Engine stalled when putting the vehicle from either park or neutral. It felt as though the transmission was locked and no slippage. It did this in both forward and reverse gears, P to (O through 1), N to (O through 1), P to R, N to R. I finally got it to go after doing a little revving and performing(God forbid) - "neutral drop." It has performed fine since except for a deep groan/creek, going into O from Park that same day.
For the past three days, it has been just fine, fluid level is good and color is okay - not perfectly pretty and red but pretty good(dropping pan and changing fluid, filter, gasket today.) New rear U-joint, front joint is tight and fine. Engine is strong and actually compression is pretty level across.
Valve body? Bands? Sprag? Help???? LOL
***Update***
Dropped pan - normal gray sludge on magnet 1/8" thick, no major filings, just the normal wear - nothing but light dusting of sludge in the pan - fluid doesn't smell burnt or real old. (6-24-09)
**Filter gray with sludge but still no shavings and the likes... also really looked through the fluid material to see if I can find any copper/brass or metal shavings - none. (06-24-09)
A4LD is a nighmare watch out haha i hasve done 4 swaps in my truck in 100k
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91' ranger 3.0 2x4 29x11.5 ss tsl's (firebreathin' ranger!!!)
88 f150 latiat 302 2x4 6inch lift trying to decide what tires want on it
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6CylBill
That is hilarious.
Don't drive too much at night. The Coppers won't be too fond of a Fire Beathing Ford Ranger.
sonds like you have a sensor problem, or a valve body valve problem. one of the valves hanging up. or even the vavle body gasket mayy have taken a crap.
lowdownndirty - Aloha, thanks for your insight. I had dropped the pan and took a darn good look around at all the stuff that came out in the pan/on the magnet/in the fluid and filter. I squirted fresh ATF onto the vb valves, springs, etc. just to make sure I got anything "foreign" out of there - if it was willing to come out.
I hope that helped a bit. This engine and vehicle has been very stout, I don't want to have to do a major rebuild if it's just something to do with the vb or like you said, gasket taking a crap. I'll keep an eye on it and will be taking it for a spin shortly.
So far, it feels good.... but I haven't taken it for a long drive yet either. Today(this morning, I torqued up the pan bolts after letting it sit overnight with a white sheet under the truck. Nothing major leaked - just two areas around one front bolt and two rear bolts - torqued the whole thing down in a x pattern - feels good.
If others have thoughts on this issue, please let me know. I'm not too afraid to pull the VB and put in a rebuilt one I've seen on the net, minus all codes, but would be asking a lot of questions from the knowledgeable folks on here!!! LOL.
El Jefe - Big Island here. And no, just dropped the pan, and let everything come out for a whole day. Bagged it to protect it from the weather(you know how that is), and let it drain out - actually got 4+ Qt of old fluid out.
Update - topped fluid off today - and after playing with the gears a bit P-->1 and everything in between, I got it to(in R) make a groaning noise AND it also sounded like was some kind of solenoid/switch noise pulsing and rapidly clicking. When I released the brakes while in R, the vehicle would do that pulsing/rolling jerk motion. Hummmm
I had to work at it to get it to do that but being that it DOES that is concerning.
Cool I stay in Waimea...as far as your tranny I kind of suck at Autos I just blow them up. I do standards...glw the fix...as far as your solenoid idea that does sound accurate...are they mounted in or out of the tranny on that one?
Forgot that I had a code reader! Yeah! Anyway, ran it through the whole key off and then the key on... then the key off and solenoid/relay testing programs... all checked out fine! (surprised the heck out of me but I'm very glad) However, it leads me to the VB or bands... sticky valve? bands? Sigh... thoughts anyone?
I've been there. My '94 Aerostar has the A4LD. I you can tell the fluid is not new, replace it. Sometimes a good fluid change can make a huge difference. On my mom's van, which is a '92 with the A4LD, it started having delayed engagement into forward and reverse. While the trans is a time bomb, it has not had any problems since the fluid change. In my '94, the trans was rebuilt and upgraded for towing. If you want to swap a trans, look for one that is already upgraded. They are much tougher and longer lasting than stock A4LDs.
Maintenance wise, the fluid should be replaced every 30,000 miles under most normal conditions, more often under harsh conditions.
Unfortunately, even with the pan drop, cleaning, new filter, new fluid, the A4LD had that episode today. But it happened after a lot of prodding and shifting from me. Nonetheless, it did it... felt like slippage/shudder/clatter with a mech whirl/servo buzz/click noises to boot. I'll give the new fluid a good go and take the truck on a longer drive tomorrow. Maybe something will work loose(in my favor) and the problem will go away.
I'm thinking will a leak in vacuum line or maybe something much more mechanical be the culprit?
I am afraid that you will be doing a re-build soon. All of the torque the 4.0 puts out is transferred to the drivetrain through the input shaft, which is made with a bunch of very thin splines. They twist on the shaft, and eventually give up the ghost. The shaft is inserted into a plate that has matching splines, but is only a little more than 1/8" thick. That is not very much 'surface area' to handle the torque. The plate in turn sits in three cut slots, almost like cutting a bowl in 3 places, sort of like the 'radioactive' warning label. The fingers of the plate transfer their torque to the outer diameter of the bowl, and get distorted over time. You cannot turn the plate over and use the 'good' fingers and expect it to live.
The center support is a machined plate of about 9" in diameter that has several sealing rings that guide fluid to the apply side of the clutch pack. The seals harden and you may get a groove worn into the surface of the center support 'bushing'. Then the clutches will apply - release - slip and eat the clutch material and burnish the steels.
The number of solenoids depends on the year you have.
If you want to know more, go to http://www.atsgmiami.com/ and get the book along with the 'updated parts' book. About $30.. or was. They are not hard to build if you are careful to keep all the thrust bearings lined up correctly. No special tools other than a snap-ring pliers. You can use the torque converter to line up the pump if you take it apart.
tom
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Thank you for your response and insight. I'm coming to the conclusion that the 17yr old tranny might be in need of a solid rebuild...LOL. Can't really complain, just wished the previous owners paid more attention to maintenance cycles. I recall asking him if he did a tranny fluid change after purchasing the vehicle - he told me that he never did - for the last 7 years! hahaha! But then, he never really hauled anything nor drove for any real distance (Oahu)
I'm going to look up a local expert that my nearest parts counter told me about. Apparently this guy is top notch when it comes to tranny work. Hopefully, he has a good A4LD sitting around we can swap for.
In these threads, I've learned a lot - I hope to find or have the A4LD rebuilt with those adaptations and stronger parts... then, I can keep this horse going for another 17 years NP. Heh.
El Jefe... Yep, they were recommended by folks in Hilo - plus they do nearly all the performance upgrades and the competition folks at the drags tranny. Some folks recommended this one expert guy so, I'm going to do some comparison. But, I'm heading up the road now to take the trash run... I'll see how the truck does. Thanks!
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Aloha - A4LD problem in 1992 4.0 2wd
