My 2000 XLT Explorer 4 Door

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The manual lever position sensor and shaft were rusted together like usual. It is hard to get the sensor off without breaking it, the rust makes the shaft fatter and binds inside the sensor. Since I was using a new case I pulled the shaft out with the sensor still on it and used a socket to tap the sensor off the shaft. I was able to get them apart without breaking the sensor. I cleaned up the shaft and put anti seize on it.

To get the manual lever shaft out of the case you have to remove a little pin. That pin did not want to come out. I watched a couple YouTube videos and found that many people struggle with this. I ended up doing what I saw in one of the videos I watched, I drilled holes around the pin and it finally came out. Of course you could not do this to a case you are reusing, this case was already garbage from stripped valve body bolt holes.

 

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This is what was left on my transmission stand after tearing down the original transmission. This is the extension housing for a 4wd Explorer.
The only thing left in it was the parking pawl and spring. I did remove the gasket after this picture was taken.

 

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Here is the output shaft for the 4wd Explorers, when I pulled the case off the extension housing this came right out. The bearing surfaces looked great, all I had to do was wipe it off and it was good to go. The notches are for the parking pawl and the output shaft speed sensor.

 

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Here are most of the parts including the new case. It is like a big jigsaw puzzle. The bands are not shown because the old ones get thrown out and the new ones are soaking.

 

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I installed the output shaft with the case on an old milk crate because the shaft sticks out the back end of the case. You have to reach inside and install a snap ring. The snap rings seem to go in a bit easier than they come out.

Here is what it looks like inside the case when looking down, The reverse drum and a couple of other parts are installed already in this picture.

 

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I rebuilt each assembly as I went along, installing them after assembling them. A couple months before this transmission failed I bought a compressing tool for transmissions. It was on my watch list since I rebuilt my Ranger transmission and I am glad I got it because it made the job much easier.

Here is one of the drum assemblies apart, and the compressing tool I got off eBay. The feeler gauges are for checking the clutch clearances.

The chart shows the specs for clearance and what part number snap ring to use, the snap rings are different thicknesses and that is how you change the clutch clearances. To tight and it will drag and burn up the clutches, too loose and it will slip. There are also air checks in the factory manual, these tests make sure nothing leaks before you put it all back together. I was brave and did not do any air checks this time. lol.

 

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I only used the milk crate for installing the output shaft and reverse drum assembly. Once that was done I put the case on the extension housing which was still bolted to the engine stand, along with a new gasket. Then after rebuilding each assembly, I installed them into the case.

 

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Before I got this far I checked for proper end play in the rear half of the case, there are special Ford tools I used but did not take pictures because I was focusing on what I was doing. After measuring you select the proper thickness thrust bearing that goes behind the center support, then you install the snap ring and TSS sensor. Next is installing the over drive planetary assembly (with that sprag clutch I replaced), and measuring the clearance between the sensor and the tone ring part of that assembly.

The tool on the left has two different thickness tabs on each end, the smaller one should fit between the tone ring and sensor, and the fat end should not.

 

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After making sure the TSS sensor gap was correct it was time to protect all those clean parts for storage during the week while I was at work.

A regular kitchen trash bag fits very well when the bellhousing is not on the transmission, this keeps anything from falling into the transmission while it is being stored like this.

 

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Rebuilding more assemblies as I went along. This one looked kind of nasty inside so I had to clean it out real good while installing the new seals and clutches.

 

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The pump bolts to the back of the bellhousing, this is the original one that shattered. The torque converter drives the pump and was damaged when the pump gears broke.

You have to do some more measurements to select the right thrust bearing for proper clearance behind the pump.
The thrust washer is plastic and is color coded.

The thrust washer goes between the back of the pump and the front of this drum assembly. You stick it to the back of the pump with Vaseline, then install the pump and bellhousing assembly, using a new gasket and seal of course.

 

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This is a different pump housing, I wasn't going to use the original one because of the pump failure. I installed new pump gears into this housing. There is an O-ring that gets installed into the center pump gear, I installed that and used another special tool to seat the seal properly.

This is an aftermarket alignment tool that is easier to use than the factory one. You have to use an alignment tool when bolting the pump to the back of the bellhousing. Some people just use the torque converter which works perfectly too.

Here is the tool sticking through in the center of the pump, it is long enough to sit the whole bellhousing and pump assembly on it while torqueing the bolts to spec. I did use a piece of a 2x4 as well but it wasn't needed. I also installed a new torque converter bushing into the bellhousing before installing the pump.

 

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After the pump and bellhousing are assembled and the thrust washer is stuck to the back with Vaseline, it gets bolted on the case. There are little o-rings that go on the pump bolts which need to be installed to prevent leaks. Then the front transmission seal gets installed, and a sealing ring on the shaft that goes into the toque converter. This blue plastic cap is resizing the sealing ring because it was a stretch to install design, the original ring was a split design which is supposed to be not as good.

 

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As more of the transmission gets put together you need larger trash bags for storage. I am glad I had these longer trash bags around.

 

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I had to order valve body bolts since a couple of the original ones had damaged threads. The valve body I had in stock along with a remanufactured torque converter. It had been for another Explorer that I ended up installing a used transmission into.

Valve body and filter installed.

I install these Dorman transmission pans because they have drain plugs, it is so much nicer to drain the fluid before unbolting the pan. If you ever had to drop the pan on one of these without a drain plug, you might know about what a mess can happen if the fluid gets spilled. The gasket didn't come with the pan, it came with the filter kit I ordered. I use the kits that come with a rubberish gasket.

 

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The manual lever position sensor was one of the last parts I installed. I made sure the transmission was in neutral and lined up the little marks.

Junkyard transmissions often come with the electrical connectors since they just cut them off the harnesses. I use them to keep dirt out during installation. This transmission is ready but I don't install the torque converter until it is on the transmission jack because of the weight it adds. The torque converter on the floor is the old damaged one. The remanufactured torque converter is in the back of the Explorer with transmission fluid in it to soak the internal lock up clutch.

The junkyard transmission back out, it is a shame it didn't work. Since it only had reverse and D2, my diagnoses is a bad sprag clutch in the reverse drum. I bought a new sprag for it, and a whole reverse drum assembly with a good sprag in it. I plan to tear down the used transmission to see if my diagnosis is correct and rebuild the trans for a spare since it will fit three of my vehicles including my Ranger. It won't work in my supercharged Explorer because that is a 1998.

 

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Last weekend (5-3-2025) I had the transmission bolted in place with 4 bellhousing bolts, the crossmember, the transfer case, and the transmission lines. This weekend I finished the work.

I replaced the dual catalytic converter assembly since the old one has a crack along a hanger weld, a seized O2 sensor, and stripped studs on the front end. The replacement one doesn't have studs in front, it just has bolt holes and you use regular nuts and bolts. I bought this assembly because of that.

 

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After road testing the Explorer to make sure all the gears worked and there were no problems, I replaced the rear brake pads and rotors.

The rear brake pads were getting pretty skinny, I am glad to have new ones back there now. I did that front ones last year and they are in good shape still as they barely have any miles on them.

 

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I put 20 miles on it to make sure the transmission and rear brakes are working good. Current miles below.

 

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I am so glad to have my daily driver back up and running like it should.