Whats the best transmission to run? Tired of transmission problems

[withoutfear33]

i have a 92 lifted explorer with the 4.0 and automatic tranny.. when i first bought the truck it came from a member on here and it had 5k on a rebuilt "built" transmission that had all paperwork but the truck came from california so no way i was even attempting to mess with warrenty, the transmission started slipping and not shifting right... WELLLLL it has been rebuilt again and it doesnt have but 3000 miles on the tranny and here i am having problems once again, every now and they it gets to where it wont shift out of 2nd gear and it shifts hard out of second sometimes and it also shakes and has no power in reverse, they wont cover under warrenty because they said i had a OFF ROAD vehicle and they only cover stock vehicles in which they never mentioned before the rebuild. i have not been off road with it only highway driven..


So now im stuck and im not rebuilding it agin for 1200 bucks and having it go out in 5k miles, i dont know what the deal it.. i thought about swapping for a 5.0 motor and tranny or a 5 speed but i really dont wanna motor swap or go to a 5 speed but i will if i can get it to where im not having issues.


any input on how to get a automatic to last in the truck or what to run would be appreciated.

 

[Bruces expo]

Welcome to the site , Nice EX ! , Well if you don't have much knowledge about that trans , This is the place to learn , At Least 3-4 People Here Know Allot about those Trans , What I've learned from here , That Heat is a major killer of these trans , and you cannot Keep them cool enough , I'm having Problems with my trans as well but its Only a Leak so nothing too major , There is a Few Great Rebuild Threads on here , And There Is A Few People Who Have Done a Frankentrans With an A4ld and 5r55e I Believe , But my Best Suggestion is To do As much Re Search on that trans and figure out your Budget , Hope I Shed A Little Light For You

 

[BrooklynBay]

Unfortunately, a lot of shops have issues with these transmissions for several reasons:

1. There are numerous variations depending upon the type of engine it's being mated with.

2. Each year has something a little different (types of seals, solenoids, filters, valve body, planetaries, case, etc).

3. A lot of shops only do a soft parts rebuild. The older hard parts give way after a while.

4. Some shops ignore rebuilding the valve body or just clean them without adding upgraded parts.

5. The torque converter has to be rebuilt. You can't reuse an old torque converter with contaminated fluid from a failed transmission.

6. The front cooler has to be flushed prior to installation to remove debris from the failed transmission.

7. New servos & bands should be used. The old ones dry out, become brittle, slip, create excess heat, cause slipping & over heating.

8. The governor should be replaced if it shows signs of wear. Some shops sand the stalk, then have issues later with customers coming back.

9. The pump gears should be checked for hair line cracks. This could cause an instant failure at a later date. A pump alignment tool is necessary (not using the torque converter as an alignment tool).

10. The front bushing in the bell housing needs to be machined in place with a special lathe. You can't pop a bushing into it. It has to be concentric.

 

[withoutfear33]

Unfortunately, a lot of shops have issues with these transmissions for several reasons:

1. There are numerous variations depending upon the type of engine it's being mated with.

2. Each year has something a little different (types of seals, solenoids, filters, valve body, planetaries, case, etc).

3. A lot of shops only do a soft parts rebuild. The older hard parts give way after a while.

4. Some shops ignore rebuilding the valve body or just clean them without adding upgraded parts.

5. The torque converter has to be rebuilt. You can't reuse an old torque converter with contaminated fluid from a failed transmission.

6. The front cooler has to be flushed prior to installation to remove debris from the failed transmission.

7. New servos & bands should be used. The old ones dry out, become brittle, slip, create excess heat, cause slipping & over heating.

8. The governor should be replaced if it shows signs of wear. Some shops sand the stalk, then have issues later with customers coming back.

9. The pump gears should be checked for hair line cracks. This could cause an instant failure at a later date. A pump alignment tool is necessary (not using the torque converter as an alignment tool).

10. The front bushing in the bell housing needs to be machined in place with a special lathe. You can't pop a bushing into it. It has to be concentric.

so you think find a shop that does a full rebuild and does it right and leave the stock tranny? im to the point to where i seriously am about to open the check book and 5 speed swap it and also SAS the front at the same time as well as making bumpers for the front and rear while its down.. i didnt want the down time during the summer months but these tranny issues are driving me nuts, id like to be able to have confidence to take the truck on a trip and know it will make it back.. the guy who had it in california has a reciept for like 3200 worth of tranny work and alot of beefed up internals and it didnt even hold up, i just dont understand it.

 

[BrooklynBay]

You have several options. You could rebuild it yourself or have a competent shop do it. Some members have swapped other automatic transmissions into it such as a GM 700R4 with adapters or a 5R55E with an OBD-II computer as a separate controller.

 

[Jason94sport]

M5r1hd

 

[renesisx]

You have several options. You could rebuild it yourself or have a competent shop do it. Some members have swapped other automatic transmissions into it such as a GM 700R4 with adapters or a 5R55E with an OBD-II computer as a separate controller.

Do you know any competent shops (anywhere in mainland US) that would do a really damned good job of it? I want to rebuild my A4LD with whatever parts I can get that will make it last longer than it did from the factory.

My box only has 80K miles on it from new, so I want to use the one I have and get that rebuilt, rather than buying a reman off the shelf from somewhere.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check WWW.ATRA.Com.

 

[renesisx]

Check WWW.ATRA.Com.

Thanks man. I'm guessing the best solution is just to pick a few of the qualified builders from there and just go out and speak to them and see what they can offer me.

 

[huntman58]

Do you know any competent shops (anywhere in mainland US) that would do a really damned good job of it? I want to rebuild my A4LD with whatever parts I can get that will make it last longer than it did from the factory.

My box only has 80K miles on it from new, so I want to use the one I have and get that rebuilt, rather than buying a reman off the shelf from somewhere.

I know this is late and most likely inform the OP is long past need of but for any one later I am posting this.
Like the OP I to have had a few bad so called rebuilds. What I found out later was they only were doing soft parts rebuilds and only replacing hard parts if they were broken. the first rebuild at 130,000 miles the second about 3,000 miles later and like the OP this shop would not stand by there warranty saying I had too many miles on it so they rebuilt it once more (ya I know dumb) so once more just past that 3,000 mile mark it went once again this time I was living in the Fresno Calif area and not Modesto area. I had a shop called B and B tranny do the rebuild again and this is were I learned what had not been replaced before as they were surprised when I told them the history that so many of the OEM parts were still there parts that should have been replaced! Any way they rebuilt it and also did a shift kit as part of it some thing they recommend for the A4ld . Any way that has been almost 5 years plus ago now and over 40,000 miles with it running today like the day I picked it up from them!
The first shop was recommended to me by family and there cost to rebuild was the same as the Fresno shop! So as has been said search for a shop that knows these trannys and understands them very well then too ask for a list of past customers and also check with the BBB. All I know is the shop that I used here in Fresno will get all my tranny work as long as there around and I live in this area! They were not the cheapest by far only the best!

 

[bobberguy]

Go with a 5 speed