letting the industry have information! Some valve body rebuilds will need you to drill some new holes, or block another; very straight. This is a different kettle of fish.

Patience.....

Godiskind:
Boss you have refused to react to my question

Sorry, I am not familiar with that transmission. And yes, it is a transmission problem.

earthrealm:
kudos bro, i admire ur guts and ur drive.
i pray 1 day, more nigerian car owners will b like u...............strike that...more nigerians.diy rock!!!

Yeah bro, win we will!

Sorry guys. Got caught up with so many things - work, family etc.

Now, the main challenge is determining which valve body repair kit that works best, economically. The best of them seems to be expensive but, the puzzle is that they all have different parts in their kits. You will find some (two prominent ones) with check balls, different valves, springs, plungers, sleeves. We know what different spring properties do to transmission - shift timing and quality but, can they make up for worn valve/bore? YTBD!

Indeed, this transmission, and his cousins are a pain in the industry when they age but, no retreat; no surrender! No matter what it takes, this transmission is coming back to spec!

Working on the gearbox itself is easy, because the kits are standard, and we know exactly what to replace. I worry not about it at all. It's brain (the valve body) is a different kettle of fish!

mc2good:
what is TCM please?

Transmission control module.

pacino26:
Guys, after suffering two engine replacement on two different SUVs I came to the conclusion that most Nigerian technicians or mechanics as we know them only REPLACE faulty engine parts or advise to by-pass electrical or sensors. Most car service centres will bring your cat back same way you took it there.

I want to train technicians including myself in anything automobile, cuz come to think of it today's cars are not what you give to a bukka trained technician or a half baked service centre mechanic.

Ikenna31, doMack99, kakakibuy give me a heads up on where people can go for these training in Nigeria and overseas.

GAZZUZZ see.....

You rock!

kingreign:
1. Who use a Toyota ATF Type T-IV on an 350 when the recommended ATF is type WS?
Well, call or send a whatsapp message to Lomomike 07034581213 ASAP. He'll help out.

Practically, that should not be the problem.

Amantuegbe:
Dear lexus users, i am having challenge with my gearbox. I recently replaced the gearbox of my Lexus Rx350, 2007 model, but on driving home from the mechanic workshop i realised that the vehicle wasn't moving freely. I tried forcing it to accelerate, but it was moving too slowly. After awhile it stopped moving, so i stepped out to check what was the problem and realised that the gearbox was leaking profusely. The entire ATF (Type IV) was on the ground. I was later informed that the gearbox was bad and would require a replacement. I took it back to the gearbox seller and i was required to add additional money for a replacement. After the replacement the seller insisted that they would prefer their expert to work on it or else they will not be liable for another damage to the gearbox. I agreed and allowed their mechanic to come-around and fix the gearbox. After fixing, we then tried to test the vehicle, i realised that after driving for about 5 minutes, i was having difficulty in accelerating so i sensed that the gearbox was still having a similar problem as earlier. I informed the mechanic and parked the car immediately. We realised that the gearbox was graduallly leaking, the mechanic decided to apply four (4) minutes glue to stop the leakage. Thereafter we tried driving it, but it was still moving slowly. We stopped again and checked, it was still leaking but not that serious, just drops. We checked the gauge and it was ok. So he informed me that the gearbox requires another replacement. The mechanic later left, and i tried taking it home, but it finally stopped moving along the way except for the reverse. I managed to drive home with the reverse in the night. The reverse is perfectly working. But the drives only work when the car engines cools down. That is it works for like 5-7 minutes, then it stops working. I will like to know what is the problem, is it a faulty gearbox or wrong fixing of the gearbox? Thanks.

Are you able to spot where the leak is coming from? Casing or shaft? What happened to your original gearbox? Can you describe how it started? I feel your pain man.

GAZZUZZ:
When that gear gets bad fixing it is not an easy task. If you search for kashif on cartalk he might sell you a tested gearbox

His vehicle is fitted with U660. The one I have on the bench is a U151.....

I really feel for him. Imagine the pain and all the spend.

mc2good:
I am in PH. I own a Toyota Highlander 2004. I changed the right hand side drive shaft recently and the car parked up hours later.
I was on less than 80KM/hr when transmission suddenly disengaged....! When I pulled up, I discovered that it was only the R gear that was working.....D, D1 etc were not engaging. I spent like 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do cos it was a bit late. I tried the D and it engaged.....but if u go more than 2, it frees itself.

I called a mechanic who checked it out the next day. he simply told me I need to replace the gearbox.

Meanwhile, prior to this time, my friend used his diagnosing machine on my car and told me certain speed sensor were bad...though he is not a professional mechanic.

How best can I approach this?

Get somebody with a capable tool and reset your TCM.

Parts being ordered....

I have locked down on this frequency. Waiting for the plan...

