I expected to post here much sooner, but didn't have much positive to post until now. I did get the 5r55e transmission back together and installed in the van in June (after an all-nighter), having planned on using it for a family trip. I started it up and ran it while on the jackstands, but it didn't work quite right. Totally exhausted, I dropped it off the stands and used our Crown Vic for the trip.
Putting it up on the jacks a couple of weeks later, I found one of the servo covers had come loose. I wedged it back in place and took the van for a drive. It seemed to work OK, but after we stopped to visit a friend, it lost all forward gears except 1st.
Thinking maybe the valve body was malfunctioning, I purchased a "used, but taken from a perfectly functioning transmission" valve body on Ebay, mostly for diagnostic purposes. After installing it, the tranny worked no better than before. Acting on almost an impulse, I adjusted the bands. I found that both were way out of adjustment, probably because of fatigue during my all-nighter assembly job. Unfortunately, though the transmission now had a manual first and second, it wouldn't shift like normal.
I checked the pump pressure with a gauge, and it was on the low side, but not always out of the good range. The error codes I got pointed to the #4 servo and torque converter lockup problems. I was stymied, so decided to take the tranny out and check things over, and also replace the pump because the stator nose wasn't quite right. I'd had to sand down the teflon seal because the groove was narrow, probably done when the torque converter failed.
The tranny's internals looked good. The thin seal had workled, but I replaced the pump. carefully put the trans back together and installed it. The only other thing I did was change out the #4 servo.
You experts can probably guess what happened next. The transmission worked exactly the same as when I took it apart.
I gave it one last try. I dropped the pan and unbolted the valve body. Stting it on the bench along side the original, I grabbed the EPS on the "used, but taken from a perfectly functioning transmission" valve body and it had an extreme wiggle to it. I grabbed the EPS on the original valve body and it was tight. Finally, something tangible to digest. I re-installed the original valve body, which also had a Trans-go kit installed, and buttoned it up.
The trans shifted good while on the jackstands, and the only glitch was that it didn't shift into reverse a couple of time on the first short road trip. After a longer shakedown run, it worked pretty good. It had a couple of odd shifts at first, but I think it was as much the computer re-programming as anything since it shifts relatively well now. Hopefully the deer will stay away from the road when the wife drives it.
I learned quite a bit about the tranny so now am looking forward to putting the '94 back on the road, after I get a couple other projects out of the way.
