Auto Trans issues

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:30 pm

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences and can enlighten me with what solved their issues.

I have owned my 1994 Delica L400 SE SWB for just under a month now. It is a PE8W with a 4M40 engine and V4AW3 trans. The previous owner mentioned it had a vibration on the highway and took it to a local shop to get the wheels balanced. Going by my copy of the records, the shop agreed the wheels were in fact out of balance and rebalanced them for him at an expense. Four days later I purchased the vehicle and upon driving home the vehicle started it shudder. I am fairly convinced that the wheels are not and probably have never been an issue, as the shudder only seems to be present after driving the vehicle on the highway for a bunch of Km's and IMO allowing the ATF to warm up. After this has started I notice it seems take more pedal pressure to drive the vehicle as almost like a loss in power delivered to the wheels. Once this starts happening, even at non highway speeds, the problem shudder and power loss persists until I park it and come back once things have cooled. This shudder almost feels like a lump in a tire or as if something such as a drive shaft is running elliptical. I originally thought that possibly the injectors or fuel filter could be suspect as the delica would run fine and then slowly start to get the symptoms leading me to believe air was being drawn into the fuel system some how. The part that made me reconsider is that it would indeed idle with out any problems, even after the shudder had begun.

I raytec'd my brakes the other day after a long drive of shuddering (great for any carbonated drinks BTW) to see the possibility of a seized caliper running on a warped rotor, and while I did find one running hotter than the other four, I disassembled all and cleaned, greased and re-installed but to no avail. I should have realized that I would feel this through the brake pedal should this have been the cause.

This afternoon I drained the trans, and refilled with Valvoline MaxLife, ran the new fluid through the cooler and re topped up. I took it out for a spin on the highway and much to my dissatisfaction the shudder re-appeared. I actually believe it may actually seem worse this time but that could be my imagination. It doesnt appear that the OD switch makes any difference on or off and I am certain that it is functioning.

So that is where I am as of this evening. Thanks for reading and any info would be greatly appreciated.

Rick

Post by **thelazygreenfox** » Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:39 pm

RJ
Lots of possibilities and I can only guess. Unless you know a good shop that is comprehensive better start searching and eliminate the easy stuff yourself.

I'd recheck the tires for bulges. Jack up the van and run your hand over the tires, tread and sidewalls. Wiggle the wheels for front end play. ie bearings, ball joint etc. Spin the tires to recheck the brake calipers. They're a problem on a lot of delis and sometimes when the temps drop just a little.

If you can get all four wheels jacked up on stands, have someone sit behind the wheel and put it in gear, 2 wheel and 4 wheel. Push on the brake pedal while in gear, try to heat up the rotors.

Run it and see if any problem noise or vib appears. My Kal Tire did that for me, no charge.
Look for drive shaft play too.

Check if the van is still in 4 wheel drive. Not likely but... Easy to do if it's on stands.

Do these first, one answer at a time.

good luck
TLGF

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:11 am

TLGF,

Thanks for the response. Those are some good ideas. I will do some more searching over the next few days as I'm on days off. Funny you mentioned the drive shaft. While I was under her today I greased the 3 U joints on the shafts.It didn't appear that this had been done any time soon. I also looked for excessive coupling play thinking that it was a possibility. One thing I did note and even videoed with my camera was when I wiggled the forward end of the main drive-shaft I got quite a lot of play. I thought about putting a dial indicator on it but of course didn't. I may tomorrow. The funny thing was I noted play not only in the U joint itself but I could also get some in the output of the transfer case. Again since I did not measure it I would have to guess but I am thinking as much as 1 mm even possibly more. According to the drawing there is a bearing, looking to be a single ball race, just aft of the viscous coupling. If this was my culprit, I would be happy as it would most likely be an easier repair than getting the trans overhauled. On this note, can anyone recommend a decent trans shop in Victoria ?...

One other thing noted is that I tried a stall test on the torque converter as well. E brake on, shift into drive, hold brakes and accelerate engine. I didn't take it too far but did note a definite metallic noise (hotdog in a hallway), coming from down in that direction. I am wondering if there is a possibility that one or more of the bolts holding the torque converter to the flywheel has come loose allowing a slight misalignment/wobble. Does anyone know if the bolts are accessible with the trans in place? Again though, this doesn't jive with my theory on the fluid coming up to temp before it happens...

As for the brakes, this was my greatest hope, and made sense why only once they heated up would it produce this effect. Unfortunately not much was found. I measured the pad thickness after cleaning and all were with each others thickness. I tightened 3 nuts down on each rotor and placed a dial indicator on them and rotated through 3 full turns each. The highest run-out I found was 0.002" cold so this makes me think that the warpage is relatively minimal. All the slides were cleaned and greased with Moly, and so I doubt this is the issue.

Rick

Dino · Post by **Dino** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:51 am

A seized or sloppy u-joint can cause some pretty odd drivetrain vibrations. Plus if severe enough it could cause issues with the output shaft bearings in the transmission which could multiply that effect. I would suggest looking after the u-joints right away.

