A4LD tranny slippage problem...

[Carlos Osornio]

Hey guys, hope I can get some advise here. I have a '94 Explorer XLT 4X4, 4.0L with some 87,000 miles on it. The problem I have is that the trannys slips (I loose all traction front and rear) when I'm climbing very steep slopes.
I have been told that the issue could be resolved by putting a large capacity transmission pan to hold more fluid, but I have not been able to find a large pan for the A4LD transmission that comes from factory on my baby.
Has anyone experienced this problem and if so, can you advise on how you solved it?

Thanks

 

[Opera House]

Aluminum pan

A couple of weeks back someone posted that one was in the works and would be available later this year. It is said to add two quarts and it appeasr to do this by squaring out the pan. Good for cooling but I don't think the sump is any deeper which is what you would need on steep hills to prevent sucking in air. You haven't changed the filter lately and maybe got the filter O rings not seated properly or used the filter with the short pickup tube?

 

[Carlos Osornio]

I flushed the transmission and had the filter changed around 3 months ago (I have only put about 1000 miles in it since then).
I'll check on the filter tube size and O rings

Thanks for the input

 

[Opera House]

Is this a recent problem?

Or you just haven't owned it that long to know? If you are going up hills then you are coming down them too. Have you noticed a loss of engine braking in manual low? The A4LD has a low/reverse servo O ring that is prone to leaking as it gets old and the band will slip. There is a new double lip design and this part is easy to get at when you drop the pan, only 4 bolts.

There is a short filter pickup tube for the 2WD A4LD that may have been substituted if the long pickup was out of stock. If you just drove on the highway you would never notice the difference.

 

[SteveVB]

Originally posted by Carlos Osornio

Has anyone experienced this problem and if so, can you advise on how you solved it?

Thanks

Like Opera said- I would check the filter and make sure the correct long tube filter was installed.

When I fourwheel I overfill my trans about a half quart to keep the pickup covered while going up and down grades. Dont have any real evidence it works, but have had any problems since I started doing it. I dont keep it overfull all the time though- I have a spin on aux filter and I pump out a half quart or so and then check it after a run

There is supposed to be a bigger capacity pan out for the 4r44e later this fall. The trans is a later electronic brother to the A4LD so it may fit (opera are they the same pan?). Or you can get a flat bottomed 2wd pan and weld in a band to bring it to the depth of the 4wd pan to add capacity- ive got one in progress but never finished it so dont know how well it works yet. Baffles around the poick up tube may help also.

Good Luck.

 

[Opera House]

The filter pickup tube location is the same

For all the A4LD > 5R55E family and the pan gasket is the same. The only question would be the depth of the pan and whether they kept it short for the vehicles that use that transmission. I thought the 4R44E was a strange target market for them to choose.

 

[SteveVB]

Re: The filter pickup tube location is the same

Originally posted by Opera House
For all the A4LD > 5R55E family and the pan gasket is the same. The only question would be the depth of the pan and whether they kept it short for the vehicles that use that transmission. I thought the 4R44E was a strange target market for them to choose.

Thats whqat I thought , I too was suprised by the application choice- the 4r44.

Thanks

 

[Carlos Osornio]

Re: Is this a recent problem?

Originally posted by Opera House
Or you just haven't owned it that long to know? If you are going up hills then you are coming down them too. Have you noticed a loss of engine braking in manual low? The A4LD has a low/reverse servo O ring that is prone to leaking as it gets old and the band will slip. There is a new double lip design and this part is easy to get at when you drop the pan, only 4 bolts.

There is a short filter pickup tube for the 2WD A4LD that may have been substituted if the long pickup was out of stock. If you just drove on the highway you would never notice the difference.

I have owned it for over a year, but I only noticed the problem a couple of months ago, and yes I have also noticed loss of engine braking in low, so the O ring may be leaking..

 

[Carlos Osornio]

Re: Re: A4LD tranny slippage problem...

Originally posted by SteveVB
Like Opera said- I would check the filter and make sure the correct long tube filter was installed.

When I fourwheel I overfill my trans about a half quart to keep the pickup covered while going up and down grades. Dont have any real evidence it works, but have had any problems since I started doing it. I dont keep it overfull all the time though- I have a spin on aux filter and I pump out a half quart or so and then check it after a run

There is supposed to be a bigger capacity pan out for the 4r44e later this fall. The trans is a later electronic brother to the A4LD so it may fit (opera are they the same pan?). Or you can get a flat bottomed 2wd pan and weld in a band to bring it to the depth of the 4wd pan to add capacity- ive got one in progress but never finished it so dont know how well it works yet. Baffles around the poick up tube may help also.

Good Luck.

I have tried overfilling the trans and it has worked for me in the past, so then again leaking O ring or shorter pick up tube?? I'll check on both

I just got back from a weekend trail run and did not have any problems (trans was overfilled about 1/2 a quart.
Opera, loss in engine braking seemed to have been corrected after tranny was flushed and filter was changed but still slipping unless overfilled, so the shorter pick up tube may be the guilty one

Thank you all,