1994 A4LD Fast/Slow Spiral of Death

[Yankee516]

Morning all! Sorry, but I accidentally posted this in the new members forum, don't know how to delete that thread...

It is Memorial Day Weekend and I am about to undertake my first A4LD service with the inspiration of so many of you. First off, thank you ALL for so many postings that detail how to rehabilitate these miraculous devices! I can't tell you how many hours of research I have done thru your postings!

We have a 1994 Explorer that runs great... except for all forward gears now. Our journey began about three weeks ago when the transmission started sticking in first gear when cold, but otherwise functioned great with some slipping. Obviously a sign of a sticking governor in retrospect and overly thick fluid. Due for service and an inspection, the shop recommended a pan drop, filter replacement and replenishment of fluid at 160k (no power flush). We thought that was a good idea since the truck is old and the shifting had gone downhill.

After the service everything was fine, drove the truck for over 200 miles and it shifted great! Next day, only reverse...no forward gears. After some coaxing (slightly higher RPM) it did go into drive intermittently. This could not be replicated very often. I disconnected the vacuum modulator and plugged the tree at the engine block to try higher pressures. With the VM connected, I never had any success getting forward gears but reverse worked without a hitch! This worked for forward once in a while and the car drove great once it was in drive, but once I went out of any forward gear with the engine/tranny warm no dice. After checking the fluid level, I figured that the seals might not be holding pressure. I siphoned some fluid out thru the fill tube and it was black and thick. I then added some Trans-X as recommended by some members. Unfortunately I was never able to get the truck back into drive for a trip to work it through.

Now that I can't achieve any forward drive gears (only reverse which has AMPLE pressure and engaging with a BOOM without the vacuum modulator connected), I decided to spend Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend to rebuild the valve body in the hopes of getting the truck to drive. I bought the Transgo kit and Sonnex valve upgrades to attempt to remedy the situation temporarily. I am pretty sure that the brown fluid is pointing at a rebuild of the clutches and bands, but I can't understand how it could have gone downhill so fast! I just want to get it into drive.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Cheers!

--Phil

 

[Jack Flash]

did you check to see if the TV/downshift cable was disconnected at either the tranny or intake manifold ? I had one to pop the cable off at the tranny and smoked the fluid in about 10 miles.

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J...would have thought Detroit could have made these things bulletproof by now

 

[MrQ]

did you check to see if the TV/downshift cable was disconnected at either the tranny or intake manifold ? I had one to pop the cable off at the tranny and smoked the fluid in about 10 miles.

,
,

J...would have thought Detroit could have made these things bulletproof by now

It takes SEVERAL years to perfect a design. The A4LD is only the 2nd gen of this transmission type. It's predecessor was the C3 from the lowly Pinto. It's descendents are the 4r44e, 4r55e, 5r44e, 5r55e, 5r55n, 5r55w and the current 5r55s which now resides under every Explorer and Mountaineer since 2004. Also, since the 5r55w, it has been used behind the 4.6l v8 in various applications. I may as well add that this transmission and its decedents have been run in some of the best and most popular Ford vehicles, including, but not limited to:

Explorer
Navajo
Ranger
Mountaineer
Aerostar
Mustang
Thunderbird
Jaguar S-type
Mazda B-series
Lincoln LS

Hmm, not bad for the Pinto, eh?

Anyways, have you tried tightening the bands? It may be that stuff has become dislodged from the bands after the fluid change, making them lose their grip on the drums and allowing them to slip in drive.

Take a 3/4" wrench and loosen the large nut on one of the two studs sticking out of the driver's side of the transmission. (You will probably need to do both adjustment studs this way. It doesn't matter in which order.) Use a 5/16 socket on a torque wrench and loosen the stud out about two or three turns, then re-tighten to 10 ft-lbs (120in-lbs) then loosen again EXACTLY 2 TURNS!!. Then, while holding the stud securely with the socket tighten the lock nut down. Do the same to the other stud.

WARNING!!!

The bands might break if they are too weak. But if you were planning on tearing into it anyway it shouldn't affect anything.

 

[Yankee516]

Gentlemen,

Very excellent suggestions! Thank you SO much for the replies!!!

I'll check that all out after the VB rebuild... just having a rough go of removing More 211. Many of the valves were quite stuck, and I want to remove everything so I can flush the whole thing. I see a note in the TransGo rebuild kit to NOT remove the 3/4 backout valve of bore 216. Is that so?

--Phil

 

[Yankee516]

Good morning all,

Any and all advice is REALLY APPRECIATED and NEEDED!

Well, my Memorial Day Weekend hasn't been going so well with the A4LD. I finished rebuilding the valve body with the TransGo kit and new Sonnex main valve and manual index as recommended in the sticky. Many of the valves were not moving well leading me to believe this was the source of the problem. I installed the rebuilt VB back into the car properly torqued, verified manual valve flush with bore in D2, checked the kickdown cable, added about 7 quarts until the level was correct under warm/hot engine and still no dice. I also properly torqued the overdrive and intermediate bands to 10 lb/ft -2 turns since it is a '94. The car goes SOLID into reverse and holds well under throttle with brakes applied, but still none of the forward gears engage. I do see a slight (~75-200) RPM change when putting it into any of the forward gears, leading me to believe that it just isn't grabbing. I've tried it with the vacuum modulator disconnected and tree plugged, and with the VM connected.

According to the diagnostics in the ATSG manual, the only pieces left to check are the forward clutch and pump but that will require a complete tear down. Is there anything else I can do/check to get it into any forward gear? I'm believing that it isn't the pump since I have PLENTY of pressure in reverse. Intermittently (decreasing in frequency) the car does go into a drive gear and I can shift through all the forward gears and it drives fine. But once I go out of a forward gear I can't get it back in.

