My 93 aerostar 4wd 4.0L wont shift when the trany is cold it doesnt matter how long you let it sit and warm up it wont shift out of 1st for about 3/4 to 1 mile. once it warms up though it shifts fine

the van has 210k on it but the tranny was rebuilt at 150k and then cleaned and new seals installed at probably 180k and the guy said everything was alright but he told us that the flywheel spacer was probably broke and that caused the front seal to go out and when we put it back in we confirmed this.

havent had any problems since then until last week when it started getting cold. changed the filter and fluid this weekend the fluid was still red and didnt smell burnt but the filter looked dirty but it still doesnt shift right.

 

I've had shifting problems when it gets a little low on ATF. I suppose you checked this. It doesn't take much to cause a problem. I had a slow leak (bad vacuum modulator) and had to keep adding ATF. Just an idea.

 

I've seen this before on the 4.0 A4LD............ usually what happens is one of the thrust washers to the rear of the transmissions start failing and it contaminates the governor in the rear of the unit. The last one I had would not shift out of first when cold but you could manually shift it to second and run it several miles and it would finally be OK for the rest of the day as long as the unit stayed warm or hot. Let it get cold and here we go again. You said the filter appeared dirty...... was it metallic? Did the magnet in the pan have any metel on it? The magnet probably did not have any metal on it if it's the thrust washer thats chewed up and getting bit's of metal in the tranny because it's made of a brass like material. Sounds to me your heading for a rebuild. Unless your being hard on the unit it should last much longer than what your getting out of it. If your servicing it regular and not doing any pulling or hard abuse then it sounds to me that you got a shoddy job. This particular unit needs all tolerances checked and all bushings and thrust washers replaced at every rebuild regardless of mileage or it will never last. With a proper rebuild you can expect to pay around 1500.00 or go to the Ford dealer and buy a factory reman. They are a great buy and will save you much time.

Hope this helps,
Aaron

 

the first one wasnot rebuilt because of it being wore out. the modulator was blown out off the side of the case and we had to find another case for him to rebuild ther3e were some filings on the magnet but not to many

 

Thought I would add my question to this thread.

I have a 91 4L AWD with 277,000 clicks; rather suddenly, it now has no drive at all in the overdrive shift position. I wonder if that is a quick fix, 'cos it is damn cold up here in Winnipeg.

 

If you don't have any drive at all in the OD position then no...... it would not be a quick fix. I see no way that fluid level would cause such a problem. Is yours not going into gear at all in OD or does it just quit pulling when it shifts to overdrive? Tell me more and I may be able to help you out some.

Aaron

 

Thanks for responding FoMoColover

Further to my loss of OD. The vehicle has no drive when placed in OD from park at a standstill, and when shifted into OD from drive while moving, has loss of drive. The transmission appears to operated normally in Drive however. Cruise control works fine in Drive also. The reason I said `quick fix' is that it is very cold up here, which does not help for fiddling around.

 

I do beleive you've got pretty bad problems.................... ready for a rebuild. Good Day.

 

Thanks! :-)

 

Try reading this to see if it will help.

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~singletn/web/pages/at2.html

 

Not for me. I did discover yesterday that the transmission fluid was down about a quart, this was a fast drop. Can't see any leaks, and have topped it up. Didn't make any difference though. It is now getting fussy about starting in drive.

 

as tom_foreman said,

have you checked for a broken diaghpram on the transmission vacuum modulator? search the forum for a4ld or modulator and you will find many posts...

A broken diagphragm on the modulator can cause losing tranny fluid that would be sucked into the engine's intake, also your van will not shift correctly if there isn't proper vacuum at the modulator. check the hose that hooks up to the modulator for any tranny fluid.

 

I checked that Aerostar. After finding the level was down about a quart, I added about 3/4 pint. I rechecked later in the day, after warming the transmission to the same temperature, and found it was now about 1 quart above the hatched area. What is going on? I'm not used to this, having had Chevy's all my life, which behave in a more reasonable fashion.