Is my A4LD terminal?

[Mettler]

Ok so Ive looked around and I havent found my symptoms anywhere.
About 12,000 miles ago I had the trans flushed at Jiffy Lube. It worked alot better after that. I just checked the fluid recently and its full, but dirty. These days now that its getting cold again Im noticing that on the first run through the gears on my way out in the morning it doesnt want shift into 2nd until like 35mph sometimes 38. And then after that it runs through them fine.

When the truck is good and wam the trans works great. Lots of throttle response very little if any slippage.

Sometimes when Im on the freeway and I got my toe in it for all shes got, to either pass someone or climb a steep grade, it'll be almost at redline and it feels like the torque converter lets go till I let off the throttle.

What is that?

Is this a major tear down and rebuild or can I get away with a minor repair without taking the trans out.

 

[KPSquared]

It's an A4LD... It's on the way out... That's what they do...

I'm no expert but that sounds like the tranny is going to depart soon. I would suggest not getting on it hard and avoid the things that make it slip and start looking for a replacement or pricing a rebuild.

 

[OnTheEDGE05]

I'm not sure if it's terminal or not, but is this the first trans flush you've had? If so, how many miles are on your truck? It is generally not a good idea to flush a trans with high mileage IF it's never been done before. It tends to deteriorate the bands. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help though.

 

[Mettler]

On side note it does not stall and clunk into gear when shifted into reverse. It doesnt leak. I did just re-adjust the kick down cable (helped tremendously).

Would it be something as simple as replacing the trans filter?

It does sometimes slip when going from stopped to go at a light.
What I mean is, step on the throttle and it feels like a slight slip thump into full engagement. Then it runs fine. That doesnt happen often.
Though the other day I had put a bunch of hwy miles on it, made a stop, got back in and put it in reverse and got a shudder engagement then it ran fine all day.
I cant afford to tear this thing out right now. If this is something that can be fixed while its in the truck that would be preferable. Any thoughts are welcome.
Yes I know its a crap trans but it has to make it through winter.

 

[Mettler]

Yea that was the first flush I ever did to it. I dont think it had ever been done prior. I bought it at 132k and thats when I did the flush now Im at 145k.
This thing was a girls vehicle when I bought it.
Ive replaced all u-joints, shocks, brakes, bearings, tires, re-built the shifter motor, exaust, replaced all fluids, tightened the bands, re-adjusted the kickdown cable, cleaned the TB, ect, ect...
Basically caught up all the maintinance issues.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Since the bands, and kickdown cable were already adjusted, the next step is to replace the filter, and see if the governor needs to be cleaned or replaced.

 

[arco777]

A sticking governor will cause several of the symptoms you've described.

When the trans is cold it will not want to shift into second gear on its own, once it's warm it will shift normally. Also when stopping it may not kick from 2nd into 1st gear, so when you take off on green you start off in 2nd for a moment or it may not downshift at all. That can cause some hesitation and a feeling of slippage, especially when running 3.27/3.08 gears because 2nd gear has a hard time launching you off the line with those.

The governor can be cleaned but a replacement is best. You can get at it by dropping the T-case. A search will tell you more.

I don't believe your A4LD is terminal or nearing death, it is just aging normally.

 

[MrQ]

A sticking governor will cause several of the symptoms you've described.

When the trans is cold it will not want to shift into second gear on its own, once it's warm it will shift normally. Also when stopping it may not kick from 2nd into 1st gear, so when you take off on green you start off in 2nd for a moment or it may not downshift at all. That can cause some hesitation and a feeling of slippage, especially when running 3.27/3.08 gears because 2nd gear has a hard time launching you off the line with those.

The governor can be cleaned but a replacement is best. You can get at it by dropping the T-case. A search will tell you more.

I don't believe your A4LD is terminal or nearing death, it is just aging normally.

Right on man! I have the same problem. I expect more of these threads popping up this time of year. Do not worry, your A4LD will last you a little while longer. Heck, mine has 160K on it and it is still running like a champ.

 

[arco777]

I have 156K on mine with that problem. Hey, you should go wheeling with us tomorrow at Hot Springs! It's an 8 hour drive but the memories will last a lifetime You'd only have to wake up at 3AM!

 

[Mettler]

Sometimes when Im on the freeway and I got my toe in it for all shes got, to either pass someone or climb a steep grade, it'll be almost at redline and it feels like the torque converter lets go till I let off the throttle.

What is that?

So, would this be a bad governer? It literally feels like I just threw it into nuetral at full throttle.

 

[arco777]

To be honest, I don't know what causes that. When you floor it and back off does it downshift properly, or does the trans just let go?

 

[dillon1340]

Right on man! I have the same problem. I expect more of these threads popping up this time of year. Do not worry, your A4LD will last you a little while longer. Heck, mine has 160K on it and it is still running like a champ.

the a4ld is a weak transmission but i dont think we ever hear about the ones that DO last. i had mine apart and the entire overdrive planetary was broken and its springs were all broken but it still drove and shifted fine. i took it apart because i felt like it was time and i had the money. cleaning the governor will probably help the shifting from first gear prob, it did when i first got mine. when it was cold it would not get out of first gear.

