2nd Trans probobly dead, any realistic options?

[Mbrooks420]

Well They finally got to it today. They claim it's definetely not an electrical problem, an something inside the trans was broke, probobly a band. They said 1,500 and "we can do it" They rebuilt this trans 35,000 ago. I called another shop and they said they didn't think it would be a band. He said the other shop was prob. trying to rip me off, and they could put in a trans with next day notice for less than 1,500.
What normally happens with a broken band? It doesn't seem to slip. Just doesn't shift right. Shop 2 said the shifts are all electonically controlled. Any ideas?

 

[SaleenEXP]

Just curious as to what is exactly wrong with the al4d trans? There are so many of you on here having problems with it, but nobody I know with an Explorer with that trans has failed, must be a Florida thing

I have about 110,000 miles on the 94' and it still shifts perfectly and smooth with no slipping whatsoever. And I was hard as hell on that truck scince I got it. It was my 16th b-day present almost 5 years ago and had about 50,000 miles on it. I drove it hard, I mean flogged it everyday, towed with it way beyond it's limit at highway speeds (our 27ft Fountain), I've towed our 4 waverunners and our 20ft jetboat back and forth between our lakehouse at about 75-80mph which is usually about twice a week durring the summer running back and forth. I've done some off-roading mainly around our lakehouse. Floored it almost all the time from a stop to hear those flowmasters lol. It's been my sisters for about a year and she's pretty hard on it also. It's about 2,000 miles over for an oil change right now.

But it's still in perfect condition, especially considering it's been in 3 serious accidents almost being totalled 3 times. But the trans is still fine. Even a friend at school has a 94' with 160,000 miles on it on the original trans and he lives in Maine and drove down for school with no problems. Two other guys I know are both over 100,000 on their 1st gens with no slipping or anything.

Did we just get lucky or something?? I mean I was harder on my truck than a lot of people on here that have replaced their trans like 3 times before 100,000 miles. ohv V6 is NOT meant to tow a 27ft Fountain on a tripple axle trailer at 70-75mph lol, but it did, just struggled a little to get up to speed

 

[Mbrooks420]

Gee must be nice

 

[mjs232]

Mine just went in the shop today. (or to the mechanic's house) he is going to drive it into his shop tomorrow which is about 40 min away, and he only lives like 3 blocks away from me. My mechanic recommended this guy, and said that even though this guy's shop was about 40 min away, it would be good to go to him because he knows this guy, and this guy is not going to give me something i don't need. He also said that big shops like cottmann's and AAMCO arent willing to replace just little parts of the transmission. They just tell you that you need a rebuild. I'll let you know what is wrong with mine because i had the same code and problem.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Yeah, the Cottmanns man tried to play me like a dumbass. I told him just where he could go. I told him he wasn't allowed to touch my truck. He was baffled. He lost his composure and kept repeating "It's not worth anything like this"

 

[mjs232]

I just got word back on mine. They also said that its nothing electrical, and that i will need a rebuild. They also quoted me the figure of $1500, and did also mention something about the bands. The guy also said however that there wasnt a lot of metal in the pan which is a good sign i guess, but that I def. need the (b) solenoid.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Yeah, I got my news today. The 2nd gear band strut was laying in the pan. He said for $1,499 they'd fix everything it needs. The base is a soft kit, 2 bands, all clutches, and some other things. He said he'll call on Monday and let me know all of what is damaged. This guy seemed very knowledgable and honest. I asked about an upgraded torque converter and he told me that the 4r55e torque converter already came with brazed fins. Is this true? He said the only Ford trans he can't get a heavy duty converter for is the 4r55e.

 

[410Fortune]

a couple things are a little fishy in your post.

First you say it is not electrical but that you need a new B shift solenoid? The A4LD shift colenoids are computer controlled, there are two, one for the 2-3 shift and one for the 3-4 (od) shift if I remember right.

Then you say there is no metal in the pan but you need a full rebuild? Then you say a full rebuild is $1500? NO way. $1500 = they are only going to replace the parts THEY think need to be replaced. This is a BAD idea and with the A4LD thats where the nighmare begins.

When you rebuild an A4LD you need to replace EVERYTHING, there is no such thing as cutting corners or re-using parts with this transmission. Every updated part and TSB had better be performed by somebody who knows how to build Ford automatics, even better would be somebody who does A4LD's.

