4R44E oil pump alignment tool.

[dsturdi]

O.K., I am starting to see the whole picture. With the new parts I have I could make the tool if I just knew the bell housing bushing I.D. I understand what you are saying about the paper around the torque converter shaft, that I need it snug in the bushing and make sure it's snug in the pump gear. I think I will try masking tape, cutting pieces to length and making one wrap. If it needs another wrap I'll overlay in the opposite direction to cover the small gap left by the first piece. I won't go round and round and not be concentric. So far I have made bushing knockers sized from my rebuild kit. I have also made a clutch spring compressor a little like in the book. I will also be sure to use the small shaft that passes through the pump, if it needs a wrap to be snug I'll do that too. Tell me please if any of this alignment procedure sounds like it won't work. I am open to all advice and thanks again.

 

[robcarz]

Another suggestion: Reassemble the pump to the bell housing and take it to a transmission shop for alignment before you torque the bolts. However they will probably tell you it needs a new bushing.

 

[PopRichie77]

Masking tape won't work, it is to thick. There is only a couple thousand of an inch clearance, more than this and the bell housing needs to be repaired or replaced. If there is any clearance other than a slip fit with the center shaft and the pump bushings then which ever one is worn needs to be replaced. All ID to OD Tolerances are very tight. The clearances in the valve body are less than .001, more than this and there is to much hydraulic leakage. The Ford pump alignment tool has selective pieces to achieve a snug fit with the bell housing bushing, after market tools are sized to fit a new bell housing bushing.
You can buy one for around $60.00. on the internet.

 

[dsturdi]

Hey, guess what? I just bought a brand new in the box bell housing for $40.00on ebay. Now I can make my alignment tool when it gets here. Thank you, everyone, for your help and I will let you know how it goes.

 

[dsturdi]

Sorry this reply has taken so long but my job has kept me busy. I finally made an alignment tool out of schedule 80 PVC pipe. I bored it out to fit the pump housing shaft and turned the O.D. to fit the bell housing (one size) and the pump gear (another size) and milled the flats. It worked perfectly. I will sell it for $1,000,000 lol. Anyway, I took the transmission out and rebuilt it, so I can say that the average do it yourself mechanic can do this job if he takes some time to read and learn first. But I must also add that I've had some problems. I bought a valve body off Ebay that was advertised as being remanufactured and tested. The first one lasted about a day. The transmission did great and I thought all my problems were solved. That night it went nuts again with the O/D light flashing and all the other bad things. The guy sent me another one and the transmission did great for one day again. No blown gaskets either time. He has since refunded my money and says he is sending me another valve body. But I am tired of being under that truck, so I researched this forum and kept seeing Central Valve Body being recommended. So I called Donny and ordered one from him. I haven't received it yet so I don't know the final outcome but I have a lot of hope. And I found what I think was the cause of the initial failure of the transmission, the bell housing was cracked in two places allowing fluid to leak. Also, while the valve body was working the truck turned about 2550 R.P.M. at 70. I'll write back later and thanks again to everyone.

 

[PopRichie77]

Just one thing be sure the wire plug is fully snapped into position on the digital transmission range sensor, if this isn't snapped tight it can cause a lot of different problems, I speak from experience on this.

 

[dsturdi]

Thanks for that first hand kind of advice, it really helps. I know there's the connector that goes to the solenoids and the speed sensor connector so I guess you're talking about that thing which fits over the gear selector shaft. If so I did notice it was difficult to get to snap in. I didn't have the tool to align it so I put the truck in neutral and saw two lines that I lined up and tightened it down. Is this correct? And do you know what it does? There are so many things which I know can cause problems and many things I don't know too. I drove around and had my wife watch the live data on my scanner and the IAT, TPS, coolant temp, and vehicle speed were all updating . I will recheck my connection next time I'm under there. The valve body which I have my doubts about is off and I'm letting everything drip dry. Enough transnmission fluid on me for one day.

 

[PopRichie77]

That sensor or switch tells the computer what gear has been selected so that it can make the proper shifts, it has to be aligned correctly. There is an alignment gauge but it costs over a hundred. Some people say it is aligned ok if the back up lights come on when you put it in reverse also that the starter will crank in park and neutral. As for those lines, I don't know.
Hope the CV valve body fixes the problem but if it doesn't I would say the problem lies else where.

 

[dsturdi]

Thanks again, Mr. PopRichie77. I will check the connection and make sure what I thought was it clicking in wasn't the tab or something breaking. I usually give these things a tug to see if they locked, but I really don't remember. I will try the test for function, I of course know it cranks in park, but I've not noticed if the backup lights come on or tried to crank it in neutral. First thing on my list after reassembly. And really, thanks for the help.

 

[dsturdi]

I checked the neutral switch connection this morning after I got off work and it was locked in, but this was a great idea to check. I went ahead and removed the switch from the transmission since I was gonna check the alingment anyway. Then I held one half in each hand and snapped them together, not that anyone should do this but they did go together easier. I'll check the bands while the switch is out of the way. I did all this first because I had to know.

 

[daisyrocky]

From experience. That alignment tool I brought two weeks ago from OTC SPX was 123.00 and it's nothing but a straight piece of 5" thin metal with 3 notches which is ridiculous in my opinion. You could just use a short ruler or a straight edge of paper and line up those 3 indent slots you're pretty close and saved $$$. The 5 transmissions shops I visited including Mr. Transmission shop none of them uses the pump alignment tool or the TRS alignment tool, it does not even exist in their shops. They just laughed about it but I ordered them online anyway and now I know exactly why they laughed.

 

[eak1999]

I am a DIY mechanic and just finished a successful rebuild of my 4R44E in my garage at home. The only specialty tool I bought was a spring compressor (~$60 from Amazon). When it came time to align the pump, I inserted the torque converter then torqued the pump bolts down. I then inserted a piece of donut shaped cardboard underneath the torque converter so it was not rubbing against the bell housing. When I rotated the torque converter, I could hear the pump gears grinding a little. I loosened and retorqued the pump bolts. Then the gears were grinding even worse. In my case, using the torque converter for alignment did not provide consistent results (or acceptable results).

I took the bell housing and pump to a transmission shop. For $20, they cleaned the bell housing, aligned the pump, and torqued the pump. When I got it home and rotated the torque converter the same as before the gears were no longer grinding. I think for $20, it was worth it to just take it to the shop and save the $60+ for the alignment tool. If you're going to rebuild more than one 4R44E, it might be worth it for the alignment tool, otherwise, it's cheaper to just take it to the shop.