ford 4.0 trans failure? AA wants comments

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Originally posted by Kris Guilbeaux
That depends on who you have rebuild it. I on the other hand I can come out better having my A4LD rebuilt.

Yes, but do you come out better when you have to rebuild the second, third, or fourth time as some people in this thread have had to do? It seems once you break the original seal on an A4LD, they do nothing but get worse.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

I have only had to have one A4LD rebuilt out of all three Explorer we own with them in there (two A4LDs and one 5R55E). I have not had any problems with the trannys personally. I would have to have my tranny rebuilt 5 times to make it worth it.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

I have never had a problem with my tranny either, but after the ones that I have seen crap out in stock vehicles, I decided to just go ahead and swap mine out. I have no doubt that when that A4LD crapped out I would be stranded somewhere, either on the trail or some place in the middle of nowhere. I agree that with proper routine maintenance an A4LD will last quite a while, but the fact that there is no aftermarket support to strengthen this tranny speaks for itself. If the aftermarket won't support it knowing it's junk, then I will just have to agree. I have to admit though that I was looking forwar to an AOD but since I had already started working with AA on this project, I decided to see it through, even though I have to suck up my pride and use a Chevy part.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

No aftermarket support???

I have posted the upgraded parts 4 the a4ld many times before, but for the sake of this thread I am going to do it again.
Alto performance the makers of red eagle clutches and colene steels. Makes Part# 041756 a4ld hi/reverse PowerPack. And a lo/ direct power pack.
Almost all manufacturers are selling the welded overdrive planet assy.
Superior and the junior correction kits are also very benificial to the a4ld because they address some of the common short comings in the fluid circuit
And the best updates to this tran. is from Ford. When you rebuild have all the updates done up to late 93. This replaces all but 3 of the factory brass bearings with Torrinton bearings and improves its effic. by 12%.

The real problem is the rebuilders that dont update and do non 4.0 a4ld build ups in 4.o application. Its a lot cheaper to rebuild to non 4.0 standards.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Hotweels]

eh i had my a4ld rebuilt with all the updates and a transgo kit and it still busted with only 45,000km's on it and 90% of that was just driveing around the city
I have been burned once by a so called a4ld hi-perf rebuild now i think its time to try something new and has proven itself i cant justify rebuilding my a4ld for a second time at a cost of $2300cdn.... thats more than the resale value of the truck.
not trying to flame you just telling you a page from my book, please dont get mad.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

I have Two Friends that are Ford Tranny guys too. That is who rebuilt my Tranny for $300.00 plus parts($45.00 rebuild kit and shift kit). They told me that the weak part of the A4LD is the Front pump if it fails it will over heat. This is why the A4LD always Puke there Fluid. The best thing you can do is install a better tranny cooler and change the fluid every Year or 20K miles.

 

[Mbrooks420]

My first trans was allegedlly caused by a failed one way clutch. The second was a snapped 2nd gear band caused by the trans going into "false neutral" in 1st and then shifting into second at roughly 5000 rpm.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

Overdrive sprag assy.

Was a problem, Aloooong time ago. Current units are being ran in dessert racers pushing 400 H.P. Now overdrive cluch retainers assembled crooked will take out the sprag assy. Rebuilders fault. Its cheaper to make excuses than to rebuild one for free. There not all bad but there are enough to make you wonder.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

mbrooks

Did you ever ask why it went into a "false neutral"? Unless a fluid curcuit failed, Like a cut lip seal wich by the way usually happens during installation. Sounds like some one miss adjusted the band, If it was adjusted to non 4.0 adjustments with an early 4.0 band it would bind. If it had the single wrap band and it was adjusted to the double wrap adjustment it would not clamp soon enough and the drum wood spool up and then slam when it did. It sounds like the latter.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

Front pump

This is deff. a problem. If the input bushing is wore to the point were it needs to be replaced you should replace the whole front pump assy. The bushings are line bored in place and when the bushing is replaced with a concentric bushing they are often enough out of allighnment to cause seal and pump failure. But once again this is a known issue. And if I can figure it out the guys who do it for a living should be able to also. Ongoing education is mandatory in my job, and obviosly isnt in some trnsmission shops.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I have no idea why it was going into false nuetral. My trans was rebuilt, not another put in. It had about 30K on it. The second place that rebuilt my trans(they didn't accept my warranty so I went elsewhere for the first.) They said that their was a lot of parts in the trans that weren't updated. They also said their was a few hard parts that they suspect should have been replaced and weren't. As far as I know I have all the upgrades possible. I still have no faith in this trans, and both of them shifted like garbage.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

Mbrooks420 I feel for ya !

You would get a kick in the pants if you drove mine for a few. I,m over the hundred thousand mark since I rebuilt my own, and I pull a 3800 lb. dive boat almost every day and it still shifts solid as a rock. And I am a mildly aggressive driver. Sounds like your rebuilder got you.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Okay, here is a question for all you tranny experts. We(myself, 41Fortune, and AA) are trying to figure out some computer interface problems. We know that the te only inputs from the EEC to the A4LD tranny are the 3-4 shift and the torque converter lockup. The only signal from the tranny back to the EEC is tranny telling the EEC that the 3-4 shift solenoid is there(CEL).
My questions are:

In a stock 4.0L w/ A4LD tranny
1. What voltage is sent to the tranny from the EEC to lock up the torque converter?

2. What voltage is sent to the EEC from the tranny to tell it the 3-4 solenoid is there(cirkuit completed)?

 

[Hotweels]

My good friend had a 89 chevy 1500 and rigged it up for a manual lockup, all he did was run a switch thru the converter lock up wire and when he fliped the switch it grounded out the wire and the converter would lock.... answer is its a 12v signal to the converter... i think (99% sure)

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

I know what the chevy 700-R4 needs. I am asking about stock 4.0L and A4LD applications so we can try and incorporate it in to the 700-R4 application.

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

a4ld torque converter lockup.

Very simple.
#1 12volts.

#2 A4ld with obd1 is a non return signal issue. All valve body with selinoid limiters the computer just opens the selinoid, It does not care or affect anything if it does not work. It just allows it to happen when the parimeter are correct. Mid throttle over 50 mph with 3rd fluid circuit open.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

#1, I agree

#2, I thought there was a feedback from the tranny telling the EEC if the 3-4 shift solenoid was there or not. In other words, if the solenoid is bad, the EEC turns on the check engine light. Is this correct. In more words, without the A4LD, say a manual tranny, won't the auto tranny computer turn on the check engine light?

 

[ALYZ1FLR]

a4ld will not trip cel.

!

 

[Hotweels]

I think only with the 95+ computer controlled trannys.

 

[Hotweels]

lets make this real easy..... someone go outside and disconnect the wires to the tranny and go for a short drive and find out what happens