A4LD Slow into drive. (real slow)

[Buck63]

Okay, I've browsed through this section searching for a problem like mine and found some similar, but slightly different. I admit my diagnostic skills with an automatic transmission are weak to non-existent.

Last week, I overheated my front brakes on a recently bought Eddie that had done some sitting over the last several years, meaning driven on rare occasion when a vehicle went kaput. It sat for a year and a half solid before I bought it, so to get to the point of the transmission- it got hot when the brakes slowly seized up on me. It belched up enough fluid that I had to add 3 1/2 or so quarts to get on the road.

After getting it going again, it was slow to slip into drive after that. Not too bad, just not as immediate as before. Since then, I've looked at the fluid and noticed it was a bit dark. The tranny had a rebuild done about 30,000 miles ago, so it's not got the full 140,000 showing on the odometer, but i decided to pump out the fluid, replace with new, and repeated the process a couple of more times til I had fresh looking Mercon III, and a lucas treatment while I was at it. (wish I had seen your flush threads before all that)

Now, it doesn't want to shift into forward gear easily at all, a problem I've seen in other threads. However, high rpms doesn't get it to drop into drive, as I've seen with other members (and it freaks me out to do so). Rather, if I repeatedly feather it, and keep it between 1000 and 1500 rpms, it will slowly seem to gain momentum, then pop suddenly into drive after a minute, maybe two. After it finally engages forward gear, there's no problem whatsoever. Shifts beautifully. I put it into reverse, or park, square one. Sometimes neutral doesn't effect it, sometimes it does. It matters not which forward gear I put it in either. And once it engages, they all seem to be normal.
No slippage whatsoever.

Any ideas on the culprit? And how much it's going to kill me?
I see there are some real transmission gurus on this board.

 

[Buck63]

I also might add, when it belched out the fluid, it blew off a couple of vacuum lines. Or at least I assume that's when the lines blew off. They were in good order before this incident.

 

[96eb96]

Okay, I've browsed through this section searching for a problem like mine and found some similar, but slightly different. I admit my diagnostic skills with an automatic transmission are weak to non-existent.

Last week, I overheated my front brakes on a recently bought Eddie that had done some sitting over the last several years, meaning driven on rare occasion when a vehicle went kaput. It sat for a year and a half solid before I bought it, so to get to the point of the transmission- it got hot when the brakes slowly seized up on me. It belched up enough fluid that I had to add 3 1/2 or so quarts to get on the road.

After getting it going again, it was slow to slip into drive after that. Not too bad, just not as immediate as before. Since then, I've looked at the fluid and noticed it was a bit dark. The tranny had a rebuild done about 30,000 miles ago, so it's not got the full 140,000 showing on the odometer, but i decided to pump out the fluid, replace with new, and repeated the process a couple of more times til I had fresh looking Mercon III, and a lucas treatment while I was at it. (wish I had seen your flush threads before all that)

Now, it doesn't want to shift into forward gear easily at all, a problem I've seen in other threads. However, high rpms doesn't get it to drop into drive, as I've seen with other members (and it freaks me out to do so). Rather, if I repeatedly feather it, and keep it between 1000 and 1500 rpms, it will slowly seem to gain momentum, then pop suddenly into drive after a minute, maybe two. After it finally engages forward gear, there's no problem whatsoever. Shifts beautifully. I put it into reverse, or park, square one. Sometimes neutral doesn't effect it, sometimes it does. It matters not which forward gear I put it in either. And once it engages, they all seem to be normal.
No slippage whatsoever.

Any ideas on the culprit? And how much it's going to kill me?
I see there are some real transmission gurus on this board.

Since you just changed fluid, and the fluid level wasn't right when you started, you may have a fluid level concern.
slow engagement on these units can be related to low fluid levels or a clogged filter. Make sure the fluid level is exact, checked hot on a level surface. If the fluid is low and the truck is on a sloped driveway may make it worse.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Blown vacuum lines usually indicate a bad vacuum modulator. Pull off the vacuum line from the modulator, and see if there is any fluid inside of it.

 

[Buck63]

96eb9. Yes, I've been quite concerned about the fluid level. In fact, I've checked it almost every time I've driven it. It's sitting halfway up the hashmarks as I type, I'm sure of it. It was my first thought.

BrooklynBay, I can only hope you're right. I checked the line that connects to the modulator, both running and empty, and it didn't leak any fluid. I hadn't ruled out that possibility either though. My luck hasn't run the way of the cheapest fix lately, but maybe karma will smile at me. I'll replace that before I do anything else.

Thanks for your replies. I may have to take it into the transmission lab up the street though. I've not got the luxury of the time to continue experimenting with it. I like to take care of my own problems, but automatic transmissions are a bit out of my league at this point, and I need my truck back yesterday.

That being said, I'm considering taking a weekend to follow glacier's excellent instructions on installing a shift kit. (gotta take the plunge somewhere) I'm even considering scouring the local junkyards to get the proper valve body so that I can teach myself (ala glacier's fine instruction) how to rebuild one at my leisure while continuing to drive the Eddie.


I'll report back to this thread when I have any new developements/discoveries.

 

[Buck63]

That would be, I checked that line when running and stopped. Early morning typing, blah.

 

[Buck63]

Okay, the new development is that the transmission shop wants $1800 for a complete rebuild. He stated that he believed the forward clutch pack to be bad, and that 30,000 miles is the norm for a second rebuild for the A4LD. His words were that "that transmission is junk".

Keeping in mind, he wants to do the whole enchilada, (and it may need that) any thoughts on this?

