bending A4LD Z-Link to adjust manual valve?

[saxon]

I don't have the Auto. trans. group manual handy but I remember reading in their update manual that when the trans. is placed in second gear, there is then an exact place that the manual valve is supposed to be in its travel in the VB. The manual suggested bending the Z-Link if the valve was not in the correct spot (+/- .010" one way and .020" the other way). Again this is from memory, so don't bend your valve based on these numbers.

At any rate, I haven't seen any commentary on this anywhere on this list. Might be buried but I could not find it after several searches.

Has anyone done this and with what results?

 

[BrooklynBay]

If you have the parking brake on, have rear wheels blocked, and are certain that the vehicle won't move, then move the shifter from park to 1, and see if the manual slide valve goes all of the way from the front to the back. That is the best way to determine if everything is properly aligned. I would not want to bend that Z linkage. Once you bend metal, it is easier for it to start bending on its own under stress.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check out Glacier's thread on the Z link: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155599&highlight=link

 

[saxon]

I now have the ATSG A4LD update manual open on my desk and on pages 78-79, they say that if the Z-Link does not line up with the VB while in D2, that you should bend the Z-link to line up "the first land of the manual valve flush with the valve body casting as shown in Figure 75 (editor: page 79; image of manual valve in drawing of VB). However .010" below flush and .020" above flush with the valve body casting is totally acceptable."

I'm not keen on bending metal parts, either.

Has anyone ever done this? I have the Sonnax manual valve indexing sleeve update; that should take care of any slop in my manual valve. I think the Z-link hole in the manual valve is a bit elongated. I will photograph that prior to installing the VB. I will install all of this (the rebuilt VB with updates) tomorrow (Saturday) so I cannot check the manual valve alignment alignment until then.

Correcting the Z-Link location(?) is supposed to fix a "Tie-Up Condition" in park. What does that mean, exactly?

Your advice about checking the parking brake and blocking the wheels is certainly sound. Come to think of it, I've had by rear drums turned while I had the VB out so the e-brake may not be as tight as it should be. Good advice as always. Thanks BrooklynBay.

fwiw, the update ATSG update manual is a much more interesting read than the regular manual (which is, imho, not easy reading). $15 or so from www.transmissionpartsusa.com. Not sure if that's a good price of not but they seem to be way cheaper than the transmission supply places around here.

btw, all my life I've wanted a machinist's straight edge. Bought one yesterday at the local tool shop (for checking my VB for warpage). They came in two lengths, 18" and 24"' bought the smaller one.

 

[BrooklynBay]

A tie up in park is a binding condition. I was originally suggesting to use the parking brake as a safety precaution so that the vehicle doesn't move when it is taken out of park, and put into 1. If you feel that the parking brake might not be tight enough, then I'm glad that it helped! Could you post a picture of the machinist straight edge? What brand did you buy?

 

[saxon]

The straight edge should prove helpful; I wanted one to check out a Weber DGEV recently and they are nice for checking cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, lots of things.

I need to join so that I can post photos. I have a few ideas for some useful threads (nothing amazing like the VB rebuild diary but still useful) so I keep telling myself that I can get the super status for free (well, maybe anyway) but lately I spend all my extra time either working on this X or one of my race bikes (the three day season opener in Portland is next weekend) and I haven't got around to writing or joining. sigh. I just spent 7 hours driving my mom and I to and from a funeral (my great aunt passed away a few days ago); tired. Wanna sit and watch a DVD. Will reassemble the VB tomorrow.