Lots of tranny shops cover their ass by offering a 24 month warranty of what not, then they build your tranny, it fails in one year, then they build antother and it fails right after the warranty, guess what you are SOL. They would rather keep building you half ass trannys until your warranty is up rather then spend the $$$ to do it right and make less profit the first time around.

Also YOU NEVER KNOW what you are getting. The A4LD was built from like 1988 to 2002 (just called it something else) Ford made several internal upgrades inside the trannys, but transmission shaops and junk yards dont care, to them a core is a core and a rebuild is a rebuild, you may end up with a cheap ass rebuild ona 1988 tranny that origianlly came behind a 2.9L in your 4.0L truck, it will never hold up.

Call somebody who cares about you and your tranny....... do a ton of research so you know what kind of questions to ask so they dont pull the wool over your eyes.

There are only two people in the entire country that I know of that I would trust to rebuild my A4LD, I am not syaing there are not more, I mean I am sure they are all over, but finding them can be tough....especially somebody who will perform performance modifications to the transmission internals...

Email me if you want to know who these two are.....one is in AZ and one is here in CO. Oh and dont rule out shipping your tranny to one of them in the long run its worth it and will actually save you $$$$$..........

 

[Mbrooks420]

I wish I had the time. My truck is my daily driver an I need it back ASAP. I've been out a vehicle for over a week. My guess is I will have to get rid of my truck soon after the warranty. I am very dissapointed with Ford for using such a weak trans. If only AA would market an adapter. A V8 AWD can be converted to 4WD right? That might be my only option.
I love my truck but can't go through this again.

 

[410Fortune]

I am one of those stubborn jerks who think there is really nothing wrong with the A4LD, sure it is no C4, but from the factory the A4LD has a good reputation and can take some good abuse and miles, it when they are rebuilt that the problems begin. Also people dont change their transmission fluid, and they let the tranny get hot and then they wonder why it blows up..........

Every single A4LD that I know of, meaning friends or family, that has been maintained properly has lasted well over 150K miles, nothing wrong with that. Its the shops that rebuild them that screw you.....(remember this is just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt if you wish).

MRbrooks, I feel you. I went through 4 Mazda 5 speeds in my BII. My BII is my daily driver and has been for 6 years. It has only been down three times total and only one of those times for more then a day or two (When I did the 4.0L conversion). I finally wised up, I also got kinda lucky. I was going to convert to a C4 (using a C5 case) but I really didnt want the 3 speed with no OD (I drive all over the mid west in my truck) when I found this guy Lynn, a friend of a friend who is almost 70 and has been building Ford Auto's for 35+ years. After talking to him I learned quite a bit about the A4LD and about what it takes to really build one right. My buddy Joe just did a 5.0L conversion in his Ex so he had a 160K mile A4LD core for me that had never had a single problem and was maintained perfectly. So I jumped on it, took 6 months to gater parts and what not and converted my truck from the crappy 5 speed to a custom A4LD (not a easy job, converting from 5 speed to auto). the conversion itself took 3 days for us to do before I was up and running. BEst $$$$ I ever spent. My tranny cost me more then $2400 to have built but I also got a 80K mile warranty from Lynn, regardless of years. He stands behind his work and I can tell you my A4LD was built right, going on 15K miles and it slams through the gears even with the boat in tow at 75 MPH without missing a beat........

So you do have some options, the V8 is a great way to go, sell yours, buy a AWD and convert it to 4x4 is okay, or you can go C-4 auto, it will bolt up to your 4.0L and you can get aftermarket OD kits for them......oh all that and it's almost 4:20 here, so that always helps.

I ate the cost of my previous Mazda 5 speeds, 3-4 clutch packs, a custom kevlar clutch pack I had built, a few slave cylinders, a couple master cylinders and the pain and agony of dropping the tranny by myself 4 times last year........I have never been happier to look down and see no more clutch pedal.

BTW anybody want to buy a slightly used rebuilt Mazda 5 speed? ehehehehe its still sitting in my shed........works fine as far as I can tell all my problems were clutch hydraulics related, but I wouldnt install this tranny in my truck..........

 

[jgilbs]

you guys all say you get screwed off of the rebuilds. has anyone had theirs rebuilt by jasper? mine just died on me and i was thinking of getting a jasper rebuilt. does anyone have any exprience with them?

