Are there any additives that might help with this as preventative mx?

 

None that I am aware of. I know some torque converters have drain plugs (but even that requires something similar to what we just did in separating the tranny from the engine block).

You can see some of the gunk in this photo just near the bottom of the pump. That was after we had removed the torque converter. That narrow hold on the shaft is where the fluid enters the torque converter.

 

We are a little over half way done, maybe about 60% or so. Transmission has been mounted. We need to put in axles, lower suspension and connect a few things. We might have finished today, but power went out around 5:30 p.m. in the neighborhood, meaning no light and no power for the air pistol we need to tighten down some bolts, so we will go at it again tomorrow morning.

However, I of course took some photos.

Transmission has been painted silver. I later found out that the reason for this is not aesthetic. Rather, due to flooding that we had in Mexico City, Chinito would see a much higher number of transmissions coming in for service. He used the analogy of sticking a hot pan in cold water. The end result could be that internal components could weaken due to the sudden temperature change. I still however keep my transmission fluid dipstick open to let out heat.

 

Another shot of the tranny.

 

There is the new pump I ordered and there are also new seals on the front differential unit to the left.

 

Old flywheel and new flywheel sitting on the torque converter which has been painted black (it was opened fixed up (modified) and rewelded).

 

My uncle's hand putting some sealant on the side of the transfer case (this will hook into the front differential).

 

Torque converter. From what I was told, they opened the one off of mine and the one off the other RAV4 tranny, and I have no idea which one they used but apparently one of them at least had an issue (might have been mine given the sounds I was hearing before).

 

Notice the weld on the side of the torque converter.

 

I had the book out. My uncle and I actually had to look at it once to see which side the flywheel faces the torque converter (as we weren't sure if it was installed right to begin with but eventually after the manual proved useless we took a look at my old photos and figured it out. That was the only time my uncle had to look at it, but I referred to it a few times when hooking the electrical connections and also tomorrow when I hook up that park/neutral safety switch or whatever they call it on the front of the transmission.

 

Here we are taking a look at the flywheel and the position of the end of the starter.

 

My uncle Antonio after installation of the new flywheel.

 

End of starter and torque converter.

 

Wider shot of previous photo.

 

Front differential. We tested the new seals by dumping some ATF in the rear fill hole, and all was well.