Tranny Trouble??

[jarightnour]

ive been having problems with my automatic trans shifting.when its cold it takes a little bit til it shifts out of first.then i have to rev it up past 4k and let off to under 3k to shift up.i changed fluid and filter today.i guess its the shift fork i found in the bottom of pan.i didnt see anything broke and i didnt see where the shift fork goes into.if anyone on here can help me out it would be appreciated.and does anyone have pics of vacuum lines to the trans and advice on the easiest way to get to them?thanks.

 

[BrooklynBay]

It might be a bad modulator or a sticking governor.

 

[jarightnour]

tranny trouble???

how do i test those?what about the shift fork i found at the bottom of the pan?

 

[BrooklynBay]

The shift fork is part of the transfer case. Are you referring to a band anchor strut?

 

[jarightnour]

it might be.i thought it was the shift fork because i read another post and someone else said the same thing happened to them.i'll try to get a picture of it for you.the top of it looks like a gunsight and the lower part is square and has a hole in it where something with a rounded end fits in.i loooked at the transmission but i couldnt see any places where it would fit.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Do these parts look familiar? The picture is from SteveVB's photo gallery:

 

[jarightnour]

yep,the part on the left.i didnt see the part on the right.what is it and how do i fix it?

 

[BrooklynBay]

You have a broken band. The part on the left is an anchor strut which is on the side of the adjusting stud. The part on the right is the end of the band. Unfortunately, the only way to replace a band is to open the transmission. Since you didn't see the band part, maybe somebody adjusted the band, and the strut fell off? If that is the case, then you could put it back carefully from the bottom, but it's not easy. You will have to remove the valve body to get more acces. Most likely the band is broken since these parts just don't fall off by itself.

 

[jarightnour]

well im not much of a mechanic,changing fluids on a car is about the most technical i'll get.do you have any kinda idea about how much it would cost to get that fixed?thanks for the help.

 

[BrooklynBay]

If you are going to open the transmission, then you might as well rebuild everything. The bands are only a few dollars, but if you rebuild everything, it could cost about $1,800 to have a shop install a rebuilt transmission. You could rebuild it yourself, and install upgraded parts for much less than this price. You could save a few hundred if you do the work of pulling the old transmission, and reinstalling the rebuilt one.

 

[jarightnour]

sounds like a lot of work and big money.can i have the bands replaced without having to rebuild?is the valve body the part you see when you take the trans pan off?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Yes, that's the valve body. You could just have the bands replaced, but they will charge you $500 or so for labor to remove the transmission, another couple of hundred to tear into the transmission to replace the bands, the cost of the bands, plus the cost of the transmission fluid. The cost will be a little lower if it's just the front overdrive band. It's a good idea to replace the 2 servos, torque converter, and the modulator while the transmission is out.

 

[jarightnour]

im gonna start pricing some rebuit trannys.thanks for your help.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could check this site's classified section for a used one. Save your old one, rebuild it, and save it as a spare.

 

[jarightnour]

maybe i'll just put the old explorer in the classifieds.lol

 

[BrooklynBay]

You would have to sell it as a parts truck since the next guy would have to spend more money than what the truck is worth to fix it. Read the sticky called the A4LD rebuild diary. It has step by step information on rebuilding the transmission.

 

[jarightnour]

i'll check it out.