 

[SaleenEXP]

Originally posted by 410Fortune
I am one of those stubborn jerks who think there is really nothing wrong with the A4LD, sure it is no C4, but from the factory the A4LD has a good reputation and can take some good abuse and miles, it when they are rebuilt that the problems begin. Also people dont change their transmission fluid, and they let the tranny get hot and then they wonder why it blows up..........

Every single A4LD that I know of, meaning friends or family, that has been maintained properly has lasted well over 150K miles, nothing wrong with that. Its the shops that rebuild them that screw you.....(remember this is just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt if you wish).

I agree with you, I don't know why so many people on here are having failures. Like look at my post on the 1st page, I was harder on that truck then basically everyone on here that has had their A4LD trans fail on them. Towing two boats, 4 waverunners, flogging the hell out of it, shifting manually a lot of the time and and reverse burnouts plenty of times, off-roading ect ect yet I'm on the original trans still and my sister has been hard on it for about a year. And when I tow iI stay around 75mph-80mph.

Out of everyone I know with an A4LD equiped Explorer not a single one has had a trans failure. I mean my friend has 160,000 miles on his original trans and drives back and forth to maine and here for school with no probs, not too mention all the others I know with well over 100,000 miles with no slipping or anything.

Can't figure out why so many people have had there trans's replaced, with a lot being replaced twice before 100,000 miles??

 

[Mbrooks420]

I know of 5 people who have had rebuilds on these before 100k. Some people get lucky I guess.

 

[410Fortune]

Of course there are lemons out there, but the most important thing is to maintain an automatic.

ATF breaks down, especially when it gets hot. You leave it in there for too many miles or after it has gotten hot or water mixed in and you are asking for trouble.

How many people do you know realize that 02 sensors need to be changed every 60K miles or so otherwise fuel will be dumped and the cat will be ruined. Nobody. They wait for the CEL to come on at 80-120K and then wonder whats an 02 sensor??

How many people do you know change their tranny fluid once a year religiously no matter what and check the condition of it periodically?? How many people even know a auto tranny even has fluid in it? hahahaha. You see where I am going?

An automatic trans has moving parts in it, they wear out and are designed to wear out. Unfoirtunatley for some reason when Ford added an OD unit to the C4 to make an A4LD they used aluminum OD components, etc. So the A4LD family is more prone to failure when steps are not taken to help it along.

Get a big trans cooler, get an inline trans filter, use Dacron filters in the pan, quality ATF, and keep up on your ATF level, color, and smell.

The best thing you can do for your truck is follow the manufacturers recommended service intervals at the very minimum. Personally I do about double when it comes to my 88 because of the 240K miles and the abuse she takes, alos I dont believe Ford when they say "rear gear fluid is good for life of vehicle and NEVER needs to be changed" (newer trucks) hahaha what if I use my Explorer to tow a 25' cabin cruiser all year long through the mountains. Do you think that super synthetic and friction modifier will last for 300K miles doing that? Do you think the limited slip will not wear out??

I have not dealt with Jasper transmissions. I would call Lynn at Performance Transmission here in Denver and ask him about rebuilding a A4LD. Then get on these boards and read through posts from people who have had A4LD's rebuilt. Dont talk to one transmission shop and shop by lowest cost. Talk to people, find somebody who wheels Rangers or what have you that builds them and has for a long time, that sort of stuff.....

I researched the A4LD for hours before I converted to one, of course I also read for hours about that flippin Mazda slush box......... If you dont like the A4LD you have options, a C4 can work (3 speed) and a WC T-5 can also be adap[ted to work without any $$$$ AA parts......



Oh and I am buying a larger boat, putting on bigger tires, not to mention the new locked front axle......we shall see how well the A4LD can do..........

 

[Mbrooks420]

I need overdrive. This next trans. will probobly go for 40k. I'll try and trade up by then. I need to start my research. Had I done it before I doubt I'd have the Ex now. I don't really want to go back to a car, but don't care much for the other SUV's out there. I toyed with th idea of a full size Bronco. Bronc's have chain driven t-cases right?

 

[Mike]

i have one for you.. get a bike =)

 

[Mbrooks420]

Winter? Rain?

 

[SaleenEXP]

Originally posted by Mbrooks420
Winter? Rain?

tough it out

 

[Mbrooks420]

If I had a spare 20K I'd buy one of those street legal atvs powered by the BMW 1100.

 

[Mike]

Originally posted by Mbrooks420
Winter? Rain?

buy a hat..