Looking for answers on tranny problem

[LostNtheMud]

This is gonna be a little long winded, but I am quite confused as to what's up with the a4ld in my 93 ex. The symptoms are as follows: when it is cold out, the tranny will not upshift from 1st gear until it has been rode at 4000 rpms for approx. 1-2 miles. Not good! What I am able to do is manually shift from 1st to 2nd with no problems. If I do this for a couple of miles, then put it in OD or D it will shift about normal, maybe 200 or 300 rpms above the normal shift point. The confusing part is that once it shifts the first time, it works fine as long as it stays warm. If it sits for a couple of hours on a cold day, I have to go through the whole manual shifting thing again. I did a fluid and filter change this weekend and found metal shavings in the pan, as well as the tranny fluid being almost gray(again, not good!). I am sure something internal is disintegrating, but I don't understand why after the first shift, the tranny works just the way it's supposed to. I would suspect the vacuum advance if it didn't work fine after the first shift. I am almost clueless as to exactly what the torque converter does and I am wondering if this could have something to do with it. Any and all help will be appreciated. If anyone out there knows any diagnostics tricks I can use to narrow down the possible problem, all suggestions are welcome.

 

[Opera House]

Sounds like speed governor

If the problem is only in first. The procedure can be found on this thread (page 3 titled Speed Governor...) located at:

12/6 Under the Hood Anybody rebuild an A4LD

You should also change the fluid a couple more times to clean up the fluid. Dropping the pan only changes about 1/3 of it. Some of this debris is normal. Are you sure you are not experiencing any other problems. Would also recommend you doing low/reverse servo with this age transmission. Suggest you read all the posts on that thread.

 

[LostNtheMud]

Thanks for the quick reply. I wanted to go to the link, but it doesn't appear to work when I click on it. I was just wondering if the speed governor would explain the first hard shift then the normal operation after that. The problem isn't really 1st gear, but that it won't shift out of 1st automatically until it warms up, but it will shift fine manually. Maybe the information at the post you inserted will help explain, so I'll keep trying it.

 

[Opera House]

It worked this morning

You can search for it, 12/6, Under the Hood, Anybody rebuild an A4LD. This is the most common problem for a late shift. It could be because of:

Kickdown linkage
Damaged intermediate servo
Low engine vacuum, leak or poor engine performance
Loose valve body bolts
Sticking valve body valves
Modulator valve sticking

Check the vacuum hose to the transmission for presence of transmission oil. The vacuum modulator has a small orifice and if it fills with oil, it can be sluggish till it warms up.