Operation Kill all Christmas Lights! Following.....

IdaraCHODB:
Oh Boy! You are dead serious!! Tell me have you ever found that Sonnax at any of the transmission rebuild shops you have dealt with before?

I know this rebuild will a success because getting trained and using proper test/measurement equipment and quality rebuild kits means return to factory specifications!

I did not see any of them with vacuum test stand. None even has a torque wrench to start with. Those guys do not have the tools or basic training. They don't know there are clutch/brake/band apply charts. You cannot troubleshoot without them, in case of repairs. There are torque and clearance specs. Do they have them? Can they measure them? The answer is no.

A Rebuilder in Ibadan asked to be paid 120k to repair my transmission. No problem, but when asked for warranty, he went blank. Their proficiency lies in their ability to remove transmission parts from the back, mix them all together and then couple. Once they are able to do that, they are gurus.

One of them that is respected told me how a man that came from the US with a new transmission was directed to him. He said the man was shocked to realise he doesn't have air compressor, despite all the hype. They are trying, given their very limited tools and training. I still wonder how they get some transmissions back on the road.

Following....

And below is the reading off the cardinal valves. The primary valve is so bad that you can even notice the freeplay of the valve in the bore!

They should return a minimum of 18 inches but, I was getting abysmal 11 to 12 inches! There is no way this valve body will keep a vehicle on the road. That was one of the reasons it kept burning clutches. Unfortunately, these valves are not part of the rebuild kit. They will need oversized valves. Now, I know the parts to order for the valve body.

Like I said earlier, there are standard rebuild kits in the market - for valve body and the gears themselves, even though most Rebuilder only concentrate on the soft parts for the gears. You can go ahead and install these kits as they come but, there could be some problems beyond these kits. This has played out today. I vacuum tested all known diagnostic ports in my valve body and found that all shift valves checked out. Some ports that returned poor vacuum pull at the plugs are covered by the rebuild kit. However, the most important, and busiest valves returned very poor vacuum pulls

These are the primary and secondary pressure regulator valves. Below is an excellent pull from a healthy port. His is how the ports come from factory, even though I think this is extreme, and could starve the valve of lube.

Diagnosis of the valve body carried out today. All valves were returned to their bores after cleaning. Ran into a little confusion, but the callipers came to my rescue

kingreign:
this is evil advice, OP use toyota genuine ATF type T-IV

You seem to like the word 'evil', and it is harsh.

Dextron is what the transmission uses, but T-IV is better.

OriEyeLe:
Please house! What engine oil and atf should I use to service this car please!.urgent

Check the atf dip stick and the engine oil cap. If you don't find the information you seek, shout here.

A closer shot.....

In testing, the test pad is used to seal the port to be tested. Ensure there is proper sealing, without sealing the supply port. If not, false reading will be recorded. For clarity, I used the sealing pad only, to show an example of a port to be tested (that is the primary regulator valve). The hole on the right will be used. You can see the test port is completely covered by the pad.

The two complementary tools mated for calibration. If properly calibrated, the guage reads between 5 and 25 at both extreme ranges.

This is the vacuum test stand. You cannot diagnose a valve body manually without this. After calibration, it will consistently indicate bore or/and valve wear. It is reliable.

Below is a vacuum pump. This drives the vacuum test stand. One stage or two stage is fine. It is a 3 cfm pump.

IdaraCHODB:
Am suspecting that you will open a transmission shop soon! Given the popularity of vehicles with '13 pin' transmissions ...

LOL! I have a full-time job that is doing its job o. As the saying goes, anything can happen bro.

Inception:
did you purchase a rebuild kit(complete with new gaskets, seals and o-rings) prior to this rebulid?

or are u using the old ones?

There are standard rebuild banner kits, but its possible to find a defect they cannot address. I can go ahead and install them like that but, I am doing a complete teardown. What am doing is as good as a remanufacture. I have no plans of using any old soft parts. If I also find any hard part that is out of tolerance, it goes. I can source any part of the transmission I need, new. So, new kit is the very least. It is new kits plus any other.

BTT:
I want to be like Kingreign, Kashif and Gazzuzz when I grow up.

That Gazzuzz and his humour, no be here.

Kashif, this is very commendable. This must require a lot of determination and paying attention to details. The greatest challenge here for me would be the amount of time to be expended. Great work Kashif!

And btw, my regards to your understanding wife.

Your mind dey there! You must pay great attention to details. Again, markings, notes, reference etc help. Of course, you need the factory specifications.

My wife has been a great support. Initially when I was battling hydraulic circuits, she would ask, 'are you sure you wanna do this? You sure say your brain never block?' But when she saw the drive, it became part of her prayer point

GAZZUZZ:
When I grow up I want to be like kashif

LOL! Oga, na me get you Thursday o