93 4wd transmission

[builtfordtough01]

hey guys, i have a 1993 explorer xlt 4wd. its got around 235,000 miles on it. the transmission has been rebuilt twice and no longer under warranty. the problem is, it feels like its stuck when i first start off and goes about 30mph at 3500-4000 rpms, then when i go down the big hill by my house and it warms up for a few minutes, it decides to run and shift fine. after that its pretty good. and yes the transmission fluid is full. any ideas on the problem would be appreciated.
thanks yall

 

[Adaven]

Im having the same problem that you are.

Did you have any codes stored. The only code that was stored on mine was 226 (Ignition Diagnostic Module Signal not received). Also my tranny fluid is fairly clean.

I havent had any time to take a good look at it yet. If you do find out what is causing it let me know. Im going to check everything out tomorrow and see what I can come up with. I'll post what I find tomorrow.

Also if I manually shift it from 1 to 2nd it works fine. Since I live in the city I cant get it to the 3500-4000 RPM range to make it shift till I get to the interstate.

 

[ronbo256]

change the fluid and filter, if you know where the low/reverse servo is you could check to see if the o-ring on that piston is bad.

 

[Adaven]

I've been reading around on the forum here, and I read that the governor can cause the 1-2 shift delays. I'm going to try and replace that and do a fluid and filter change. I can change that pretty easy. Just have to wait till tomorrow to get the transfer case gasket from ford dealer. No auto parts stores around me carry it for some reason.

The low/reverse servo is readily accessible by dropping the pan, so I'm going to go ahead and pull it out and see if there is something going on there.

Thanks for the help. I'll let you know how it goes and what i found tomorrow.

 

[ronbo256]

when I rebuilt the A4LD in my old bronco II, I just replaced the lockup solenoid, the governor, and just any wear part that required more than dropping the pan to change, and added a transgo shift kit, made a world of difference until the o-ring went bad on the low/reverse servo, when it was cold, it would take a few minutes for first or reverse to engage, and it was slow to shift up. this would clear up when the tranny fluid reached operating temp. I bypassed the radiator cooler and added a outboard tranny cooler, I always wondered if the lower fluid temp compounded the problem. One thing I really wish I had done is use synthetic fluid like royal purple.

 

[Rick]

Welcome to the site.

I moved your thread to our transmission forum. Go to the top of this forum and check out the first threads, they are filled with excellent information about the most common Explorer transmission problems.

 

[Glacier991]

In general, a delayed 1-2 shift in the A4LD - only when cold - is 99% of the time a problem with the governor being gunked up. Drop the transfer case, remove and clean and or replace the governor and the problem goes away. The Low/reverse servo has a tendency to leak, but is rarely implicated in the 1-2 shift problem. There are aftermarket fixes to replace the O ring on it with either a "double wiper" ring or a "D ring"... either improves performance of it... which usually shows up as a delayed reverse engagement first off. As has been said that can be accessed by simply dropping the pan.

 

[Adaven]

When I put this this transmission in it was about 2 years ago. I didnt have the money for a rebuilt and didn't have the time to rebuild it. I went to a trusted junk yard and found a transmission out of an explorer that was hit in the side. When the junk yard pulled the transmission it had a rebuild tag on the top and the torque converter was still bright blue where it had been remanufactured. I thought I got a pretty good deal. I should have wrote down the company info from the reman tag.

I pulled the pan and took out the low/reverse servo and there wasn't a spring in it. It ran perfectly without it for a year and 8 mo. I don't know how, but I'm going to buy a new spring and put it back together and I'm pretty sure it will clear up my problem.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Check the modulator for leaking ATF. It might be a good idea to double check the adjustment of the bands, and the kick down cable just to make sure they are adjusted properly. Every little bit helps.

 

[Glacier991]

In the 5R FORD eliminated the spring behind the low reverse servo. I have always wondered if the A4LD wouldn't be just fine without it too.

 

[Adaven]

I finally got the parts to do this and had the time to work on it. I put the spring in that was missing and also replaced the o-rings on the low/reverse servo. This fixed part of my problem but i still had to get it to 3500-4000 Rpm for it to shift, so I pulled the transfer case and took the governor out. I knew that this was what was causing the problem as soon as i took it out. I had to soak the whole thing in parts cleaner before i could get the piston out. I replaced it with a new one in the end. Now everything is working like its supposed to.

Thanks for everyones help.