95 Explorer, trans quesfion.

[Aaron_C_43]

About 4 days ago I bought a 95 Explorer. I was told it had just started slipping in transmission so the nd "mechanic" changed the fluid and filter. I went to see about trans flush yesterday, but to start with the shop confirmed my thoughts, the " mechanic" filled transmission 2 1/2 qts overfilled. (Sad Thing, i think she relies on him for income, support, etc.)She said it was fine then after a few days or a week started slipping again. She parked it and put it up for sale. My big question, since I haven't been on here in a really long time, a year or more, I had thought all along in all the time I have owned Explorers that the a4id transmission was produced and or installed only 91-94. The 95 I just bought has a transmission code "T" on the door sticker. So the 95's included the a4ld ? But the differences between let's say the 93 in my one truck and the 95 in my newer one is ? 95 is partly or fully electronically controlled ? I know these questions are probably answered in here somewhere, however about 6-7 months ago I was diagnosed with Autoimmune Retinopathy. So the last 2 1/2 years I been losing my vision, my eyes are very light sensitive, and they start hurting early after not very long of reading. But the 95 I bought shifts fine 1-2 ,2-3, the OD is where the slipping occurs. The O/D OFF LIGHT on dash flashes and I don't know if it's connected but I notice the radio when playing the sound cuts out just all of a sudden. Then will come back on at it own whenever, usually seems within a minute or two.
The truck is in very decent shape especially for $300.00. I would get a used transmission if it comes to that. But I'm going to adjust bands first and see what happens. Any suggestions are much appreciated. I apologize for so long.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The flashing OD light indicates a transmission code. I’d get it pulled. And see what it’s pointing to.

 

[96eb96]

95 and 96 have a special 4 speed fully electronic a4ld.
We have the 4R55E
97+ went to 5 speed (by mostly activating the bands differently).
Given equal amounts of driving, I believe ours would last longer because of less band wear and tear.

That being said, you could have a band, solenoid, valve body or servo issue. The band usually breaks because of servo bore wear. If the band isn't broken it is repairable in the vehicle. If it is, it is new trans time. If the band wears to the point of needing adjustment, something isn't right and will probably fail soon. Probably the damage was done before he serviced it. If you adjust the band and the screw goes in too far, it is probably worn out already.

Probably best is to get free Forscan software, and an obd-2 adapter (the BAFX one for $20 on amazon works well). It will let you see everything about the transmission you would ever want to know.

Good point is trans are so cheap in the pick and pull that it don't matter if you can DIY. If you keep the vehicle it may be worth to overhaul the old one, you could always have a backup or sell it and make $$$ on it

Download FORScan

 

[1998Exp]

About 4 days ago I bought a 95 Explorer. I was told it had just started slipping in transmission so the nd "mechanic" changed the fluid and filter. I went to see about trans flush yesterday, but to start with the shop confirmed my thoughts, the " mechanic" filled transmission 2 1/2 qts overfilled. (Sad Thing, i think she relies on him for income, support, etc.)

In addition to the (great) advice already given, I would doubt the 2-1/2 qt overfill and this being the reason for the malfunction. Unless someone deliberately plugged the overfill tube, I don't believe that you can overfill that far.

 

[96eb96]

Just to give the original poster the theory how it works and to troubleshoot:
-The computer commands the overdrive or intermediate solenoid to open and allow pressurized fluid in the valve body channel (solenoid must work electrically, check resistance, wires, etc, and allow full flow)
-Fluid moves thru the valve body (gaskets must be intact to seal and hold pressure)
-Fluid moves into the servo, which looks like a lollypop. The servo bore is made out of aluminum, the lollypop stem, hard steel. (Servo bore must seal, it is a common wear point because of the soft AL case. Remans are sleeved here)
-Fluid moves thru the servo stem and pushes the back of the lollypop head, the servo pin/stem point pushes the band (again a good seal is needed. A damaged bore could cause it to lose pressure or even hang up and release violently, breaking the band). The servos are located near the catalytic converter, you can service them by removing the snap ring.
-Band wraps around the drum, from the servo push, and locks the drum, changing the gear combo (pressure must be sufficient otherwise you can create temperatures in the thousands of degrees, wear out the band or even break it off). This is where the shift flare feeling comes in. There is an adjustment screw for the band, but it shouldn't wear to the point that adjustment is needed, it is more for initial setup or rebuilding.

