Type F fluid for delayed engagment

[Chrisman889]

Just received all my stuff and yes the pressure valve is oversized. The tool they sell to drill the hole bigger is almost $200. I think I'm just going to return that and get the standard size. The trans go kit also came in , it's the junior. A little intimidating but it looks like 10 fairly simple steps. Hopefully I can do it on my own. Wondering if anybody is done this time selves and about how long does it take and difficulty level.

 

[arco777]

I did it myself with that same kit on two different valve bodies. It took time but was not hard. Just be patient. Reference the A4LD rebuild diary thread on this forum. Everything worked well for me, the things that took the longest were scraping the old gaskets off the valve body, fishing the valves out, and extracting the bore plugs. You'll want bits of wire and paperclips to help wiggle stuff out, also tweezers and needlenose pliers. Q-tips for cleaning and fresh razor blades for gaskets. Removing the bore plugs can be hard but I used the following trick for them.

Get a sacrificial screw or bolt with a head that is smaller than the diameter of the bore plug. A flat head is best. Rough it up and you can also scratch up the bore plug surface, then put some cyanoacrylate (CA) glue on carefully and glue the bolt head to the bore plug. Pull on the bolt slowly and straight out. You can use a nut and washers to pull the plug or just tug on it. Once the plug is out, work is done and reinstalled, bend the screw at an angle and the glue bond will break easily.

 

[arco777]

Also note that the steps they give you are the minimum requirement for the kit. It is a good idea to also pull out the unaffected valve assemblies and clean them out too. The goal is to completely disassemble the valve body and clean all of it, but only do one bore at a time so you don't mix parts.

Working on an old towel is a good idea because the valve body will leak fluid constantly, and the little parts like to roll away.

 

[Chrisman889]

I think I'll get a decent set of dental picks and thanks for that glue idea. I was wondering if I should go ahead and get the Manual valve index sleeve part 56947-01 from Sonnax, it seems to address the particular problem I'm having. I think I'm going to give it a go, can't be any worse off than I am now. THanks for the help.

 

[BrooklynBay]

That part is for correcting the slack from egg shaped holes in the manual valve. It's also good to use as an extra precaution.

 

[Chrisman889]

Also note that the steps they give you are the minimum requirement for the kit. It is a good idea to also pull out the unaffected valve assemblies and clean them out too. The goal is to completely disassemble the valve body and clean all of it, but only do one bore at a time so you don't mix parts.

Working on an old towel is a good idea because the valve body will leak fluid constantly, and the little parts like to roll away.

Installed the shift kit today. It went better than I thought, however I didn't use all of the parts. There are a couple of large o rings and larger spring that go on the center support, I'm not tearing all the way down to get to that. I did pull every valve out and cleaned them as well. The trans go kit came with another paper besides the diagram that talked about intermediate band adjustment and TV cable adjustment. It said I had to change them before road test. Any ideas about this?

 

[BrooklynBay]

They are simple adjustments if you want to do them. Check my list of useful threads for information on how to make these adjustments.

 

[arco777]

The kickdown cable adjustment is pretty simple. I tried both the suggested method and the stock adjustment and both worked fine. It's worth doing anyways in case your stock cable is out of adjustment.

As for the intermediate band adjustment, I did it and was happy with the results.

I did not install the center support stuff either.

 

[Chrisman889]

What exactly is the band adjustment? Right now I have both bands adjusted 2 full turns out. Brooklyn Bay, nice list of useful threads, too bad the pics are no longer in the VB journals. I guess I should have used some grease on those valves, I opted to clean the whole thing out with carb cleaner. Everything seemed to move pretty freely after cleaning though.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Don't use grease on the valve spools. WD-40 is a better choice. There is a special lubricant that is made for valve bodies, but WD-40 will work the same way.

 

[Chrisman889]

The only concern I have is the Carb cleaner sort of made the tranny fluid gel up, I guess would be the right word for it.
I'm more concerned about the band adjustment and the whole installation of the VB. It was fairly easy to remove it from my old one that I have sitting in the garage upside down. Getting the linkage correct is the intimidating part. However I think I will wait for that Index sleeve to arrive first.
Another thing that I noticed is that my shift lever doesn't go all the way down to the 1, it stops at 2. When I have it in OD it has all 4 gears so it has got to be right, right? Or maybe something is off and that's why I get such a delayed engagement. Remember the whole reason I'm doing this is to correct the problem I'm having with engagement. It's to the point now where I really have to get the RPMs up to have it go into gear. Yes it's getting worse.

 

[arco777]

The shift linkage should be adjusted to be safe. I can email you a how-to with pictures. PM me your email address.

 

[Chrisman889]

I'm wondering where I can get another check ball. The transgo kit says to add a 5th ball but doesn't include it in the kit.
I'm a little leary about hooking up the linkage when I swap my VB. I will be working with the tranny installed, any input would be great.

 

[arco777]

I had the same issue; I got a check ball from a junkyard valve body. A lot of work for a little ball. They do sell packs of new ones online.

For the linkage, are you talking about the Z-link or shift cable? I wouldn't mess with the shift cable while it's all apart. The shift detent assembly should make installation pretty easy, it's hard to screw up. I think I recall the Z-link only being able to work one way. Just install it how it seems to make sense, before tightening down the VB bolts operate the shifter and see if it's working like it should.

Might be a little late to mention this but make sure the valve body bolts go back where you took them out of. There are a few different lengths. I measured all mine with a calipers as they came out and wrote down their positions and lengths for re-install. Also used a paint pen to mark all the bolts of each length the same color, in case they got mixed up.

 

[Chrisman889]

I will probably just take one out of the VB that is on there. The z link set up is kind of what I'm worried about, I did adjust the cable last night with your provided help, thank you, it was pretty dead on already. I think Glacier has a VB rebuild diary that tells exactly where the bolts go, yes there are a couple different lengths.

 

[Chrisman889]

Just installed the rebuilt VB with the trans go kit installed and oversized pressure booster. Still have the same problem! I have to rev it up for it to engage in to drive, however it does have improvements like the shifting is much better and the rpms went down at 55 mph. also instead of four or five revs it only takes one or two to click in which is an improvement. I guess I'm not sure which way to go now. My last attempt is to install the manual sleeve index, but I really don't think that will help. Any advice?,I will take it.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you install a 4.0L boost valve (not a 3.0L boost valve)? Did you check the pressure in drive with a 0 - 300 PSI test gauge?

 

[Chrisman889]

Nothing seems to be helping this problem except cold weather. I'm pretty sure now that it's a forward drum seal that is leaking. It just can't be anything else. It's getting worse by the day. ugggh!