4R70W Direct Clutch Seal Installation

[crunchie_frog]

I am rebuilding a 4R70W and wanted to share some info on the direct clutch piston seals and installing them. I wanted to try to install the seals without the special tools. From reading the other threads here, (mostly Glacier's rebuild diary) I could see what the special tools were doing. I took two aluminum soda cans and cut them into and ground smooth the edges. I used one to install the inner seal by twisting it like a cone to fit the dimension on the bottom and then sliding the seal down to past where it goes in and then pulling the aluminum out and slipping the seal up into place.

For the piston installation, I put the cans on the outside of the piston and already installed outer seal and pushed the aluminun can pieces down to the bottom of the housing. I then evenly pushed the piston down into the housing and then slowly pulled the aluminum pieces out. They pulled very easily and the piston moved back and forth as it should. If you want to try this, you won't need the special tools and it is pretty easy (shears, cans and I used a flat stone for smoothing the edges)

Not sure the images below will work, shows some details...

 

[Glacier991]

I love it! Good old Yankee ingenuity!!! You get the Glacier "seal of approval" (no installation tools needed).

 

[Explorer Junky]

I have a 97 Ex XLT with AWD and 5.0 What and how do I determine my tranny? I thought it was a 4R70W, but a mechanic told me he thought it was AOD-E?? Can anyone help me on this?

 

[crunchie_frog]

Thanks Glacier for the comments... By the way, your diary is well... super helpful. My first rebuild and so far so good.