That being said, these transmissions were designed for the Ford Pinto (C3) and the similar design was used until 2011 in the Ranger. When they got 5 speeds those vulnerable parts above got even more wear and tear because of the added gear ratio. By 2002 you read about near 100% failure in those transmissions, mostly because of the above issues and a slight redesign for the worst. I'm not sure there is any way to prevent it. Maybe changing fluid at 30K keeps the high lubricity to preserve the delicate bore.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Stupid Ford should have nikasil’d the bores, they’d last forever.

 

[imp]

Stupid Ford should have nikasil’d the bores, they’d last forever.

@Mbrooks420
Anything lasting forever works at odds with "Warranty Life" only theory; after that it's income time. imp

 

[Mbrooks420]

@Mbrooks420
Anything lasting forever works at odds with "Warranty Life" only theory; after that it's income time. imp

Don’t worry. Enough of the remainder of the 4r55e is garbage, it’d still fail. Just after using this transmission for over 20 years you’d think Ford could have gotten something right with it.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Take a look at a thread called Project Frankentranny. 5R55E parts were used on an A4LD to give it extra strength.

 

[96eb96]

@Mbrooks420
Anything lasting forever works at odds with "Warranty Life" only theory; after that it's income time. imp

To add insult to injury 2002 trans eliminated the dipstick, supposedly they are lubricated for life. I guess "life" could mean 50K miles :lol:. They were also put behind a strong V8 engine in a heavy truck in 02. Even V6 cars got 4R70Ws(our v8 trans) in the 90s, sad that would go behind a truck. Maybe it is ok for the weak OHV engine. Ford would have had a lot more happy customers if they just used the 4R70W.

The goal may have been cost and CAFE, and it was probably easier to make it into a 5 spd. Makes you wonder why they wouldn't put the trans in a Crown Vic, the bolt pattern wouldn't be an issue because the 02s have the same engine. They probably knew it was a POS and didn't want to let down the fleet crowd.

In 06 the V8 got the 6RXX trans. But the V6 kept the POS till the redesign. I think the 05+ mustang used it too (in the 80s I believe they shared the a4ld as well). I'm sure ford knew very well about those failure points, but they figured they could make millions by leaving it alone. Each step in manufacturing is money, and could be a million in lost profit over a model year if they make changes. A $2 sleeve(and the million dollar machine to install/maintain it, time, etc) over millions of units adds up!

 

[Mbrooks420]

It’d have saved them money in the long run for all the people like me who will never, ever buy a new Ford product due to their garbage engineering and refusal to fix a very well known garbage part.

 

[imp]

@96eb96 " (in the 80s I believe they shared the a4ld as well) "

AOD:

• 1984–1993 Ford Mustang

• 1985–1994 A4LD — C3 with Overdrive

• C3 was a POS to begin with; AOD was actually quite stout, handling all engines supplied in Mustang through '93, after which it still remained, but electronically controlled: AODE.
  
  I never understood why AOD was reserved for 5.0-equipped Mustang, Cougar, T-bird, but never the full-size cars. Comparing AOD, AODE, and E4OD, probably of pretty much equal strength, but AOD used direct-drive (no torque conversion) in both 3rd. and 4th. gears, mechanically driven, no torque converter clutch. I think, but cannot make the claim, that AODE used solenoid-operated TCC, and know E4OD did. E4OD was actually an added-gear C-6. imp