3rd transmission in less than 2 years

[Dan-ny-m398]

Hi guys can somebody please help me, because i'm at the end of my rope with this truck I will NOT spend another 1200$ on a new tranny, I have a 93 ford explorer 4wd, anyways, on saturday I felt some hessitation when I switch it to D it took about 3 seconds to engage, I said to myself i'm not taking any chances and took the car to the shop, The guy told me the tranny fluid was too dirty and I should change the filter and the fluid on it, so I did that.
Ok later that day the car was runing fine and all of the sudden the car felt like it was in neutral and wouldn't go anywhere, well the car won't go anywhere in Drive but it works fine on the second D and on reverse, the car it's not leaking any fluid and the tranny fluid it's full.
Can someone please tell me if there's something I can do about these, it's there a sensor or a hose or something else, because this tranny only has about 20k on it. any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ru Dawg]

When you say "second D" are you refering to drive or overdrive?
Drive is a D and overdrive is a D with a circle around it...

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

the D with the circle it's the one that's not working, that's the one I always use.

 

[Ru Dawg]

OK then....I'm not a transmission expert, but I'll just point out the obvious until a pro responds....it sounds like a problem with the overdrive engaging...I've heard of it before...I'm not sure what causes it....in the meantime, try running a search on "overdrive" or something like that...I'm sure you'll find something here!
Good luck....

 

[boominXplorer]

did you get a junkyard one or a rebuilt one?

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

I got a rebuilt transmission.

 

[RobbyD]

Sounds like you may have gotten a soft rebuild, hard parts probably needed replaced and werent therefore your tranny is going bad again. however im still learning myself, as a matter of fact im in the process of ripping out my tranny in my ex, not sure if it has ever been rebuilt but im going to do it myself to make sure its done right and hopefully i get alot of years out of it! good luck with what you find and keep us informed!


Rob
91 Explorer

 

[prozachappy]

Hope you didn't use Lee Myles Transmissions (national chain)! I'm on my 3rd transmission with them in 2 months! Mine is a manual...but I've never had so many problems as with these guys. I think when they do rebuilds they just cut as many corners as possible. I got 147k out of my original tranny. 531 miles out of the first one they put in, and less than 300 out of the second. I wouldn't even recommend them to my enemies.
Do you know if they kept your case and did a rebuild...or replaced it with a whole new rebuilt tranny? If they are just replacing gears, syncro's and shafts in your original tranny case then chances are prior heat has damaged/warped your tranny case. That would explain/cause pre-mature wear on your new gears. It will continue to happen until they replace the tranny case, not just the insides. Just a thought!!!

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

first of all thanks to everyone for the help, I just wanted to point out that my tranny was working fine, until saturday, the only problem was that it took about 3 seconds to engage, but it's just weird that the same day that I had the fluid drained and the filter changed, It stops working, I went back to the shop that day but they were closed already, anyways after that I drove 70 plus miles on the hwy and it was working and shifting fine. but it doesn't work on OD and somtimes it takes more than on try to get it to work in D I have to play around with it to get it to work.

 

[prozachappy]

when you changed the fluid did you notice any metal shavings on the plug or in the fluid? If so..then your problem engaging gears is from excessive wear on the gears. If not, then like above I would suspect computer problems (i.e. faulty signals to the tranny). Are you using synthetic or dino ATF?

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

when you changed the fluid did you notice any metal shavings on the plug or in the fluid? If so..then your problem engaging gears is from excessive wear on the gears. If not, then like above I would suspect computer problems (i.e. faulty signals to the tranny). Are you using synthetic or dino ATF?

Nope NO metal shavings, in fact I asked the guy that droped the oil pan told me the tranny looked good, and there was nothing wrong with it other than dirty fluid.

