Gearing up for A4LD rebuild

[Josh]

Well I have finaly got off my butt and am preparing to tear down a 92 trans I got from the junkyard. I have been reading Glacier's rebuild diary along with others. I have the ATSG manual and I am making a list of tools and parts that I will need. I plan to follow Glacier's bullet proof tips as well. One thing I need is advice on which company to get parts from. I am looking for the best balance of cost and customer service. Below is what I have so far. Its not much but its a start.

Tools:
-Trans spring compressor
-Seal/bushing drivers
-Flat nose snap ring pliers
-Seal protectors(If I can find them cheap or borrow)
-Govenor bore tool(300 BUCKS!! I am hopeing to find it cheap or borrow)

Parts:

-Torque Converter. I found these 2 on Ebay.??
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=320162940047&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=170009136924&rd=1

-All Frictions and steels
-Replace washers with bearings where needed.
-All seals and gaskets
-Welded OD sprag
-Most likely replace servo's depending on condition.
-All bands
-TransGo Shift Kit
-Superior Shift Kit

I am sure there will be more depending on the condition of the tranny. One thing I made sure of was to drop the pan and check the pan for shavings. The fluid looked clean and red. After I pulled the tranny, I noticed on the inside of the bellhousing, there was a handwritten note(Chris 02/03). This makes me wonder if this tranny was rebuilt in February of 03. The front seal also looked brand new. Hopefuly that is a sign of things to come. Any inputs are definately apreciated. I hope to start soon, but I need to clean up the bat cave first.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Is your A4LD the famous one from the rebuild thread? Why does it need to be rebuilt so fast? Glacier could loan you the tools (with a deposit) instead of buying all of that stuff for only a one time use. WWW.TransmissionPartsUSA.Com should have the parts you need.

 

[JAMES 007]

good luck not going to good for me

 

[Glacier991]

This is not the rebuild A4LD... but it does appear that someone rebuilt in 03, and his or her name was Chris - just not THIS Chris

 

[Josh]

This was a 92 tranny that I just pulled last weekend in Virginia Beach VA. Got it for 78 bucks! Hopefuly I got really lucky. I could have gotten the torque converter with it, but didn't plan on using it. Would have been nice for a core though when ordering another. What about the different materials for the bands? I have heard of bands made with kevlar. Are those better? I am definatley willing to put down a deposit for tool rental!! I was thinking how cool it would be to start some kind of tool network on the forum, but most of my tools are easy to find and cheap. 30 dallor dial indicater w/magnetic base, 20.00 micrometer(I think) with digital readout, 15.00 Fuel injection PSI testor, etc. Harbor frieght is a wonderful place.

 

[Josh]

good luck not going to good for me

James,
I feel your pain. I have had to pull parts that I just fixed and start all over again before. 5 times with the power steering box before I finaly gave up and bought another one. I also have a nasty leak that appears to be coming from my rear main seal that I should have replaced when I put in the new motor. Just think how good you will be when it comes to tranny tear downs. I know I can take apart my front end with my eyes closed.

 

[gforceman]

Josh i live in VA Beach as well and im rebuilding my A4LD also its apart on my bench i need a T/C mine has grooves on the shaft , where did u get that A4LD from for that cheap Sheeze ( pick & Pull ) ? i have found a rebuild kit on ebay as well that im prolly gonna purchase. <HERE>

 

[Josh]

Yea got it at Pic-and-Pull over by Oceana. There is a 92 X out there that I pulled the tranny from and the TC is still bolted to the flywheel and easy to get to, at least it was last weekend. Might not be a good idea to use a used one though. The truck is on the third or fourth row back on the left not to far in. I believe it was an eddie baurer because it had leather seats.

 

[gforceman]

what indecations that the T/C maybe bad cuz i am now rebuilding a tranny that was installed by ingrams that worked for a year b4 the front seal blew out along with other problems not shifting or no shifting correctly my clutches and steels in the reverse pack where burnt up cuz of the spring loaded disk gave out breaking all the springs , since your tranny appeard good i suspect teh T/C maybe still good ? mine is very questionable i also need the plastic cap that was installed in the flexplate as well , are there any more 91 to 94 2wd expos with trannys there ?

