A4LD "Z" - link

Often we talk about the hook-up to the manual valve from the shifter.. via the "Z" link.... I never captured a good pic of it... so here are a couple

Fill me in, Chris - I've never really heard much about Z link. I am guessing it is a common failure part.

-Drew

In rare cases they can come unhooked... very rare but CAN happen. When it does you get the symptoms of no movement or of being stuck in a single gear....and shifting of course doesn't change anything.

More often though, people forget to hook it up when they replace the VB after a rebuild! Causes a few worrisome moments for folks. That is the more common discussion of it.

Here is another picture that was in the photo gallery:

Before my 700r4 swap.. I had that z-link come off twice on our a4ld.. I tracked it down to that little clamp thing that goes on the end.. My was loose and would allow the z-link to move enough to eventually come out of the rooster comb..

Really anoying.. But at least both times it happened I was stuck in drive (though once I did have to drive over parking blocks and a sidewalk to get out of the parking space I was parked in)..

~Mark

Here is another picture that was in Glacier's photo gallery: Notice the direction of the indented part of the manual valve index. The end that stops looks like an "L" shape. The smaller part is facing inward toward the direction of the valve body.

Additional information: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=954540&postcount=10

Very nice and informative

I'm so glad i'm a member of this forum, for me this is very helpful.. I learned a lot! Thank you guys!

Could you remove the pan on the transmission to see it, or is there more to it than that?

Removing the pan is the only way to get to it.

Let me elaborate. Once you remove the pan, is there anything else that you have to do to see it?

No.

i have installed the index sleeve and am having a hard time getting the z link installed w the valve body in place. do i have to loosen or remove the valve body to get the z link installed?

Disconnect the Z link, slide the manual valve back, install the manual index sleeve, then reinstall the Z link. Don't disconnect the valve body. You will have to install new gaskets if you do since the old ones wil rip.

thanks.

whats the torque setting for the 10mm bolts that blot the valve body to the transmission?

I have a chart in # 67 in my list of useful threads.

I am checking the z link on my brothers hopefully thats the issue trans only has 4k on it after rebuild.

can you adjust the z-link position if it is out of spec. what type of systems should I look for. I have replaced valve body but I have a lag going in to drive every thing shifts fine just the rev up to go to drive

Test all of the forward gears with a 0 - 300 PSI test gauge to see if the pressure is low.