My transmission is about to go to gearbox heaven. Does anyone know of a performance replacement. I know Trans-go offers a shiftkit/shiftimprover, but I'm looking for a complete tranny. I also would like any info on a possible swap. The internals on the A4LD are aluminum from what I've read/heard, and are weak from the start. I know auto's in general are heat sensitive, my research shows that the A4LD is even more sensitive than others. Does the AOD bolt up to the 4.0L. Has anyone done some swapping?? or had the same results?? I have a 93 Mazda Navajo with the 4.0L v-6, A/C, stock motor with 132K. 8.8 rear with 3.27s. I run stock tires but plan to move up to 30-9.50-15s. Any suggestions would be helpful.

The A4LD is best used as a boat anchor. I have one in my Aerostar van and it died quickly and painlessly at 110,000 miles (with no advance warning), which as I understand it is way beyond the normal A4LD life expectancy in that vehicle. The A4LD is a JATCO makeover of the old C3 that was used in the Pinto. The JATCO boys added a 4th gear, changed the 3rd-4th upshift to electronic actuation, and added an overdrive. The "LD" designator means 'light duty'. Hmmm... When I had my Aerostar in there were 2 other Aerostars and two Explorers in for rebuilds. The guy said he sees them all the time. He also said Ford knows all about this issue but is laughing all the way to the bank, selling parts. They have upgraded some of the parts based on early failures but the fact remains that the tranny is overloaded in the Explorer. Some of the internals are aluminum but others are steel and other materials. Bottom line - it's an underdesigned, overloaded piece of junk.

Enough of that. Advance Adapters (www.advanceadapters.com) will know if you can bolt up an AOD to the 4.0. You will likely be in for driveshaft changes and maybe a transfer case swap; I don't know if the V8 Explorers (which come with the AOD) use the B/W 13-59 case, like the 4.0 does.

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Pete

Thought for the day:
Good judgement comes from experience;
Experience comes from bad judgment.

Sounds like the A4LD was Ford's equivalent to the GM Turbo 200 Metric it put in mid size card in the late 70s/early 80s...great money maker for tranny shops. Not stout enough to move the vehicle it was put into

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Don't Worry about things you can control...
Don't Worry about things you cannot control.

96 Eddie Bauer AWD V8

I'm in the process of replacing my A4LD in my 93 xlt 109k miles. It did not fail completely but it did not want to shift out of first. I found broken pieces in the pan. I can still drive it and coax it into shifting but feel safer by replacing it. I bought a rebuilt from Jasper which I hope to complete installation this weekend - I am about halfway through it.