 

[SuddenDeath]

I just had my transmission replaced, and it does the 'doesnt shift from 1st right away' problem. I wouldn't even worry about it. Think about the properties of a fluid, think about the temperature. It's an old truck with an old transmission, I'd either let it warm up from now on or deal with the delay shifting into 2nd. Try and manually shift the gear selector into "2" and it should kick right into 2nd, but it wont want to engage 2nd gear on it's own in drive until it's nice and warm.

 

[BrooklynBay]

# 45 in my list of useful threads has information on replacing the governor: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155582

 

[motopsycho650]

Flushing a tranny every 30,000 miles is great and will help the tranny last a long time. But, if the tranny has gone over 100,000 miles without a flush, don't bother flushing it. New fluid will often cause failures on neglected transmissions.

 

[Mettler]

Yes Brooklyn Ive read your write up on the governor rebuild. Very helpful. Still Im not looking forward to doing it. At least I know that it isnt going to die because of it. As to the WOT slip, yes it shifts properly when I let off the throttle. I usually stab it and right when its about to let go I back off a bit and it seems to pull harder. Really tho it feels like its a governor type problem. Its like the tranny does it on purpose.
No one else has had this happen?
Im not really that hard on my rig. Though it may seem like it. You just notice these things when your tryin to dip thru traffic southbound on the 405 hill outta Bothell.

 

[mikeinri]

Here are some fun facts, and a what might be something overly obvious, but worth checking...

My 94 Explorer had 290,000 miles when I had to junk it. The tranny was original, and RAN GREAT!!! I replaced the fluid and filter for the first (only?) time at about 175,000 miles. So much for the old wives tales.

The only time I had issues was when the fluid was low (no leaks on the ground). Especially when cold, it didn't like to shift out of first, and then it didn't like to shift back down to first after stopping. The problem turned out to be the vacuum solendoid, something like a $40 part. The sign for this is tranny fluid up in the vacuum tree (do a search here for replacement procedure and pics of the tree).

One other leak was at the rubber tranny cooler lines, where they attached to the metal tranny lines behind/under the radiator, and where they attached to the tranny cooler, which is attached to the front of the radiator behind the grill. You would see fluid on the ground from this, and if it's bad enough, it blocks up the radiator and can cause overheating of the engine and tranny. The sign of this is a nice, think paste of tranny fluid and road debris covering the front of the radiator, which blocks air flow through the fins. Just replace the rubber lines with fuel line, and put on new hose clamps. Use some engine degreaser and brush out the radiator fins.

So, in addition to checking the governor, check your fluid level, and check the cooler hoses and vacuum tree. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[Mettler]

I used to own an 86 cougar that I paid 300 bucks for because it was burning trans fluid. I replaced the vac modulator and all was well for the duration of my ownership. I know all about vacume modulator failure. That is not the problem. My Sport doesnt loose or burn any fluid either. It did have one slightly loose line on the radiator that I tightened up yesterday. Today it was extreamly cold so I let it sit and warm for 10 minutes or so till the temp gauge came up to normal and all my windows defrosted naturally. After that my truck ran so freaking good I was amazed! It still didnt want to shift right off but I anticipated that and ran it thru the gears manually. Worked fine.

Weird thing was that my speedometer started qwackin out. At first it was almost 15 mph faster than actual speed (checked against GPS). After it warmed up, the speedo was more acurate than it has ever been. Usually at 45mph the GPS says 48. (GPS)55 is 60(speedo) and 70(GPS) says 76(speedo). Now those incraments are within 1 to 2 mph difference all the way out. Im sure my speedo cable is about to break but Im not so worried about that. Ive been needing a reason to get into the dash. Half the gauge lights are burnt out. As for the tranny I think Im just gonna let it ride for the next few cold months and when it warms up and Im back to work I'll tear into it. However I did try to go to my favorite Napa and price out the entire governor unit. Thier book didnt show numbers for it, so he couldnt order it. Where can I order this part without going to a Ford stealership?

 

[arco777]

Already been to the dealer, they said they couldn't get it any more as it was discontinued.

Try WITTrans.com. https://www.wittrans.com/Schematic.aspx?Transmission=A4LD/4R44E/4R55E/5R55E

Governor part numbers can be seen on the packaging in the governor replacement thread on this board. Dealer told me a couple original P/Ns were superceded but the replacements were also discontinued. DSM shows:

Governor body: 7C063
Governor primary valve: 7C054
Governor valve spring: 7A302
Governor weight: 7D324
Governor body counter weight: 7F124

 

[BrooklynBay]

https://www.wittrans.com/SchematicParts.aspx?Transmission=A4LD/4R44E/4R55E/5R55E&LinkCode=680