I'm dropping the pan immediately after posting this to see what's in the bottom of it.
I'll describe as best as I can what I find. I've alread changed (diluted) the fluid considerably, so that alone won't tell me much. I'll post photos if necessary. Wish me luck, but I'll follow the directions in the sticky section for a rebuild before I'll shell out $1800.

Also, it absolutely refused to drop into drive this morning. So I'm not exactly disbelieving him on the forward clutch being burnt.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Try the valve body first. Transmission shops always try to get you to rebuild everything. Is this shop listed on WWW.ATRA.Com?

 

[Buck63]

Try the valve body first. Transmission shops always try to get you to rebuild everything. Is this shop listed on WWW.ATRA.Com?

My take on it exactly as for the mechanic wanting the whole shebang, and that's a bad link (though the effort is no less appreciated). I doubt that he's a member. Small town yokel and all that. Anyway...

I pulled the pan, it doesn't look bad compared to others I've seen. There were just a few shavings in the bottom, no sludge. I'm trying to figure out how to post a pic now. Or do I have to find a host to hold the image?

 

[Buck63]

Not found a place to post my photos yet, but I've crawled back underneath and inspected things a bit better. Also looked at the filter which looks clogged.

I did notice that on the valve body, there was one bolt towards center that was loose, and another missing altogether, which I did not find in the pan.




This was what it looked like when I crawled out from under; minus the little bit that slopped over the edge as I tried to shinny my narrow butt out with the pan. (I pumped out all I could through the dipstick tube before dropping the pan)

Again, no expert. But the troubled trannies I've seen the pan dropped on before looked nothing near that clean.

I got the opinion from my neighbor who, while no transmission man, has done some work in garages before. He seems to share my opinion that my transmission shop feller was flingin' bullflop.

 

[Buck63]

Sorry they're so big, I wanted to make sure everything was clear to see, and I have to leave right now to go to work. One more cropped pic of the pan drained. (carefully)

 

[BrooklynBay]

Maybe WWW.ATRA.Com was down when you tried the link earlier today. It's working as of now.

 

[Buck63]

Lol, just what I thought. The closest member is 42 miles out. So that would make the old boy up the street a non-member. Go figure.

After dropping the pan, I'm encouraged to follow Glacier's lead with the valve-body rebuild. I'm not convinced I couldn't just take it out and clean it out and be good to go with a filter change and fluid flush, but this Eddie is in otherwise good shape and I'd like to keep it that way. (I look at the old leather seats and get a little sad though)
So, I've gone this far, I may as well go the full mile and hope for the best.
All those parts can be gotten from here http://www.bulkpart.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=2&Category_Code=A4LDvbkits for $121.19, which beats the hell outta $1,500+ with the statement that "you'd be back again with it for another rebuild in about 18 months". (what a confidence builder as per assessing his skills)

As for Mr Dick's blind assessment, (Dick really is his name, that wasn't a slur) I saw no evidence of clutch in my pan. Just a very thin film on the bottom, and few enough visible metal shavings that they could be counted. No sludge whatsoever. So I'm not ready to give up.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could also try WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com if you need any additional parts.

 

[Buck63]

Wow, that was fast! Bookmarked, and thank you for your time. Much appreciated. I'll take the vb off in a night or two, but it'll be probably the weekend before I get the parts ordered. So I'm in hurry up and wait mode for the time being. I'm anxious as hell to get started on this, but time is not in long supply for me atm.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You should get a 1/4" drive In/Lb torque wrench for the valve body bolts. Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive one. I would recommend reading # 4, # 5, # 9, #10, # 15, # 16, # 19, # 30 , # 31, # 32, # 67, and # 69 in my list of useful threads to cover all aspects of the A4LD if you want to get a thorough education on this transmission. # 16, # 31, # 67, and # 69 are good if you want to tackle the valve body.

 

[Buck63]

I had read enough already to be aware of the In/Lb wrench, and will be trying to locate one. Thank you, however, for watching my back on that one.

And rest assured I'll be reading up on your useful threads, the ones I hadn't already read anyway. Might not be tonight, as I have to be up @ 5:00. But I will continue reading.

Good night and thanks again.
Buck

 

[Buck63]

Alright, a quick question. I finally found time between thunderstorms to climb underneath and pull the vb. There was no spring on my low reverse servo. It appeared to function fine prior, as the vehicle ran fine when I got it. Why would there be no spring? I'm positive it didn't spring out when I took it off, as I was expecting one, and did spend some time looking for it with the possibility in mind that I didn't see it, but it's simply not there. How would this effect my transmission?

Will be ordering what I need tonight.

 

[Buck63]

Question number two involves the pressure boost valve. Out of curiosity, I pulled the retainer pin in an attempt to pull it out and inspect it, since I'm replacing it. I couldn't budge it. I've tinkered with it enough to finally get the spring to press it out a bit, but I only get maybe 3/8" play. Either way, it doesn't come out on it's own volition. Is there something that I'm missing in the removal? I'm not confident enough to stick a nutpick (don't have the classy dental picks) and start prying. It stops shy of the edge of the bore by maybe 3/16"

Nevermind about that then, came out with patience and vaseline. I don't know if the 91 a4ld had an extra spring nested inside the standard larger one or not, but mine had the same small spring Glacier's did.

 

[wood1]

Alright, a quick question. I finally found time between thunderstorms to climb underneath and pull the vb. There was no spring on my low reverse servo. It appeared to function fine prior, as the vehicle ran fine when I got it. Why would there be no spring? I'm positive it didn't spring out when I took it off, as I was expecting one, and did spend some time looking for it with the possibility in mind that I didn't see it, but it's simply not there. How would this effect my transmission?

Will be ordering what I need tonight.

Are you talking about the return spring behind the servo?