Tranny Slipping When Cold

[Explorerdude]

Hey all,
I've asked this question in the past and gotten a few answers back about this but my issue still exists and I have found one variable that may be causing my problem...

Ok... I have a 94 Explorer XLT with the notorious A4LD transmission in it. Now I've been told many things by many people... Suposidly if built right the A4LD is a great tranny and will hold up to anything. But, like everything else, the stock tranny isn't the greatest. Now my truck (and tranny) have 110,000 miles on them. Granted I had problems start with my tranny about 10,000 miles ago that isn't too bad.

Well you're now probably wondering what my problem is...
When it's cold outside (IE in Baltimore from October through April) I will have problems engaging the transmission into first gear. Actually what happens is the truck will have sat either overnight or several hours, the fluid is cold, and when I place the tranny into drive it hesitates to move. You can hear the engine rev and then all the suden it'll drop into drive jerking the truck forward. When this occurs it's usually followed by me cussing my A4LD and talking to people about purchasing a new rebuilt one. Now one thing must be said... It doesn't happen every single cold morning or if it has been sitting for a couple hours... It is usually out of the blue. Note too that all summer I drove my truck and only had it slip recently when the temperature was low. (Typically below 50 degrees F) My guess is that there is a washer or something rubber bad inside the tranny that is slightly dry rotted and when it's cold it's smaller than when it is hot out. Therefore it lets more fluid by when it's cold out allowing the transmission to slip. [Where would such a washer be located inside the tranny? (Valve body??)]

Now it's pretty obvious that if I got 110,000 miles out of my tranny and it's still going that ain't bad concidering it's an A4LD. So I can't complain too much. I was just looking for any of those possible fixes that would save me a grand or two for a rebuilt tranny.

Please comment on this. I would like to hear your thoughts. Any help is greatly appreciated. I have visited an affiliate of this site and found an article similar to my problem but am not certain that it is it and I don't want to pull my transfercase and work on the tailshaft of my tranny if I don't have to.

Thanks all!!

Happy Wheelin',

Joe Gill
94 Explorer XLT
4" Superlift Suspension Lift
33X10.50 BFG AT KO's
http://www.duffysoutdoors.com

 

[sholzee]

My wife drives a 1992 4dr Explorer 115K miles. She noticed over about 4 months that when going from drive to reverse and reverse to drive there would be a hesitation that kept getting longer and longer. When the truck was driven to operating temperature the hesitation was not as noticable but still getting worse over months time. Finally one day she said its making an awful sound, I got in it and in drive rpm's would rev and then tranny would catch, reverse hesitation,rpm's rev catch and whole truck would vibrate terribly. I thoght for sure it was shot and we were trying to figure out were to get $1000 bucks from.
I decided to try a filter and fluid, it has never been changed and I heard all the horry stories about new fluid and detergents wrecking high mileage tranny's ,but could I make it worse? I bought one can of "seafoam trans tune" from NAPA a case of tranny fluid and filter kit. I pulled the rubber hose of the front tranny cooler line and let out about 1 quart. I added the trans tune and drove it about i hour. I do not believe in snake oil but the tranny started to shift better and hesitation was going away. I then dropped then pan and change the oil and filter. Drove around some more and kept getting better and better. I kow this does not get all the fluid out, so each day I would pulll the tranny line then start the engine, it will pump out about 2 quarts then no more flow, I then shut off the engine and top of fluid. Did this each day until I used up the case of fluid.
Knock on wood its been working great, and my wife noticed an increase in fuel mileage and the truck runs much better. I live in Buffalo NY and might do one more flush before winter. 1 case 12 quarts napa tran fluid, 1 filter and gasket kit, 1 can seafoam trans tune at napa about $50 bucks. Sometimes I think its a dream but the old fluid was very very dirty and burnt smelling. I was told not to leave the trans tune in longer than 1 day and that it my clog up the filter, so I put that in first and then drained the pan and put the new filter and fluid. I could wait to share my good fortune and hope it helps someone else out also.

 

[Explorerdude]

Thanks for that insight. I appreciate your comments. I have actually changed my tranny oil within the last 20,000 miles. Now one thing that may be doing me harm is the slick 50 tranny additive I put in... Maybe it is somehow clogging my filter... Who knows. I will probably end up doing a fluid change and seeing if my problem presists. The Sea Foam deal sounds pretty good. If I do change my fluid I'll do it the way you discribe. I'm having a friend of mine who is a Ford certified tech check and find out if there are any particular known instances of what my tranny is doing... When I found out more I'll be sure and let you all know. Thanks again!

Happy Wheelin,

Joe