Toyota A40 / A43 / A440F

Toyota's earlier rear-drive automatics — the A40, the A43 and the Land Cruiser's A440F — in Celicas, Supras and the four-wheel drives of the period.

⚑ The transverse members of this lettered series have their own pages. The Camry's A140E sits with the A540E, and the three-speed A131L transaxle is a page of its own. The letter says nothing about where a gearbox goes — the hundreds are the transaxles.

⚑ The letter after the number is the specification, and it matters more than the number. A43D is hydraulic and A43DE is electronically controlled; the E is the whole difference, and the two need entirely different diagnosis. A scan tool has something to say to one of them and nothing at all to the other.

The F means four-wheel drive — an A440F is an A440 with a transfer arrangement — and the parts differ accordingly.

They are simple, understressed and famously long-lived, which is why so many survive in vehicles the rest of which has not. Fluid and its condition account for most of what gets reported: these have no adaptive strategy to hide behind, so a slipping or harsh shift is usually mechanical and usually the fluid first.

The A340 and the U-series that followed are different families, both with pages here, and habits do not transfer between them.