Thanks for the kind words everyone. The car is driving well. I had an ABS light but no way to read the ABS module with my low level code reader (ScanGuage 2.) I was at Toyota getting the alignment today and inquired about the tech simply hooking up their tool and giving me the code. The service advisor said the best she could do was charge me 0.5 hr labor instead of the full 1.0 hr diagnostic fee. The Lexus brand labor rate is like $20 more than the Toyota rate, simply because of the badge regardless of model. BS... I said 'nah' and came home and swapped both front wheel speed sensors from the white car and now the light does not illuminate as it was. I hate throwing parts at problems but I had them so why not... The front and rear toe was out but the camber was good. It's all green now. I came home and put the brand new Pirelli P7's on and noticed that the clearance between the inside of the wheel and the front brake calipers is very small. So small, in fact, that if you stick thin lead weights in that area they will interfere with the calipers. Aannnnddd that's what happened. So I put the Michelin's back on the front and took it for another test run this evening. I'll try to get the VW dealer that I bought the tires at to rebalance the wheel/tire assemblies tomorrow.

One weird thing is that I'm STILL getting a P0420 once in a while with this new car, just like the white car did. There are 3 possibilities for this as far as bad parts could be concerned: Upstream o2 sensors, cats, or still leakage at the rear cat flange. I redid the flange gaskets and hardware but they did not meet totally flush as some of the metal had corroded away. I was thinking the new crush gaskets would still seal it but I'm not sure. I'll feel for leaks tomorrow at some point.

I think this car drives smoother than the white car did. I can't wait to get the new Pirelli's on the front. I think this car is smoother from the new OEM motor mounts. The drivers side motor mount on the white car was totally separated. No bueno. It's smooth as silk now. The replacement EGR tube also stopped the exhaust tick under load I got with the white car.

I tackled the trunk leak this evening. I have the entire trunk stripped so finding the leak is easier. I poured some water controlled from a jug down the back glass with the trunk shut. I let it sit a second, opened the trunk and right away saw a small puddle in the spare tire well. There were two little streams of water running down the sides of the latch mechanism. Water was not entering from near the back glass but all the way at the bottom in the center. For grins I removed the trunk seal and pulled the white cars seal in case it was in better shape. I am not sure if I would say that it is better but the white car didn't leak so who knows. Water is supposed to be able to enter the seal via small holes in the center at the top near the back glass so that water doesn't pool there. It then runs inside the seal, turns down with the tail lights then turns towards and center and dumps out of holes there. The white cars seal has debris that you can feel inside where the seal turns down with the tail lights. There really isn't an easy way to get that stuff out so I just crushed it up a bit inside to try to break up and blockages there may be. I then ran a small film of non-hardening RTV on both sides of the metal lip where the seal rides, pressed the seal onto the track nearly all the way down, and shut the trunk. I'm hoping the RTV will seal in that channel so that water doesn't jump over that metal track like it was to get inside the trunk. Tomorrow I will repeat the water test and see where we're at.

The spare tire hold-down bolt threads were rusted from the water. I had to break apart the original spare tire hold-down bolt until I was able to get to the bolt head underheat the plastic **** to get it out. I ran an 8x1.25mm tap through the threads with WD40 to clean the threads now the hold-down bolt spins right in.

Once I get the trunk leak sealed up I'll be able throw the trunk liners back in along with the tools and spare tire and it should be ready to go. I'll get some more photos after I get the Pirelli's on. The wheels are so much cleaner than the other ones.

 

It seems the best way to celebrate the success of a large automotive project is for the transmission to fail 1,000 miles after completion.

As you may remember back on page 1, the white car that this drivetrain came out of was advertised as "may have a transmission problem." Well, it must. I cleaned the strainer once or twice since I've had the white car. The strainer has clogged again which forced me to roll into a parking lot about 2 hours ago. I've since pulled it home with my truck. It's been my experience with these A340e's that once you start clogging your strainer, even once, doing anything other than replacing or overhauling your transmission is a 100% waste of time. Trust me, I've been there. This isn't my first rodeo with this problem. These transmissions have a great reputation of being bulletproof and running forever but I've had two fail in two separate LS400's. The first was maintained by myself since 2002 with Toyota T-IV fluid. This one I've had in my possession for a much shorter time so I'm unsure of the transmission service history, but the fluid was a nice color. It wasn't brown or anything. It seems age is starting to take a toll on these units and the frictions or something are just coming apart and giving up the ghost after soaking in ATF for 20 years.

