A4ld

[danfau07]

hey, i need a new trans and dont have a whole lot of money right now. Pull a part has trucks with the same trans in it and for around 75 dollars. my question is, what is the latest year of the explorer or equilent i can pull and bolt up. Will i have to use my old bell housing or can i just get a a4ld and use mine to bolt up to the motor. please ant thank you, i need to get this back on the road as soon as possible!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Look for a 91-94 Explorer with 4WD. Other 4WD equipped RWD vehicles use the same transmission & 4.0L engine such as the Aerostar, Mountaineer, and Ranger.

 

[tuckman]

With one small mod I swapped the a4ld from my 95 aerostar e-4wd into my 92 Ex. Like Brooklyn said get one that came from a 4.0L and 4wd, the last year of Aerostar with the a4ld is a 95, and the last year for the a4ld in an Ex is 94. There are others but I do not know them off hand.
The mod you ask
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=273041

 

[danfau07]

so, i should get one out of a 94 at the latest? with the 4.0 of course. and i can get one from another 4.0 4wd as long as everything is in the same place? COOL!

 

[tuckman]

Yes a 94 has the most updated internal parts. There are a few subtle differences for the Ex like, depending on if the transfer case was manual shift or push button. The brackets will be slightly different but just take the ones off of your old trans. The Aerostar trans brackets will be slightly different too as the shift cable was routed differently, again very simple bracket swap with the old trans. Don't count out the Mazda Navajo and B-series trucks as they also used the a4ld.

When I did my swap I put in a shift kit and replaced the vacuum modulator, while the trans was out. Trust me you don't want to try replacing the modulator after it is installed!

 

[danfau07]

i went to the pull a part today and found 2 possible donors. the first had a red tint to it and looked dirty, but no burnt smell. and the second had good trans fluid, just a wet pan. so i hope to go tomorrow and pull the pans off to see what Ive got. now i have a 4x4 and i think both of these were 2x4. can i still use them? or do i really need to find one from a 4x4? But like i said, i would like to get started tomorrow, so i need some feed back tonight! please and thank you!

 

[elbow2342]

NO the trans must be from a 4x4 or your transfer case wont bolt on . Elbow

 

[ExploringNC]

Try looking at carparts.com. There is also a tranny shop on main street in Statesville, never been there but looks like they would be worth checking out.

I just got done replacing mine and went threw 2 trannies before 3 one held up. First two where from a '94 with less than 97k miles, both should have been great finds but the tourqe converter granaded on both within 15 miles. Third was a new rebuilt that the truck burnt up, TC was new. It might be worth your money to get a rebuilt TC even if you don't do anything else to it. What is wrong with your tranny? I have a rebuilt VB that I never used. What Ever It Takes Transmissions is a great place for parts, not far from Pull-a-Part in Charlotte.

 

[danfau07]

its shot. need to rebuild, flush, and do something about the TC. But thanks about those other spots. Ive been to the one on mail street and they want 1600-1800 to rebuild and that includes everything, but i just need to get something in the truck so i can drive it to get a job and focus on rebuilding the old when i can. i was told of a place in hickory that rebuilds for 600. is that true? please and thank you!

 

[ExploringNC]

Don't know of a good place for rebuild. Look at that carparts.com, i found a few used ones for around 400 within 100mile radius.

 

[danfau07]

could i just swap out the tail housing of a 2x4 and put my old one on from a 4x4?

 

[ExploringNC]

I would say no. I know for sure you would at least need a new TC made for a 4x4 and a deeper tranny pan, I would not use TC from your tranny. I would think that more internal parts may be different but I'm a shadetree mechanic just learning trannies, some experts on here may be able to help more.

I have learned that no matter what you do it's all a roll of the dice when it comes to trannies. Even rebuilds can come back and bite you in the ass, things do go much eaiser if done right the first time.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The shaft in the tail housing is different on the 2WD & 4WD models. You have to dismantle the entire transmission to swap the shafts. Swapping the tail housing is the simple part.