not my minivan

[robcarz]

My wife had this Aerostar minivan when I met her at church. It had a "I love a child with autism" bumper sticker. I fixed the starter for her.And then the brakes. And the heater. Water pump. Door handle. Etc. It ran fine but then one day the transmission quit without warning which is why I have arrived at this web site. A member named Indymike had the exact same problem but that thread left me hanging and I hope to find out how that turned out.

 

[rhauf]

you can get a rebuilt trans for around 800 bux.

i assume you've checked fluid levels, and the other obvious stuff already, right?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! We have several threads on this site with information on the A4LD transmission. Check the sticky threads on the top of the transmissions section, and my list of useful threads for links.

 

[Joe Dirt]

BrooklynBay is your friend- he knows more about Aerostars than the Ford engineers that produced them...

 

[Maniak]

You have an a4ld trans which is actually pretty expensive to get rebuilt. The price can range from $800-ish for a soft rebuild that I would never recommend to well over $2k.

If you have the patience and time, find the a4ld threads and see if you want to tackle rebuilding it yourself.

~Mark

 

[robcarz]

Thanks Maniak for the input. I read through all the a4ld rebuild diaries before I decided to tear it apart. Here is what I found: Nothing! Looks like new inside. No metel jn the pan. The clutch packs all worked when I put air on the apply hole. The pump is good. Took apart the valve body. Clean.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I know that it's too late, but in the future, always take hydraulic pressure readings on each gear before you tear it apart.

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome to the site. We carry quite a few parts for Ford Aerostars too if you ever need anything for it.

Tony

 

[robcarz]

Yer right BrooklynBay should have checked the pressure before I pulled it. I reassembled it as is and put it back in. Put on a pressure gauge from an air compressor. Crawled under there and moved the shift lever by hand while watching the gauge. It reads 65 to70 in all positions except reverse which reads 110. Wheels do not move in any position.

 

[rhauf]

You have an a4ld trans which is actually pretty expensive to get rebuilt. The price can range from $800-ish for a soft rebuild that I would never recommend to well over $2k.

If you have the patience and time, find the a4ld threads and see if you want to tackle rebuilding it yourself.

~Mark

I recently ordered a rebuilt one from "americancarz".. total came out to $1,170 after shipping and everything. that included a trans cooler, "heavy duty" torque converter, shift kit, and upgraded clutches/bands.

 

[Maniak]

I recently ordered a rebuilt one from "americancarz".. total came out to $1,170 after shipping and everything. that included a trans cooler, "heavy duty" torque converter, shift kit, and upgraded clutches/bands.

Ahh.. bought a rebuilt one. I never check prices on those. I always looked at what did it cost to rebuild it.

Our first was $1800 and the second was $2200 (might be the other way around). Of course we made a mess of our trans. I had melted hard parts and by the time we got them rebuild they had Park and maybe 2 forward gears. Those were installed prices. The 3rd time we said screw it and went with the 700r4.

~Mark

 

[robcarz]

You guys must have a government job if you can afford a new transmission. I was planning to spend about $159.

 

[BrooklynBay]

An average parts cost without labor is about $400-$800.

 

[robcarz]

Update. It was the torque converter.

torque converter 170.00
gaskets and seals 50.00
transmission fluid 35.00
time spent tearing apart transmission: priceless

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update!