A4LD stuck in 1st gear

[custom20aj]

My a4ld is at it again. Last year I did a valve body rebuild, and changed the servos for second and overdrive (that fixed my problem of no second gear). The tranny has been fine since then. Yesterday it decided to make every gear position 1st gear (even reverse, neutral, and park). The parking prawl engages in park, but it still is in gear, as I can feel it trying to move. It definitely is 1st gear, as when I drive it down the road, I can tell by the RPM's. The gear is strong (no slippage), but won't shift out of 1st.

An added thing. The day before yesterday, I was using cruise control on some back roads, and on the steep hills, it would shift into 1st and red line the rpm's, making me hit the brake to disengage cruise. It wasn't doing that before. It must have been ready to go.

Any ideas? Please help.

 

[glfredrick]

My a4ld is at it again. Last year I did a valve body rebuild, and changed the servos for second and overdrive (that fixed my problem of no second gear). The tranny has been fine since then. Yesterday it decided to make every gear position 1st gear (even reverse, neutral, and park). The parking prawl engages in park, but it still is in gear, as I can feel it trying to move. It definitely is 1st gear, as when I drive it down the road, I can tell by the RPM's. The gear is strong (no slippage), but won't shift out of 1st.

An added thing. The day before yesterday, I was using cruise control on some back roads, and on the steep hills, it would shift into 1st and red line the rpm's, making me hit the brake to disengage cruise. It wasn't doing that before. It must have been ready to go.

Any ideas? Please help.

It is likely that your governor valve is stuck. That is located at the rear of the transmission, inside the tail-housing. You can't fix this problem via the valve body.

Do a search, this has been covered a couple of times on the board. It is an easy at-home fix. No need to pull the tranny, just drop the T-case (if 4x4) and pull the rear housing. Reach inside and unbolt the governor (2 - 10mm screws). Either replace it or polish it up so it moves freely.

BTW, does it shift up if you manually shift from 1-2 (instead of putting it in D and letting it shift)?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Since you are having this problem in park, neutral, and reverse, check your Z linkage to see if it is bent.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Here is a link to Glacier991's thread about the Z link: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155599

 

[Maniak]

It sounds like the z linkage came loose from the rooster comb.

Basically, the part the transfers the external gear selection to the internal selection.

I had mine come loose twice.. It turns out that when we did some VB work (TC solenoid) that the little clip that holds the z-link got bent to the point where it would not say on the z-link and would fall off. At that point there was nothing holding the z-link into the rooster comb and it would eventually come out, which would leave the transmission in whatever gear it was in when it fell out (in my case it was in Drive, both times).

~Mark

 

[custom20aj]

Thanks everyone. I don't think it's the governor. I serviced that last year as well. The Z linkage sounds feasible, I just couldn't remember how that was put together, and couldn't understand why the parking pawl would still catch (now I remember by looking at the pictures that the parking pawl is activated by the rooster comb directly). I'll drop the pan this weekend and check it out. I'll let you know.

 

[Glacier991]

Definitely check the Z link!!!

<sorry for the slow rsponse am on vacation...> BB hit the nail on the mostly on the head. Maniac provides real life experience to back it all up. Z link issues would have been my advice. Drop the pan and check to see if it came unhooked... more likely unhooked than bent. Easy to check.

Parking pawl lever AND Z link are hooked onto the same lever (roostercomb)but act independently. I am betting your Z link is unhooked.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Glacier, did you get my PM that I sent a few days ago? The site had some problems with sending PMs that day, so I don't know if you received it. Somebody else told me that they were getting duplicate PMs. I hope that this problem was corrected by now. My PM was about an idea that I had which is related to valve body bolts.

 

[custom20aj]

Z link is okay. Rooster comb and valve move as should when shifting. However, tranny and fluid smells burnt (like a burnt clutch on a standard tranny), and there is a sandy layer of material at the bottom of the pan (I assume it was either metal or clutch material, but I forgot to check it with a magnet last night). I should have put a magnet in the pan last year.

 

[custom20aj]

I'm going to put a junkyard tranny in. I know it's not the best thing to do, but I'm tight on money right now. Any idea on how I can flush the tranny part of the radiator and lines, before I put in the tranny? I'd rather not pull the radiator. Also, is there a way to flush the torque converter?

 

[BrooklynBay]

You should get a different torque converter. It's not possible to flush it without completely disassembling it. As for flushing the cooler, you should get a can of M465KD Transcool cooler cleaner spray ($7.09). It has a hose that connects to the cooler's hydraulic line.

 

[custom20aj]

Well, the junkyard gave me a really nice tranny (it pays to know people there). It looked very clean and had low miles. I put it in and everything worked great except overdrive.

The next morning, I took it for a drive, and realized it didn't have cruise control either. That's when I knew where to look. My speed sensor is rigged up to the transfer case with cable ties. I had to do that last year when the circle that holds the sensor rotted away, and the speedometer quit working. No big deal, I just didn't get it rigged back up properly after putting the transfer case back in (the magnet wasn't lined up inside the sensor).

Now I have everything, including overdrive, and hopefully my tranny problems are over for awhile.

I just thought I would let everyone know that without the speed sensor, my symptoms were: no overdrive and no cruise control. Everything else worked fine.

Thanks to all for the help!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for letting us know! What year was the one from the junk yard? How much did they charge you? You could rebuild your old transmission, and save it as a spare.

 

[custom20aj]

I didn't find out the year, or the mileage. I just told my friend to get me a good one, and put my trust in him.

They charged $400.00, which is what it would cost anybody (I didn't get a discount), and I don't have to give them the core.

I thought about rebuilding the old one, but I probably won't. As much as I like the Explorer, and it's in really good shape for a 1992 (the only rust is in the corners in front of the rear tires), it does have 203,000 miles on it. Who knows though, I've replaced about everything on it that was wearing out, so I'll probably have it awhile.