94 Explorer A4LD - What's to lookout for?

[Fernando Uribe]

So as a first time owner of a 05/1994 Explorer Limited with 127k miles, I keep reading about the bad rap the A4LD transmission has. I bought mine "dead" from a lady who had it sitting outside her home for over 6 years. As for now, mine works pretty well (minus the modulator which got replaced) and shifts through all gears and in reverse.

Is there anything I need to keep an eye out on or what can I do to improve the life of the transmission? I don't want it to crap out on me.

 

[gmanpaint]

Lots of threads/posts on this subject already on the forum. Check out the Transmission section, and search away.

Basically heat kills them. If you installed a temp sensor, so you can monitor the temps while using, you can stop the temps from getting too high on it.

Fluid & filter change. Dropping the pan, changing the filter, and doing HALF fluid amount changes at a time helps. Wait a few thousand miles, and do it again.

Any slippage while in gear, or any trouble going into gear, is your warning sign that your trans needs attention right away. Too many people keep using it, and make the problems worse, burning them up.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, the only help is a valve body kit, a larger cooler, new solenoids, and a longer modulator pin(or the adjustable MV type).

Use top brand ATF, and add a Lubegard additive also. There are accumulators from the later 5R trans which go into the A4LD, those also help a little. All of these things can be done without removing the transmission, thus no rebuild, to avoid the rebuild costs. A rebuild without these things is not as good as doing these things and no rebuild.

 

[Fernando Uribe]

Awesome...wait what kind of lubegard?

Ditto, the only help is a valve body kit, a larger cooler, new solenoids, and a longer modulator pin(or the adjustable MV type).

Use top brand ATF, and add a Lubegard additive also. There are accumulators from the later 5R trans which go into the A4LD, those also help a little. All of these things can be done without removing the transmission, thus no rebuild, to avoid the rebuild costs. A rebuild without these things is not as good as doing these things and no rebuild.

 

[CDW6212R]

Lubegard is an excellent brand of additive for various fluids, transmissions were there first and best. They make a universal ATF additive now in a quart that I like for my several vehicles. But there mainstay is the 10oz sized bottles made for a single trans, they have versions for different ATF types. So you need the one made for Mercon or Mercon V, the ATF you use in that A4LD.

 

[massacre]

I used lube guard years ago in a 4r, it basically saved the transmission

 

[Fernando Uribe]

Lubegard is an excellent brand of additive for various fluids, transmissions were there first and best. They make a universal ATF additive now in a quart that I like for my several vehicles. But there mainstay is the 10oz sized bottles made for a single trans, they have versions for different ATF types. So you need the one made for Mercon or Mercon V, the ATF you use in that A4LD.

You and massacre are talking about this?

 

[BrooklynBay]

An external filter is also recommended.

 

[Fernando Uribe]

What would be a recommended type/size of cooler?

Ditto, the only help is a valve body kit, a larger cooler, new solenoids, and a longer modulator pin(or the adjustable MV type).

Use top brand ATF, and add a Lubegard additive also. There are accumulators from the later 5R trans which go into the A4LD, those also help a little. All of these things can be done without removing the transmission, thus no rebuild, to avoid the rebuild costs. A rebuild without these things is not as good as doing these things and no rebuild.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Whatever is the largest size which will fit.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto. There is a very long cooler in some early 2000's Super Duty truck, which fits well in these. It's as wide as the radiator, but shorter than the stock cooler, so say 24"x8" is a good guess. There's a thread here showing Traveler's cooler in his. But anything will help, even another one run in parallel to the stock one.

 

[Eric Tang]

Besides not abusing the hell out of it, there is not much you can do to prolong the life of an A4LD. They were not designed for the load placed on them by a heavy Explorer. This transmission was introduced in the Mercury Mercor and used in the Mustang when overdrive became an option with 4 and 6 cylinder engines. As it evolved into the 5R55E, it's final rendition, Ford beefed up the weak points and it was a pretty good unit for what it was. Service it, check to see if the modulator is leaking. If it is, replace it. Be sure the heat shield is in place between the cats and the servos on the side of the transmission. Be nice to it, it's not a C4 or C6. I have seen allot of broken A4LDs, and I've seen them with over 200,000 miles and never out of the truck.

 

[Fernando Uribe]

What if I plan to solely use it as a daily driver?

Besides not abusing the hell out of it, there is not much you can do to prolong the life of an A4LD. They were not designed for the load placed on them by a heavy Explorer. This transmission was introduced in the Mercury Mercor and used in the Mustang when overdrive became an option with 4 and 6 cylinder engines. As it evolved into the 5R55E, it's final rendition, Ford beefed up the weak points and it was a pretty good unit for what it was. Service it, check to see if the modulator is leaking. If it is, replace it. Be sure the heat shield is in place between the cats and the servos on the side of the transmission. Be nice to it, it's not a C4 or C6. I have seen allot of broken A4LDs, and I've seen them with over 200,000 miles and never out of the truck.

 

[MrQ]

Small history lesson, the A4LD is basically a beefed up version of the French built C3 that was in the Pinto with an over drive unit tacked on. It is an adequate transmission for what the Explorer was made for: grocery shopping, mild hauling, kid wrangling, and, from time to time, getting the undercarriage dirty. Going beyond this (larger tires, heavy towing, or, god forbid, trying to race it) is when the transmission is really going to get pushed outside its comfort zone. This eventually leads to all gears becoming neutral and a tow truck. Biggest enemy of this transmission is heat... it does not tolerate it well at all!

Daily driving is what this vehicle was meant for, run it till the wheels fall off.

Always replace the transmission coolers, those are known to get clogged and burn up the transmission. Never tow or haul heavy stuff with it in overdrive, surest way to destroy your only fuel saving measure on this breadbox. And as said before, keep the fluid changed regularly, change the filter, and use the Mercon V. Also check your vacuum modulator from time to time if your shifting gets erratic. The diaphragm can go bad and the intake can start sucking in transmission fluid.

Worst comes to worst swap in the M5OD manual and never look back.

 

[Fernando Uribe]

Small history lesson, the A4LD is basically a beefed up version of the French built C3 that was in the Pinto with an over drive unit tacked on. It is an adequate transmission for what the Explorer was made for: grocery shopping, mild hauling, kid wrangling, and, from time to time, getting the undercarriage dirty. Going beyond this (larger tires, heavy towing, or, god forbid, trying to race it) is when the transmission is really going to get pushed outside its comfort zone. This eventually leads to all gears becoming neutral and a tow truck. Biggest enemy of this transmission is heat... it does not tolerate it well at all!

Daily driving is what this vehicle was meant for, run it till the wheels fall off.

Always replace the transmission coolers, those are known to get clogged and burn up the transmission. Never tow or haul heavy stuff with it in overdrive, surest way to destroy your only fuel saving measure on this breadbox. And as said before, keep the fluid changed regularly, change the filter, and use the Mercon V. Also check your vacuum modulator from time to time if your shifting gets erratic. The diaphragm can go bad and the intake can start sucking in transmission fluid.

Worst comes to worst swap in the M5OD manual and never look back.

Ah it all makes sense now. It been a journey for me since it's my first ever 4x4 vehicle and at this point in time, I have had both front and rear axles rebuilt with new bearings, seals and fluids. Adding some ceramic brakes and fuel efficient touring tires, it looks good. But when I started to read about the bad rap of the A4LD, I began to wonder if there was some preventive maintenance i could do.

So with the input so far, to extend the life I would need:

A big a$$ transmission cooler
Replace fluid/filter with Mercon V & Lubegard
Keep an eye on the vacuum modulator
Valve Body Kit (does the Sonnax F053 do it?)