A4LD governor weight question

[bmyers]

I was reading the A4LD rebuild diary and noticed the heavier weight put in as an "upgrade". Will the heavier weight tell the transmission to shift sooner or later?

I have an Aerostar (ok, you can stop laughing now) that has been giving me problems. I've always thought it 1-2 shifted a little late. After about 2 years, it started shifting VERY late like at about 35+ . I've always done my own work but not on AT's. I did what I thought was the right thing and brought it to a transmission shop, they did a diag. They said they dropped the pan and it had shavings in the bottom after a test drive. It needed to be rebuilt, $1200 + hard parts. These guys were good. Real good. I'll tell you how good in a minute.

Well, $1200 bux would total this van. I got it for free. It wasn't running and sat in a friend’s yard until he moved. It had to go, I had to have some wheels because LOML just totaled our other car. The van has 173k, it runs pretty good now considering. It hasn't taken alot of parts to get it running good.

Anyway, unable to pay $1200 for a rebuilt, I started surfing and re-found this place. I remember it from once before when I was surfing for info on my Exp. I searched for the symptoms I was having and governor seemed to be it. Didn't have to remove tranny to fix it. Great. I decided to have a whack at it.

I removed the extension and took out the governor and it was a little "sticky" but not clogged with metal shavings. I cleaned, polished, lubed and reinstalled. BINGO, shifts just like the old days, a little late.

It's since acted up a little but for 250 miles, it's been pretty good. But I'm wondering if this part can actually go bad and need replacement? It still acts up sometimes when accelerating quickly with more than 1/2 -3/4 throttle. Failing to shift until about 35 mph and not unless you lift a little bit.

Will a new governor and heavier than OEM weight solve this problem? I would expect it to shift into 2nd around 20 mph or so, maybe sooner. But this vehicle never has. It's always been at least over 20-25 mph with its 1-2 shifts.

Oh, the transmission shop. Well after I buttoned up the extension housing. I did a fluid/filter change. On mostly all the pan bolts was grease and road grime so old that I had to tap my socket on there with the ratchet to bust off the buildup. There is NO F'N WAY these guys dropped the pan out of this vehicle. NO WAY. The only thing I can prove they did was charge me $75 to tell me I needed a new transmission. They were able to tell there were "shavings" in the pan WITHOUT even taking it off to look. I'm impressed to say the least.

When I did get the pan off there was some gray goo on the magnet (again untouched for prolly 168k). There was a bronze "tinge" to the general sludge in the bottom of the pan, nothing alarming to me. There where to band parts, clips, springs or any other big chunky things in there. Just the bronze "tinge"..

My wife and I have come to love this ugly old monger now. We might end up painting it like the Star Trek shuttle craft because of it's "unique" shape just to have some fun with it.

Thanks for reading this far and for any sage advice. I am very grateful for the wealth of useful information already here.

Bill

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! What year is your Aerostar? If you saw band parts, and you are having a problem with second gear, then it is your intermediate band. You will have to drop the transmission to fix it. The Sonnax 35MM weight is a little heavier to help prevent the governor from binding. Your transmission has shavings from the broken band, so a rebuild (with a valve body rebuild) is necessary. Most of the time the shops say you need a rebuild when it is not always necessary. Sometimes it is. Maybe they tried to adjust the band, broke it, then told you that you have shavings without dropping the pan.

 

[bmyers]

Sorry about that. The message above should have said.

There were NO band parts, NO springs, NO clips, NO major metal pieces in the pan. Just the bronze tinge in the sludge at the bottom of the pan.

So, I don't think it needs a rebuild just yet. It's a sticky governor problem right now. I guess I'll replace the governor with a new one and get the heavier weight which I'm thinking might lower the shifts points a little.

This is in a 1992 Aerostar. I'm sure the transmission shop I took it to didn't try to adjust anything. Like I said, the only thing I can prove they did was take my money.

Thanks for the reply BB.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I would suggest that you try to adjust the intermediate band, and see if that helps the 1-2 shift delay. Check the sticky above for the procedure on how to do this.

 

[bmyers]

I'll try adjusting the bands. Couldn't hurt after 170k I suppose. I just picked up the correct tourqe wrench for doing that at HF.

I noticed you got alot of Aerostars! 3? You must be a glutton for punishment. Although, by the end of the day today, I may own 2. I'm checking out a '91 parts van on craigslist.


Thanks again BB. Hey, I'm going to be in your neck of the woods in less than a week. Hope the weather is nice for my vacation upstate. Hudson valley here I come...(yeah I know, just a bunch apple-knockers up there)

Bill

 

[glfredrick]

Long as you are pulling the pan, try re-torquing the valve body bolts. They are typically loose on the A4LD and its derivatives. Makes a difference. Just use a GOOD torque wrench and torque to factory specs using the factory pattern. It also helps to install an external filter in the cooler line. All of the above has been covered here on the board. Do a search...

Oh -- I've had a couple of Areostar vans myself -- they are fine and hold up well. Most of the stuff under them is Ranger/BII/Explorer, so we're in the same camp. I get parts for my 'Sploder from Areostars in the pull-a-part often. The 4.0 liter vans are identical for the most part -- and not as picked over as the Explorers.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Since the Aerostars are so similar, I had suggested an Aerostar forum, but since then the BII forum came into existence. I guess that was done instead.

 

[Glacier991]

The part that wears is the aluminum "stalk", and it is what you might want to replace. The heavier weight from Sonnax serves to reduce the shift points.