A4LD Shifts through all gears, then nothing

[TN_Explorer]

Here's my sad tale of woe. Son used the 1991 Explorer to tow his girlfriend's car; transmission was extremely low on fluid and he got it hot & black, then gave it back to me.

It wouldn't shift into forward gears; only had reverse. I drained it, put a new filter and a jug of transmagic in it and it now has all gears, sort of:

Reverse is fine. Going forward there is about a 5-second lag, then it drops into gear. It pulls strong and shifts properly up through the gears including OD, and when you let off the gas it's as though you shifted into neutral. Slow to a stop and you can repeat this as many times as you want.

Pulled the valve body, but it was surprisingly clean and there was only one possibly hanging valve.

I don't find anything on this weird type of behavior. Any ideas while I have it apart? I really don't want another ATF shampoo if I can avoid it.

Thanks,
-- Mike/Tennessee

 

[PopRichie77]

First off I know little about the 4ALD. However it sounds like you are losing hyd. pressure. The filter o-rings were in place? You didn't say which valve you thought might be sticking? Check the pressure reg. valve and spring, also the boost valve. Check the solenoids with 12 volt, hold a bit and be sure they don't drift back. Check the check balls for good condition. The seperator plate gaskets were good, no blown out pieces? You may have already checked all this.

 

[TN_Explorer]

Thanks - I didn't check the solenoids; I put a couple from a different transmission in because the plastic innards felt like they moved around. I will check that one to see if it got burned up. I appreciate the thoughts.

-- Mike

 

[TN_Explorer]

Any other thoughts?

 

[BrooklynBay]

It wouldn't be any of the solenoids since they are for 3-4 shift (overdrive), and TCC engagement. Did you check the fluid level to see if it's low? What about the vacuum line going into the modulator (any fluid)? How many miles did you put on since you rebuilt the valve body 4 1/2 years ago?