It is my expectation to find the direct clutch drum with a clearance large enough to drive a freakin semi-truck through. We will soon see.


Question:
If I can get over the frustration over the next little while to actually want to take photos and such along the way for the community should I just continue on in this thread (which will soon turn into a mega thread at this rate) or start a new one and just put the link to it in this one?

Thoughts?

 

This thread is already a mega-thread. May as well keep all the progress in 1 place!

Also I want to ask since my 96 has the same transmission. What does it feel like when its not acting "normal"? Does it shift rough, shudder or slip like normal auto transmissions that are having problems? I just ask out of curiosity.

Mine drives and shifts perfectly smooth with no slipping. My Trans fluid is mostly red, a little dirty but can still see a red hue in it for the most part. Part of me wonders if the transmission filter has EVER been changed since I dont see any records of it in the online service history for my car.
Mine has only done one thing in Drive when sitting at a stoplight. Sometimes a deep but subtle "hummm" vibration can be felt through the inside of the car at a stop. It does it at almost every stop. I've always guessed it was from a worn out transmission mount transmitting engine vibrations through the body. I'm the only one to notice it since I drive it, everyone else thats ridden in the car doesn't even notice it.

Sorry to hear your having problems 1000 miles after you just got it back together. The frustration of that would annoy me so much, ugh.

 

I don't think there is really a service interval for the strainer. It's a fine metal mesh straight, not a paper element filter. I would just do the ol' splash'n'dash once in a while by dropping the fluid in the pan and refilling it. I think it yields about 3 quarts. The A340e in these cars is nearly as normal an automatic transmission as it gets. It's a 3-speed with an overdrive that is just shifted electronically with solenoids. There is still even what they call a 'throttle cable' which is pretty much like the old kick-down cables from the old days. As far as symptoms go sometimes the unit will kick in and out of overdrive once it starts losing pressure from the strainer clogging. Also you will hear what sounds like a power steering pump low on fluid, a whirring sound. That's the trans pump starving for fluid. Delayed engagement from a neutral gear to a forward gear and what-not are also signs of worn out clutches. These all result in the unit shedding clutch material into the fluid, clogging the strainer eventually and one day you'll no longer be putting power to the ground.

Your vibration is probably mounts, both your motor and transmission mounts. If they are original I can guarantee you they're bad. If you're feeling a hum in the cabin from the engine at a stop it's probably the motor mounts. I see lots that are just completely separated to where the engine is just sitting on top of the crossmember. On my old white car there were rubber marks on top of the transmission tunnel from where someone hit some railroad tracks or something with a bad rear mount and the rubber isolator joint hit the body while driving.

 

My car is very quick to go between a neutral gear and any forward & reverse gears warm and cold. Its perfectly normal feeling to me anyway haha.
I am 99.9% sure the motor mounts & trans mount are original. The people I got the car from never changed the timing belt (which was original from 1996....) Fluids were about all they kept up on.

A splash and dash sounds good. My fluid already looks good. I'll probably do as you say and just drain the transmission pan's capacity and refill that 3 quarts with fresh fluid. I plan to change the rear diff oil this year after I get other things buttoned up. I may as well drain the transmission's oil pan and refill that at the same time I do the rear differential.

 

Lesson #1

When your tranny fluid looks like this, you might need an overhaul...

I've got 3 of these transmissions laying around once this one is out. I hope that metal is clutch material and not other hard parts of the trans. I'll have to keep a close eye on the bearings, races, and especially the pump. One trans has no forward gears, this one is doing what I said it's doing, and the other was working. At least that is what I was told. I was never able to see it run. The fluid was nasty as hell looking though... Between the 3 I should be able to put 1 good trans together and not have to buy anything from the dealer except a pressure plate or two. I'm going to salvage all the pressure plates out of the 3 I have and inventory them for this overhaul. They are about $50 each from Toyota so avoiding buying any would be great. I had to buy 2-3 last time but I didn't have spare tranny's laying around then either.

 

I turned the frustration into motivation and wanted to get something done before having to sleep on this crap.

The trans is out. In the morning I'll probably start disassembly and see if I find what I think I'm going to find.

I'm leaning towards starting a new thread and linking to it from here.

 

That's ok to do that, this is a pretty long thread. "$800 '96 LS400 - the transmission project".