Rising Sun Auto Import · Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:15 am

I would check drive shaft.
Borrow/Replace it with another good condition used one to see.

Steven

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 2:53 pm

Thanks again all. Does anyone know if the u-joint is a 1994 montero compatible part? How about the aft bearing and seal on the output shaft?

Artacoma · Post by **Artacoma** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:47 am

To see if its a wheel issue I would to a tire rotation and see if the wobble is any different

Dino · Post by **Dino** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:06 am

RickJ wrote:Thanks again all. Does anyone know if the u-joint is a 1994 montero compatible part? How about the aft bearing and seal on the output shaft?

On my Pajero they were the same part number as for the Montero 3.5L. Just for the heads up though, the 3.0L u-joints are smaller and will not fit. The 3.0L ones are much more common though so make sure you specify when you order. I had mine out of the shaft already when I realized they sent me the wrong ones. Spent a week waiting for the right ones to come from the states.

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:13 pm

Thanks Dino, I ordered some yesterday for the 3.5 Montero from my local Lordco. Picked them up this afternoon. 37 and change each before taxes. I dont have much time at the moment but I am hoping to get them in over the next few days/weeks... Provided these fit, they are listed as PRECISION universal joint #399 for the front and rear main prop shaft, and I believe the # for the front diff was #398 but I did not get a price as it seemed fine. When I drop the shaft I will investigate the bearing on the output shaft to see the condition and grab some part numbers for that and the seal.

On my Pajero they were the same part number as for the Montero 3.5L. Just for the heads up though, the 3.0L u-joints are smaller and will not fit. The 3.0L ones are much more common though so make sure you specify when you order. I had mine out of the shaft already when I realized they sent me the wrong ones. Spent a week waiting for the right ones to come from the states.[/quote]

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:21 pm

I was certain that the tires were fine, but now I am starting to wonder. I was watching out the back window as we were slowly creeping to a stop at a light tonight and I could see a perfectly timed rise and fall in the edge of the back window sill and the car behinds roof line. I am sure that this is not the only issue but it certainly may have a big part.

Artacoma wrote:To see if its a wheel issue I would to a tire rotation and see if the wobble is any different

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 9:20 pm

Heres the update.

The shudder got terrible the other night so when I got home I raytec'd the rear rotors and to my surprise the left was 120-140 C in spots and the right a cool 12 C.
Yesterday, 2 new montero rear calipers installed with new Raybestoes pads. A good long run twice into town and back to Sidney, the rotors and calipers are both at 15 C. The vibration seems to have gone away as well.

Thanks to all that commented. I appreciate your advice and experiences,

Rick

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:28 am

So here is yet another update on the vibration. I think it has now been cured. I suspected this along the way, but was unable to test my theory until today.

When I purchased the van the previous owner gave me a handful of receipts he had done on the van. He mentioned that he had trouble with the vibration but the local shop he was dealing with in Victoria was unable to rectify. He also mentioned that he started having some starting issues and along the way the glow plugs were replaced and of all things the injectors were pop tested and checked for the correct setting. After another failed repair the same shop replaced his injectors with a used set. When he told me this it set off some alarms as unless I know the history on the nozzles going in, a used set wouldn't be my option. While going through the receipts later I found the receipt detailing the service done. It claimed that an L300 injection service was carried out. The vehicle is an L400 with the 4M40.

I recently purchased a set of new nozzles and bodies out of the UK thanks to Firesong being so brave and taking the chance first ;) They arrived as expected, brand new, built, and supplied with all three sets of seals. The nozzles fitted were the ZEXEL DN10 PDN129 which are the correct nozzles for the series 1 with the mech fuel inj pump. This morning I pulled the old injectors and installed the new. Very easy job. What I noticed this afternoon while dismantling the old injectors for cleaning and so I can mount my new spare nozzles was that Cylinders 1 and 2 were fitted with DN10 PDN76 nozzles and Cylinders 3 and 4 were fitted with DN0 PDN112 nozzles. As you can see none are the correct 129's. The most interesting part and which I feel can be the cause of the vibration at load is that the firing order being 1-3-4-2, ever firing stroke will have fuel atomized by a different size nozzle.

From what I have found is that the 112's are meant for the 2.5 L Mitsi engines, and the 76's are for the Toyota HiAce

Ill see after a few days of driving if everything seems better but the prelim round seems to be. Thanks for listening.

Firesong · Post by **Firesong** » Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:02 am

Fingers crossed. :)

InTheIslands · Post by **InTheIslands** » Tue Jul 12, 2016 10:17 pm

Local mechanic replaced rear main seal. Now transmission does not engage in any gear when shifter moved. The linkages seem connected. A/T has proper fluid level. Tranny worked fine before seal change. Any advice on where to find the problem? Thanks in advance.
'91 Delica Exceed, A/T, 4WD, T.D

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:46 am

This is a very old thread in the L400 (spacegear) forum.

You may have more success if you start a new topic in the L300 Technical forum here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewforum.php?f=6

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