A local junkyard has a '94 A4LD in "working" order for $350. I am debating, if nothing else works, to buy it, put in the newly rebuilt VB and drop it into the car for now. Then do a complete overhaul of the original one and replace. Or, please don't hesitate to tell me that I am crazy and making far too much work for myself over a 16 year old car. The rest of the car in working pretty well. The thing is that I only have ramps and not a lift to get out the tranny and transfer case, so I would have to go to a shop and have it done. If anyone is on Long Island and would like to bring some lifts to get it done I can offer you a lovely night's stay on the water! =)

Thank you EVERYONE in advance for your advice. Being a new homeowner, I don't have the resources to spend $2k now on a refurb for an old car...let alone buy someone else's more expensive "headache"!

Cheers and happy Memorial Day!

--Phil

 

[bmedicp]

Man, I wish you luck with that. I own and have owned many ranger and explorers with the a4ld. I know how aggravating they can be. I just put another a4ld in my 86 ranger 4x4 and it was aggravating as hell. They only advice I can give you about taking the old out and replacing with a salvage trans is to check with a local tool renting center for a transmission jack. I used two car ramps also. But the transmission jack will make the job soooooo much easier. I did all the work myself and when it comes to transmissions, Im not the best. You might could buy one fairly cheap also. I would check into that first, cause a shop will charge you way too much and we both know that anyone wouldnt want to pay someone more than the truck is worth. Best of luck to you

 

[motherjones]

same thing happening to me

I am also on the tail end of the death spiral here. 1994 Ranger 4x4 3.0L with the ALD4. I have spent a few days now going through hundreds of threads.

I won't bore everyone with the odyssey ... After a long period of changing fluids and filters, band tightening, blah, blah ... I am now in the same boat as Yankee516 ... Which is to say I could go around the whole town in reverse, but I now have no forward gears at all.

At one point, it was just "sluggish" going into 1st, and slightly feathering the gas (dropping and then increasing manifold pressure) would get it into gear ... After it was engaged, there were never any problems going to 2nd, 3rd, OD, etc. ... As long as I "kept on trucking" ... Come to a stop sign or a red light, and I'd have to sit there revving the engine for a while before it went back into gear (with everyone behind me blowing their horns).

After filter and fluid changes, I used Lucas one time and then Trans-X another time ... And they "fixed" it for a little while, and I thought I was good to go ... But any improvements were only temporary.

Now it's reverse only, no matter if it's cold or hot ... BUT ... On a couple of occasions, when I have revved it REALLY high (2500-3000 RPM's), backed off the gas, and then floored it ... It has SLAMMED into gear ... And I really do mean slammed, can't do that again without seriously damaging something (if I haven't already).

That had made me think it was vacuum related, and that it was just a bad modulator ... But there has never been any fluid in that vacuum line, so I'm not sure.

I do have a specific question, which may be kind of stupid ... Or it may be the (or one of the) problems ... I put a vacuum pump onto the modulator, and I expected that if was OK it would hold a steady vacuum ... It will take vacuum up to 20psi, but it won't hold the vacuum ... BUT, it doesn't release it all at once either ... It just kind of slowly loses vacuum, maybe 1psi per second, so it only holds vacuum for about 15-20 seconds.

Is that by design, and OK? Or should it always hold steady at the same psi as the source (in this case, manifold vacuum)? Am I an idiot?

Any other insights much appreciated.

 

[motherjones]

Seems like it has to be the vacuum modulator.

If I disconnect it at the manifold ... It will miraculously and happily go into 1st gear ... But then it won't ever get out of 1st gear.

So I leave it in gear and set the parking brake, open the hood and reconnect the modulator to the manifold vacuum, and then I get to go about my business like normal ... Until I put it in park, neutral or reverse ... Then it won't go into 1st anymore until I disconnect the vacuum and go through it all again.

Any other thoughts, let me know ... But looks like I will have to change it out.

And either method ... From underneath and cutting off the catalytic converter, or from above taking the seats out ... looks like a pain the ...

John

 

[bovine]

Possible fix for A4OD

At one point, it was just "sluggish" going into 1st, and slightly feathering the gas (dropping and then increasing manifold pressure) would get it into gear ... After it was engaged, there were never any problems going to 2nd, 3rd, OD, etc. ... when I have revved it REALLY high (2500-3000 RPM's), backed off the gas, and then floored it ... It has SLAMMED into gear ... And I really do mean slammed, can't do that again without seriously damaging something (if I haven't already).

I had this problem as well after a fluid change mostly only happened when it was cold though. I took mine to a friends dad since my 1994 has 111k I thought it could use it. I went with her to the auto parts place and I was getting the fluid and she ordered the filter. We took it over and initially it was fine but after about 2 or 3 days I had to get up early for collage so it would back up fine but when I put it in drive I would hit the gas and it would barley move till i got to about 2500 rpm or so and bam shift hard. I was talking to my dad about it and he thought he didn't do something right so we went bought another filter (still had plenty of fluid bought extra). Took the pan off and it was a little loose (the pan itself) to start with the guy didn't tighten the filter up either (we could screw it off with our fingers) and it was the wrong filter completely. So we put the right one in put the pan back on and filled it up and have not had any more problem now you cant hardly hear it shift.

here is a link to the right one http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...rks_5152453-p?searchTerm=transmission+filter+

here is what we took out http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...orks_5150639-p?searchTerm=transmission+filter

I say check your filter and make sure you got the right one in there I believe it will save your transmission or at least prolong its life. Also if you a quality job done DO IT YOURSELF I do not trust any body under my hood beside my dad and myself now. It almost cost me a transmission but I learned a lesson.