 

[Josh]

I think there were a couple, but one may have been manual. I don't think 2wd or 4wd matters for the torque converter, but not sure. There are always 1st gen X's out there.

 

[Josh]

Well I tore it down today and I am sure this thing was rebuilt. It has transtec gaskets everywhere. I was worried about the govenor bore, but it looks good and I will probably will not sleeve the bore. For the valve body, I will probably follow Glacier's VB rebuild and go with both kits. The bands look to be in good shape as well but I will probably replace them anyway. On the OD and intermediate bands, you could still see some type of print from the factory. The clutches also look to be in good shape, but I think I might go with glaciers idea on using the 5R55E fibers. I just got the update manual the other day so I will be going through that as well. I was thinking about kevlar bands, are they better than the regular ones? One thing I was curious about is the shaft on the front of the pump. Is the outer shaft supposed to be stationary or is it supposed to move? This one doesn't. And yes, I tagged and bagged everything.: I plan on posting pics in a little while as soon as I pay to renew my elite status.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The large shaft is stationary. There is a debate about the Kevlar bands. We came to the conclusion that it might be OK if you use larger servos to increase the holding apply pressure of the band against the drum. Kevlar slips a little more than the regular band material. They make a Kevlar rear band, but there aren't any tricks I know of to increase the apply holding pressure.

 

[Josh]

Well here are some pics of the tear down. I thought the name was Chris but it was Nick on the bellhousing

 

[Josh]

The Gov bore

 

[Josh]

On the subject of the torrington bearings, It appears in order to use them you need to have the updated part they mate to. One is the the #5 bearing on the forward drum. The picture from the update manual is below. The reason I ask, is I am trying to stay within my budget of approximately 900 bucks. All of the internals appear to be in good condition, but at the same time I would also like to incorporate as many of the updates as possible. I have found a local supplier with prices pretty close to what Glacier quoted on his original diary so I am hoping to get everything from them.

 

[Josh]

I read Glaciers theory about using a stronger servo for the OD(ZC) and using the original OD servo(AB) for the intermediate apply. Would that be a good idea?

 

[BrooklynBay]

It makes a firm, more positive shift. It would be good for towing, and off roading.

 

[Josh]

Update parts list

Well after doing some homework and getting familiar with some of the parts using the update manual I have come up with a list of what I think I need. The list below is what I believe my tranny needs.

- 93+ center support w/#5 thrust bearing--F3TZ-7A130-A
- Sun gear shell snap type----------------F3TZ-7D064-A
- Direct clutch drum snap type------------FOTZ-7D044-A
- #3 Torrington bearing-------------------F3TZ-7L326-A
- Front planetary gear set service pkg-----FOTZ-7D090-A $$?
*Includes 3 pc thrust bearing assembly(#7 bearing)
-#8 Thrust washer 2nd design------------FOTZ-7A166-A
-#9 Thrust washer 2nd design------------FOTZ-7A166-B
-#10 Thrust washer 2nd design-----------FOTZ-7D422-A
-OD serv0 upgrade to ZC
-viton d-rings for OD servo
-A4LD JR and superior vlave body kits
-O-ring end plugs
-thicker valve body gasket
-Sonnax boost valve update
-Int servo upgrade to AB

I hope hats it for the updated parts. I am sure some of these parts will be included in the master rebuild kit I plan to get I hope. Tranny guru's please chime in if I missed something or at least some approval as to my plan. Also this is not my entire parts list, this is just what the update manual suggested to be current. There were other things but I think most of those were incorporated during the implentation od the 4.0 in 1990 time frame, but could be wrong. I gashed open one of my fingers today on some steel banding at work and had to get a tetanus shot and the side of my finger got glued back together so I am not allowed to do dirty work for a week. Water and sweat will make the glue fall off.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Get the viton D ring kit for the overdrive servo, valve body end plugs with O rings, and the boost valve with O rings. They make thicker valve body gaskets for older valve bodies which might be a little warped. You might find # 30 in my list of useful threads interesting: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1521552#post1521552

 

[Josh]

Yea I had those on my notes. I don't know if I am going to use the 5R clutches or not. If so, would it be possible to use a 5R torque converter since the 2 trannies are related?