A4LD Rebuild Questions, and Clarification

[DTexUS]

Hello everybody, I recently bought a 94 explorer XLT. The ol' rig only has 94,000 on it. However the transmission had some real strange issues. No matter what position the shifter was in she would only go forward, except for Park. It didn't lurch in park either so I figured leaking valve body or something along those lines. I never got it over about 3 mph. The front seal started puking. So I said screw it, I'll rip it out. This is supposed to be my family vehicle, recently found out my wife and I are having a baby. I only had 2 single cab f150s and a busted bronco. Anyways, I want to make it reliable and I know the reputation these transmissions have. So I got it pulled, and read the A4LD diary to start understanding not only this transmission, but automatics in general. Never rebuilt one. I've rebuilt a manual though, and I'd like to think the man upstairs forgot to put the quit in me. So I'm full in on doing this myself. I disassembled the transmission, and found the internals of the intermediate drum to be absolutely demolished. There is hardly anything left. So I know I will be replacing all the frictions and steels, as well as the piston seals. Probably the planet carrier in the snap shell. Apologies if I am being unclear, I am just starting to understand everything. Gonna be going with the hardened sun shell for the overdrive, as well as a new drum. The clutches have given the drum hell. The reverse/low drum seems good, needs a new sprag. All new servos, and going to likely only be doing the superior valve body shift/boost valve kit, and maybe doing the transgo at a later time. Time is a bit of an issue, but I got a little bit of time. Now on to my questions, I was really concerned about the TC bell housing bushing. I don't quite understand what machining it in place means. I assume they use a bushing that is a little thicker, and then bore it to the right size. However, I stumbled upon the Sure Seal bushing. Which another thread on here said it requires no machining. Has anyone else had any experience with these? Is it just as simple as driving the old out and the new in? Next up the rear case race. Mine feels like there is consistent grooves in it, is this the normal feeling? I know races are typically smooth, but from the photos I've looked at it looks as if this is normal. I also can't find the drill jig to drill and punch the old one out, nor do I know of any shop around me that would be willing to press a new one in. Once I removed my tail housing I did notice you can move the tail shaft up. But was solid when pushing down or side to side. So only vertical play, is this maybe the rear bushing? Or is this a sign that the race is trashed? Thanks for any info in advance.

 

[410Fortune]

The front pump seal is simple press the old one out, press the new one in. With the a4ld it is a good idea to stake the seal in place, which means you simply smack the outside of the seal in several places with a chisel or flat blade to keep it from moving in the housing

If the factory size seal fits over the input shaft with no gap and the input shaft has no ridges where the seal rides then you don’t need the speedy sleeve”

I can’t speak to the condition of the race on the output shaft… I’ve only ever dealt with the front pump shaft seal, I leave everything else to my builder

I do know sonnax updates are way preferred over trans go

Good work thus far! You are brave! Automatic transmissions can be simple to rebuild, but the a4ld is one of the more complex units to get correct.. which is why the reputation
They are good units from the factory
They are great units when remanufactured by the right guy
They are an absolute nightmare when they are just “rebuilt” by a common trans shop

 

[DTexUS]

I was referring to the bushing behind the front seal, it apparently commonly gets out of round and causes the TC to tear up the seal. They sell a Sure Seal bushing which goes in place of the factory bushing, I don't believe it requires anything further than being pressed in. As for the race, I think I am good to go. So far the hardest part of this whole thing has been finding parts. Namely the correct overdrive drum/planetary set. Anybody know a place that I can find most of the hard parts I'll need? The rear/low sprag has also been difficult to find.

 

[410Fortune]

The front pump can you just buy a new one rebuilt? Sometimes easier then rebuilding it yourself
Does that bushing come w new front pump?

Transtar is where we go for all our converters sonnax update parts and rebuild stuff my builder has an account they have locations all over and well to the public

 

[DTexUS]

The front pump can you just buy a new one rebuilt? Sometimes easier then rebuilding it yourself
Does that bushing come w new front pump?

