94 ford explorer 4wd
175k
a4ld tranny



I took a trip last night to one of the buttes above the city i live in. On the way up my engine got hot and my tranny felt sluggish. The temp needle got to about 3/4 and the coolant filled the recovery tank when i stoped. (I started it back up, turned the heat on and let it cool down)

On the way down it went great temp didnt even hit the middle. When i got back on the pavement and went to reverse to disengage the hubs i noticed it felt really sluggish. Unlocked the hubs, threw it in drive and went down the highway. eventually i threw it into OD I felt the TC lockup engange but it wouldnt shift into the OD gear and my RPMs where about 500-700 higher than they ussualy are for going 65ish and in od. Finnaly i get to my friends house, drop him off and go to back outta the drive way and it wouldnt even engage into reverse i ended up coasting outta the drive way.

Finnaly I get in it to go to work and i "kinda" had reverse, i had to rev it to 3k rps to move about 2 mph. I get to work and try to back outta the spot i parked in just to check and it wouldnt even move. Get in it to go home and i get the 'kinda' reverse again.

I get home and I made an apointment with aamco since i really dont have the time to spend learning to rebuild it nor do i want to find other ways to make my 10 mile commute to work for a month. (they also offer 12 same as cash finnacing) Also going to have them add a oil cooler to it.
And to get the obious out of the way... It's fluid is fine, just had a filter and fluid change a month ago and the levels are still good as of a hour ago. Modulator was just replaced.



My question's are....

What could be wrong with it?

How much can i expect to pay for a rebuild?

How long does it take "the pros"?

 

When I still had my 92 and the trans went, I ended up having a new once from Jasper installed. Cost me about $2200 in the end.... but ended up with a 3 year/50,000 mile warranty. I investigated rebuilds and was getting prices in the $1600 - $1800 range with varrying warranties... from 3 month/3,000 mile to 12 month/12,000 mile. So for the small cost difference it was a no brainer.
There are a couple of common problem with the A4LD trans are the vaccum modulator and the speed govenor.
As for how long it will take the 'pros'... probably a few days, but if you decide to go for the new one, it will take a little longer as the trans will have to be ordered.

 

My 93 4x4 automatic tranny lost the overdrive on the way home. Took it in and the bearing in the sun gear thing was bad. Pop's tranny in Reseda, CA took care of it.

Trans had 120K miles. Known the guy for 25 years, cost me $1,500. Rebuilt in 3 days.

Douglas Lee

SFV