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A4LD Front Seal

Nuggethead 420

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City, State
Milwaukee, wi
Year, Model & Trim Level
91 Eddie Bauer
I replaced the front seal on the A4ld about 3 months ago and it leaks like a champ when it is cold now. It was about -5 f. this morning and I lost about 3 quarts. I put in 2 so I got to work but not good.
Any ideas as to what went wrong and why the failure happened so fast??
I cant think of anything I missed.
At -5 it is not a job I want to do right now but don't have a choice.
Any help to insure I won't screw it up the second time would be most helpfull.
Thanks in advance.
 



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Common problem. Here is a link to explain your likely cause.

I know of two companies, one here in sacramento, CA and another on the east coast in the Carolinas, that will machine a new bushing for you. It costs about $100.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55566

My advice is to send in the bellhousing WITH a new pump, and let them install the pump for you after they turn the bushing. They have the tool to insure it all goes back together aligned concentrically.
 






I have an old A4ld that came out of my ex. can I just have that bellhousing and pump done and when I take out the tranny swap them then? Or is it a custom fit per ex angine and trans?
 






The guy in Carolina's charges $50.00 to do the bushing. Phone # 1-864-574-6101
 






Any 4.0 Explorer A4LD bell will fit any A4LD. So you can do as you suggest. Just remember to send a pump along for fitment. I recommend a new pump.
 






Thanks,
I'm going to pick up the tranny tonight from storage and start tearing the pump and bell housing out. I want to look for a local place, saving me precious cash for the season. lots of chritmahanukaqanza gifts to buy.
I'm sur that there are places closer.
Happy holidays.
 






While it ought to be an easy one for a local machine shop, in reality I only found 2 places in the US that knew what this was all about and how to reinstall the pump properly.
 






Got the news the tranny shop is saying new trans. $1500.00 I don't have $1500 so...I will start on the rebuild of the old trans ASAP and go for broke. I have no overdrive they say but I knew that. There is no TC lockup going on either so any ideas for a fix for that? Bad wires or bad solinoid?? I will do the pump fix with the old trans to fix the front seal problem and build the best pump I can from the two and have the bushing fixed. This sucks!!!
Any help is appreciated
 






Whenever I hear "no OD" in the same breath as "no TC lockup" I immediately suspect an electrical problem, since those are both computer/solenoid controlled functions and they share a power supply. I'd investigate that prospect first, that there is not 12V getting to the common power lead to your solenoids. It could be something as simple as a bad harness....though I would expect that might throw a code.
 






No Code, Had the computer read and no codes stored or curent. I cannot believe those shops. I had to pay $78.00 to have them tell me that "Your transmission needs major repair". What the F*&^!!!
They drove it 3 miles according to the Odometer.
What ever happened to Free Estimates!!!
I now have the old trans in my posession and am going to start the tear down.
Glacier You will be playing a huge roll in this one I will be following your diary and hoping for it all to go smoothly.

Wish me luck.
 






PM me for recommendations as to where to buy your parts.
 






Glacier, instead of giving out the bell housing to a machine shop to replace the bushing, why not just push out the old one, and press a new one in? WWW.Aceomatic.Com has them for a $1.61. The part # is 56034. I read in another thread that they also make an over size one for a worn bell housing. How wide is a bell housing? I would assume that they would use a hydraulic press for this job unless there is another specialized tool made just for this purpose.
 






You miss the point. Installing a new bushing is only PART of the fix. THEN you have to chuck up the entire bellhousing in a lathe and turn the bushing so it is perfectly concentric to the bellhousing. THAT is why you buy thicker bushings - so they can have material removed. THAT is what the machine shop is for. If it was just bushing replacement, we'd do it at home.
 






Are the ones that they sell usually the thicker ones, or is that another part#? Did you ever replace that bushing, and shave it down on a lathe? Could you post a picture or 2 of the procedure involved?
 






Few places are set up to machine this. It is pretty specialized..... like I said countless times... I only know of TWO places in the US that do this specifically for the A4LD. Could other places (machine shops with lathes with HUGE headstock swings) do it? yes, but they'd need to know what and why. The places that do it for the A4LD? They provide the oversize babbit bushing, remove the old and replace it with the new, and then machine it for you.

It is not something you could easily DIY. I take all mine to Omega tool here in Sacramento CA. The other place is in the Carolinas, and charges less.

Other case machining you can DIY.
 


















That link already exists in the useful threads forum.
 






I didn't see that. I emailed them, and they said that it cost $50, not $40 like it said on their website. In their email, they said that they don't replace the front pump seal, and that the bell housing is supposed to be shipped without the front pump. I wonder how they will size it without it. By the way, which bell housings uses the 6, and 8 mm bolts? I also found out that the torque converters also have 2 types of nuts, sae, and metric. They have so many small variations that it is hard to keep up, just like the filters are one way until 88, then change in 89, and up. All this makes buying parts a more difficult project, especially for a rebuilding shop that gets a transmission to repair without knowing which model, and year it came out of.
 



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Sigh, ok listen up folks. THERE ARE TWO PLACES THAT OFFER THIS SERVICE (to my knowledge). ONE IS IN THE CAROLINAS AND ONE IS IN SACRAMENTO CA. The Carolina place charges $50, and the Sacramento place charges $110. With seal.

The pump shaft diameter is the same in all of them. They do not need the pump. The Sacramento place CAN do your bellhousing, but normally do it exchange as they batch them every few months.

The C-3 pump alignment tool will not work on these bellhousings. The machine shops "tighten up" the clearance closer than stock.

The Sacramento store will loan you a tool that fits their setup for pump installation.

YOU STILL NEED TO ALIGN YOUR PUMP.
 






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