Transtar is where we go for all our converters sonnax update parts and rebuild stuff my builder has an account they have locations all over and well to the public

I do believe it does come with a new bushing, but I'd figured I'd try to save this one as it hasn't seen that many miles. Okay, good to know about the converters. I've looked on sonnaxs site, I can't recall if I had saw a overdrive drum though. I intend to do as many updates and upgrades as I can afford to. Ideally I'd like to have the explorer going by the end of May or mid July, so that I can work out the kinks by time October rolls around. I may end up settling for a good enough rebuild on this unit and buying another to bulletproof as a backup. My 90 bronco (M5OD-R2), 90 F150 (AOD), 92 F150 (E4OD) and now this Explorer are intended to be my vehicles for the foreseeable future. So I'm trying to learn every possible thing I can to prolong the life of them, after rebuilding the differential and transmission in that bronco all that I felt I lacked was the auto tranny. After this I think I'm gonna have to dig into that Explorers anti-theft system. Hopped in it turned the key on and the doors locked and unlocked about 7 times. Gonna be an interesting journey for this thing .

 

[410Fortune]

No theft system on a 94 unless it’s aftermarket
They can have a keyless entry computer however but it’s not to be confused with anti theft

A4ld can get many many upgrades many of the parts for the later internal 4r/5r55e parts will work , bombproof a4ld is possible
Finding good cores is getting more difficult most of them have been gone through several times by now

I can tell you that even seasoned builders can have issues setting up a4ld
So get good at r and r
Also I know my builder does several air tests along the way before install to ensure less time spent under the truck

Can also convert to a 5 speed manual
We do this a lot
Ditch the a4ld and install a m5od-hd from a later sohc powered ranger using the larger clutch makes for a happy gen I explorer

 

[DTexUS]

No theft system on a 94 unless it’s aftermarket
They can have a keyless entry computer however but it’s not to be confused with anti theft

A4ld can get many many upgrades many of the parts for the later 4r/5r55e parts will work
I can tell you that even seasoned builders can have issues setting up a4ld
So get good at r and r
Also I know my builder does several air tests along the way before install to ensure less time spent under the truck

Oh I fully expect to drop it 3 or more times. Looking at the rear glass of the explorer it says this vehicle is equipped with A Ford AntiTheft system. Or something along those lines. I'm not around it to look, but I was surprised such an early one had a system like that. The JBL sound system was surprising too.

 

[BrooklynBay]

WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com has a lot of the parts in stock the last time that I've checked. You could interchange upgraded hard parts from a 4R or 5R transmission to make the A4LD tougher. Read the thread called Project Frankentranny.

 

[410Fortune]

I can have a4ld out in about 2 hours on a 4wd if the exhaust bolts don’t fight me
I went through several a4ld in my bronco before I finally went v8… many moons ago I went down the path you are on. Now days the info is out there back then only a handful of dudes could work the magic

 

[DTexUS]

WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com has a lot of the parts in stock the last time that I've checked. You could interchange upgraded hard parts from a 4R or 5R transmission to make the A4LD tougher. Read the thread called Project Frankentranny.

Thank you, I've heard tell of frankentranny. Just haven't gotten around to looking at it.

 

[RangerX]

My 90 bronco (M5OD-R2), 90 F150 (AOD), 92 F150 (E4OD) and now this Explorer are intended to be my vehicles for the foreseeable future.

Love it! 90’s Ford trucks are my ideal vehicles, tough dependable and long lasting. You should be good for years.

 

[DTexUS]

Love it! 90’s Ford trucks are my ideal vehicles, tough dependable and long lasting. You should be good for years.

Oh absolutely the 90 f150 has ~650,000 miles. No engine rebuild but I did have to put a new AOD in it.

 

[wollimann]

Thanks for any info

Automatic Transmission/Transaxle: Description and Operation — 1994 Ford Explorer 4WD V6-245 4.0L Service Manual | Operation CHARM

Detailed repair manual for the 1994 Ford Explorer 4WD V6-245 4.0L.

charm.li

Repair and Diagnosis — 1994 Ford Explorer 4WD V6-245 4.0L Service Manual | Operation CHARM

Detailed repair manual for the 1994 Ford Explorer 4WD V6-245 4.0L.

charm.li

some information

 

[410Fortune]

Been working on a 89 f250 a 1990 f350 both 460 trucks one carbed one efi and lately a 92 f150 300i6 manual / manual.
They are great trucks!
I dislike the tfi ignition in the 90 and I dislike the smog pump on the 92 i6, that tfi ignition is a pita. I’ll stick with my 7.3 trucks they don’t have any of that crap on them
The 4.0 ranger explorer and 5.0 explorer will for sure give them a run for their money as “forever trucks”
Every model has an Achilles heel… it’s been quite a winter keeping all of those fords going f