First VB rebuild, questions after reassembly

[Roadstump]

Hey guys,
I just finished my first VB removal, tear down and rebuild. I can't say it was necessarily easy but whichever previous post said that you need to be meticulous and patient was right on the money. Those words kept ringing in my head.

Of the 17 ports I had 3 plugs that really gave me heck. I had to go to bed and go at it the next morning because patience was wearing thin. I am an electronic tech by trade and have several of those cheap tweaker screwdrivers that companies give away at trade show. It turns out that they are made of a malleable material. With the knowledge and comfort that I had a set of Sonnex replacement plugs I ground the thickness of the screwdriver shaft down to fit in the slot behind the trouble plugs, bent the tip to fit my needs and created a pry bar do slowly and gently push the trouble plugs out.

I ran into a couple of dilemmas that I want to run by the experts on this site.

1. After removing the valve body from the transmission, I am doing this with the tranny in the vehicle, I noticed a short arm or bar protruding down from the transmission. I have not read about this thing and wondered if anyone can shed some light on it.

Another angle:

2. When rebuilding the VB I found that the Lock-Up Solenoid did not have the tab like the original. see below:

3. When I removed the separator plate and turned it over I did not find a TCC screen installed. I did this over a disposable foil roasting pan just in case something fell out but nothing did. Any clues?

The last item I want to ask is regarding the low-reverse servo. The Transgo kit says to place the servo in a vice, compress the shaft out the rear then remove and discard the wire clip, install the new spring and reassemble but it does not say to install a new wire clip. Can I assume it NEEDS this wire clip or is the mod suggesting to not use a clip on the back of the servo. Also, should the o-rings be replace, are they available at AZ or Ford Dealer? could not find them at transmissionpartsusa.com .

Thanks again guys, this was a fun project.

Gary 'Roadstump'

 

[BrooklynBay]

The piece protruding is the bottom of the dipstick. A lot of aftermarket solenoids don't have the tab on the solenoid. Did you see if the case spring is in the case behind the valve body? This is in addition to the screen in the valve body. You need the retaining clip on the low/reverse servo. Transmission Parts USA has a Viton D ring kit for the low/reverse servo.

 

[Roadstump]

too funny. The bottom of the dipstick. Perfect!!!! I got so wound up in every detail I lost perspective of common sense reality.

forgot to mention that this is A4Ld valve body.

So a d-ring kit will have o-rings??

I am not sure I follow you on the missing screen. Are you saying that there is a spring somewhere that works with the screen or in place of the screen. Should I add the screen if there was not one there?

 

[lifted93xplorer]

The dipstick..:scratch:.., that's priceless lol.:bsnicker:. Now don't get all bent out of shape, I've seen "ASE" certified technicians pull bigger bonners than that.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The D ring kit replaces the conventional O rings. There are 2 different filters. The one that you were referring to is a clip in sock style that presses into the separator plate. The other filter that I was referring to is called the case spring which is supposed to act like a filter, but it's just a spring. You should see it in the bottom of the case after the valve body is removed. One word of advice on the solenoids. Be careful not to mix both of them up.

 

[Roadstump]

Ok, got it on the filter. follow up questions.

Is the 'case' the part that stays on the transmission after removing valve body?

Should I or can I still intstall the screen filter?

 

[BrooklynBay]

The case is the actual transmission in the vehicle. You could install the filter.

 

[Roadstump]

thanks for the info, since I have a new screen I am going to add it to the separator plate.

Another question on the low reverse. In the A4LD rebuild kit it has a blue spring to replace the existing one. I know I asked this already but I am a bit confused.

If you look at the picture below you will see the old spring on the left and the new one on the right. the new one is much shorter than the old one but the instructions (also shown) specifically states "no wire clip". If I didn't know better I would reassemble with the new spring and not replace the spring clip at the bottom of the shaft. Sorry to doubt the earlier instructions but are you sure they mean to replace the clip??

 

[BrooklynBay]

The instructions are referring to discarding the old spring & clip, and replacing with new parts from their kit. The picture shows a spring which is similar to your old spring, and not like the new spring. The correct parts might be somewhere in the kit. If not, then leave well enough alone, and use the servo the way it is.