Rear passenger wheel dragging, Trans slipping

[joebroni99]

At this point I am not sure if these two things are related. Heres the scenario. The parking brake return spring broke off my parking brake line. Then I noticed the car pulling to the right. I checked the two passenger tires and the back tire is very hot and obviously dragging. I kinda figure what happened was I kept using the parking brake without the spring and since their is not much tension releasing the parking brake cable from the wheel, the cable started seizing up. Then the trans started leaking fluid. Then the trans started slipping. It turned out to be the dipstick tube seal. I fixed that problem no more leak. I drove it a day to work and coming home the trans started slipping again. What happens is kinda hard to explain. If you get on the gas the trans jumps up to Over drive but kinda hesitates almost kinda like tapping the brakes. And then it seems to slip and engine red lines. I was kinda thinking this, though I am hoping somebody more knowledgeable is going to correct me,- If the rear drums are dragging to the point that its like driving with the brakes fully depressed, would that be creating a ton of friction that the transmission cant produce enough torque to drive the axle causing A: the transmission to slip from the strain being imposed on it, or B: forcing the trans to work under a real heavy load to the point the trans is quickly overheating and slipping, or C: causing rear differential to fail from the heavy stress?

Its a 92 explorer auto trans A4LD rear drum brakes.

Any insight or guidance would be fantastic and greatly appreciated.

Joe C.

 

[ld50]

First thing I would do is take a look at those brakes, and make sure they are not dragging (anymore). Then I would check my transmission fluid for overheating. Overheated fluid has unique smell of burned toast and will look slightly brownish, compare with fresh fluid if unsure.
I guess you could have rear end issues, but I would worry about the tranny first.

 

[joebroni99]

I took care of the rear park brake cable. Well I just cut it for now I didnt feel like taking the time to run the new cable. So the truck rolls smoothly now. The trans is still slipping. It appears to only slip in overdrive and not really in drive. What happens is it seems like it doesnt want to fully engage and drops back down to the lower gear. When the trans started leaking it seemed like I lost a lot of fluid. After I had fixed the trans dipstick from leaking, I put in a quart of fluid and a bottle of Lucas stop slip. Now when I check the fluid level its really high like 2+ inches above the crosshairs. Could too much fluid cause it to be slipping?

 

[ld50]

I`ve never had experience personally with an overfilled tranny, but "they" say it can cause slippage, and usually the dipstick says Do NOT overfill. I would drain some out.

 

[josh93rodeo]

If you need to drain a little fluid out it's much easier to just pop off one of the cooler lines, point it into a bucket and turn over the engine for a few seconds than to drop the pan. If you burned the fluid, I would drop the pan and change the filter, and top off with some fresh fluid.

 

[joebroni99]

I drained a little fluid out and the fluid in the trans looks and smells good. but it still is slipping. I was curious, now in between working on the trans I swapped the old air box out and put an adapter an a K&N cone filter in the truck. Is it at all possible that this addition could be causing it? Like maybe it is creating a different amount of vacuum pressure affecting the trans or caused the trans to want to shift at the same spots it is programmed to but now the engine rpm is off? Or maybe it isnt the transmission acting up at all? like adding this to the engine is throwing the engine off and the engine isnt working correctly and its only appearing to be a transmission problem?

 

[ld50]

I`m not sure about vacuum hookups and such. I have a standard tranny, so I don't have any real knowledge of the auto system. I would figure as long as you haven't messed with any vacuum lines during your cone filter install it shouldn't matter.
I have the same cone filter with adapter and the only vacuum lines that came into play were two small ones that operated a flapper that drew air in from around the pass. side exhaust manifold until it warmed up. I did tie them into the filter at the time but later discovered it didn't really matter.

I am wondering about your tranny's internal filter, I assume it has one at the suction point in the bottom of the pan. Autos I have seen (not an explorer, but my mustang and my f-150 trannies had them) will have this replacable plastic filter which you can find when you drop the pan. The part itself is not that expensive and it`s not too difficult a job to do at home. I don't know for sure that a dirty one causes slipping but it is a thought.

 

[doonze]

Strange to have a slipping tranny without any evidence of burned fluid or some kind of shrapnel. How much did you drain out? Any pieces of metal in it? I'm no tranny expert, auto trans are the only part of a car I avoid. But I've burned up my fair share of em. I would say drop the pan and look for evidence that something is amiss. Change the filter if nothing else. Hate to say it but my experience is once it's slipping, in any gear, it's on the way out. But you could luck out and just OD is messed up. I know on some tranny's the valve body can get clogged and it will shift funny too.

Now as far as vacuum lines, well on old tranny's I KNOW that a weak vac signal would cause them not to shift at all, or to shift poorly. But I know NADA about the tranny's in these things, you'll have to get a definite answer from someone who knows more about them. But I think computer controlled tranny's don't rely as much vacuum like the older styles I'm used too did. At least not for any signaling, may use vacuum for shifting. I know my TH350 in my Trans Am WOULDN'T shift at all without the vac lines attached. That was before IT burned up, LOL. It won't shift out of first gear at all now.... Hmmm... now that I think about it I haven't checked the vac line since it started not shifting...that would be embarrassing if I go out and find my "ruined" tranny was just a loose vac line on my end....>< Can't believe I've never thought to check it again! Wouldn't that be a hoot! LOL Anyway, best of luck.

 

[rayford2]

That wheel lockup is probably due to a broken self-adjuster cable in the wheel drum.
Also, make sure the emergency brake equalizer is in good shape and free to move...Ray S. in PA

 

[joebroni99]

Actually I changed the fluid on my truck last year. And it was no small job. I couldnt get the pan to seal at all. I went through 4 rubber gaskets and finally got it to seal with a paper one and hasnt leaked since. But Im kinda thinking that the filter could be clogged causing the the fluid circulation to be poor.

 

[motopsycho650]

I have tranny slippage when I AM in the fluid range. I have had 2 tranny techs tell me that the fill marks on a Ford A4LD are wrong. According to them, at warm temp, the fluid should be 1/2" above the full mark. I've been keeping it there ever since my re-build, and have not had an issue.

I would say you have a brake problem. That brake problem may have caused a rear-end issue (refering to the description of a pulse feel from the rear while accellorating). The slipping tranny, wheather it began as a related problem or not, is probably on it's last leg. When my tranny blew, I could accellorate in 1st. Sometimes it would go into 2nd, but most of the time it broke loose and free-wheeled in 2nd and definately in 3rd. I hate to say it, but I think the tranny is toast.

 

[doonze]

Hmmm... now that I think about it I haven't checked the vac line since it started not shifting...that would be embarrassing if I go out and find my "ruined" tranny was just a loose vac line on my end....>< Can't believe I've never thought to check it again! Wouldn't that be a hoot! LOL Anyway, best of luck.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate to post off topic but since this thread lead me here I have to tell ya bout it. So, I was telling my wife about this post and how funny it was I got an idea about my Trans Am while trying to give some ideas on here. So I went out and checked on it......turns out the d%#n vacuum hose had gotten blown off the connection to the tranny. I just about died. My "dead" Trans Am has been sitting rotting away for almost a year because of a vacuum hose. Took if for a spin and shifted like a champ, I guess when it ran low on fluid it blew the hose off. Now don't I feel stupid.

Well, thanks man for posting about you problem, it lead me to fix one of my own, even if it was a GM product. LOL