 

[94 Limited 4x4]

ive had 12 explorers in my life and 5 of them had tranny problems and 2 of t5ha 5 did what you are describing amco transmissions and cottman transmission shops rebuild there trannys with a hard rebuild kit what it basically is is stranger internal more heavy duty parts like the bands seals clutches pumps torque converter etc. also when they do the hard rebuild they machine the bell housing because for a simple reason explorer transmission espescially the early a4ld's had a problem where tranny fluid would leak out of the front and people would think it was a front seal when in actuallity that was not the case. trhe problem was a bushin that would slide back and fourth that would cause a gap allowing the tranny fluid to pour out of the front. in any event to get back on the subject in short find out if the do a hard or soft rebuild and if not go someplace else. although it seems that you shouldnt have to pay a dime they aught to warrenty the transmission find out

 

[prozachappy]

Well then, could be something as simple as the shift cable needing adjustment..or if it's the original shift cable on a '93' then it could be stretched/worn and in need of replacement. I'd check or replace that and see if that doesn't solve your D/OD engagement problems.

 

[Brain]

I'm going to keep this short...The ONLY difference in the 1st gear application in the drive and overdrive shifter position is the application of the overdrive clutch. The overdrive shifter position does NOT engage the overdrive clutch in first gear, but the drive shift position does engage the overdrive clutch in first gear (same for 2nd and 3rd for that matter). The overdrive band is not applied until the transmission is shifting from third gear to fourth (fourth gear is called overdrive because it has a 0.75:1 engine/driveshaft ratio), so it isn't a problem with the overdrive band....

That said, I'm kind of stumped what would cause the drive shifter position to give you power through the tranny and the overdrive shifter position would not. Maybe the shifter cable is the culprit. You can try to disconnect the cable at the tranny (plastic female ball end pops off a steel male ball end on the driver's side with a screwdriver) and shift it by hand (have a friend keep on the brakes or lift the wheels to be safe). If that isn't a problem, then I would suspect that the valve body and seperator plate is crudded up to where some passages are clogged up (and some of those are pretty small).

This ISN'T a warped case issue (never heard of this before), nor is it a warped bellhousing issue (this has been an issue, but it isn't yours), I'm thinking sediment on the valve body seperator plate because draining it would let some particles drop/wash down on top of the plate where they weren't before, and refilling it wouldn't remove them from where they got stuck. You said yourself that it was strange that it would only start after a drain/refill...I think this is the most likely problem.

I'd try the cable test first and then drop the pan, valve body and seperator plate. Be careful of the body and plate because there is a gasket on each side as well as some pretty small balls and disks that fit between them. Take a look a Glacier's post to see an A4LD (what you have) being taken apart and put back together....it's long, but worth it. Here's where the pictures of the valve body removal start:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98027&page=3

Good Luck!

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

I tried disconnecting the shift cable, and still the only gears that work are Reverse and Drive , Od 1, 2 don't work.

 

[Brain]

There are only eight bands or clutches that are applied to get all of the gears. Let's just call them A,b,C,D,E,F,G, and H. In 1st gear drive (what works), is B,C,F, and H. In reverse (the other gear that works) you have B,C,E, and G. So it sounds like B,C,E,F,G, and H are OK. That leaves A and D. "A" is the overdrive band and wouldn't come into play until the 3-4 shift, which isn't the case. "D" is the intermediate band and only effects 2nd gear (in the overdrive, drive, and manual 2nd shifter positions). You are saying that from a stop, nothing gets you going except drive and reverse, so we are talking about 1st and 2nd gears - right? That leaves me scratching anatomy...if the clutches and bands aren't the culprit (ruled all of them out by process of elimination), then it has to be what activates these clutches...namely the valve body having something plugging up some passages.

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

Ok so basically I have take this thing apart and clean it??

 

[Brain]

That thing that has the spring under it on the corner is the reverse servo piston, but the valve body is the other umpteen-gazillion black bolts that you see in the photo. Be sure to have a torque wrench that can go pretty low - 54 to 72 inch*pounds (NOT ft*lbs). There are four different lengths of bolts, so keep them seperate. 19 of one length, five of another, then one and one of the shortest ones. OK, so there are only 26, but it feels like a lot when you are laying on your back.

 

[RobbyD]

Sounds like the exact problem i had, only had reverse, no forward gears at all!

Long and short of it, I tore out my tranny TODAY! starting a rebuild very soon.
Good luck with what you find on yours.

 

[Dan-ny-m398]

OK.. so it's really complicated to do this, and I really have to take the tranny out?? does anyone have a guide of how to do this??