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This is essentially a 4x4 electronic controlled version of the A43D with a transfer case on the end.  1991 4x4 V6.  I have the Toyota shop manuals in front of me and none of the flowcharts or troubleshooting covers this odd combination...  I just put it back in, and as the title says no matter what gear I am in, including neutral, it goes forward.

 

I haven't looked underneath while somebody is above shifting, but I can feel the detents and they all feel pretty close.  I would try this, but it drove forward instead of reverse, and snapped both my ramps in half....  I know the A43D does some strange stuff if those little pipes above the filter come off.  I haven't been inside yet to inspect (again its now on the ground and no ramps haha0, but if one of those came off would this be the outcome???

 

PO had it for 12years.  When he got it the valve body was out and in pieces.  He happened to find another transmission and instead of fixing the broke one, swapped it out.  Last year he burnt up the replacement.  So after some thought, he pulled the valve body off the replacement and popped it onto the original one.  After a struggle of epic proportions where he never even managed to get it back in correctly, he gave up and I ended up getting it for a steal.  

 

Anyways I thought this problem odd enough that any of us who have seen this, would remember and have some direction.  

 

 

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This sounds like a valve body issue to me. Could be a poorly seated gasket, or maybe even a missing part or seal since reverse not showing any signs of engagement. In my opinion, since the reverse is not engaging at all and the forward gears are always on, id pull the valve body, stone the faces to knock down any highspots and buy a new gasket, and filter(s) while you're in there. I would consult the manual for the torque and bolt order since the valve body gasket isolates so many small passages, similar to a head gasket. 

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That’s what I’m thinking too…. I’m hopeful at least the transmission itself is good though!  It sure went forward nicely…. 
 

After some more rearranging of my Google search words, I found one hopeful reference to my issue. Seems if the valve body is removed there is a rod and linkage from the shifter that can actually be hooked up wrong. And it gets locked into a low forward gear. There were no pictures in the thread, just a quick explanation. That would definitely fit this scenario. I’m going to drain out my $80 of shiny new fluid tonight and investigate further. 
 

Did I mention I hate ATF?  It sucks being allergic to it lol….  I will update with the outcome once o get it back together. Hey, at least I can drive up onto some ramps…. 😝

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Ugh i feel your pain regarding the AFT fluid on both points... health and cost. I had a toyota box truck in the past that had a A43D. It needed a little work due to a hairline crack in the pan caused by rubbing a bent cross member. It was definitely abused as a uhaul truck, and run with low fluid for thousands of miles under my ownership. But it never stopped working, ran cool, and performed better and longer than i expected. If i remember correctly it had a pretty big filter and oil cooler on it. not sure if they were stock.

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If it had an external filter, no that’s not stock. At least not on any of the A43Ds I have seen….  That is a pretty good idea though. Makes for a quickie filter change every other oil change or so. 
 

Okay I DEFINITELY found a problem, hopefully THE problem.   Inside, there is a pin coming off the shifter lever.  This moves forward and back with the shifter.  In the valve body, the main shift valve slides in and out and has two rings on the end. The pin is supposed to be caught between those rings. It wasn’t. It was slid all the way in, so I believe it was stuck in low gear.  
 

I managed to catch 90% of the fluid back in a jug. The rest though I took a bath in when I lowered the valve body. I got it back up correctly. I’m about to verify the shifter movement above corresponds to the pawl underneath then I can put the pan back on, fill and take shower #5 for the evening…


I took a video showing the issue. Let me see how much of a mess I make and I will try to get another one with it working. 

 

Edited by thewanderlustking
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The video didn’t really turn out. This is it in the park position.

 

609B112D-FA56-459C-B3CB-78C2A021DF7C.jpeg.089e093ae8e2d3a13798aa8ce21afa9d.jpeg  

 

Here it is all the way in low. 

0D4469EE-6C5D-4F74-8D0F-714B3970FFCA.jpeg.e881d8ebd71bae381c6a1c986d7ab977.jpeg

 

If you look closer at the park position, you can see the pin off the shifter mechanism right here. 
 

21ECF237-499B-431C-86FD-EE458871AA0A.jpeg.6a666c72a8bcfd0061e8bb801b7afdb0.jpeg


This needs to be sandwiched between the discs on the sliding valve. It wasn’t on mine.  Oops. 


BYW these pictures are orientated with the right side being the passenger side. The bottom of the picture is towards the front. 

 

Edited by thewanderlustking
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