Hi there I am trying to replace one of the solenoid valves in my 1991 4.0 v6 aerostar tranny (a4ld) I can't see weather or not I have to take of the valve cover to do this, I have removed two screws and a tag of metal that looked like it held the solenoid in place put another piece of metal seems to be stopping the solenoid from coming out I could force out the solenoid but I might mess up my tranny by doing it. Does anybody out there know how this solenoid comes out I think it is the 3-4 gear solenoid it is burnt out were the wires connect to it, (my tranny was taking for ever to shift into overdrive so I guess it is the 3-4 solenoid) I also found tranny fluid in my vaccum line from the modulator so I changed that out, but now I am stuck with this solenoid that I can't remove. PLEASE help me someone.

 

Don't force out the solenoid!!!!! There are two retainers for the two solenoids. To get one of them out, you need to remove both retainers. One is in the form of a metal bracket. Another is in the form of a round plug, if my memory is still intact, which is questionable at best Once those retainers are out, the solenoid is supposed to slide out easily.

Hopefully, someone else with more recent memory will show up and answer your question, I just don't want you to brute force it out and break the valve body.

Good luck

 

I have removed the fork type retainer which is held in by two screws, do you mean that I have to remove the other solenoid before I can extract the bad solenoid, there seems to be another peice of metal on top and behined the solenoids which I can't see how it comes out unless it can be removed when the other solenoid is removed, also is there anything that is going to fall out when I remove these solenoids.?
Many thanks cbr900

 

As I said, it has been a long time. From the service CD, this is what I can tell.

There are 2 solenoids. The one toward the front is the Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid (TCC). The one behind it is the 3-4 shift solenoid (3-4).

The TCC is held by one metal retainer, and a pretty thick one. The 3-4 is also held by a thick metal one, but it has an additional thin retainer to retain the thick retainer. You have to remove the thin retainer first and then try to slip the thick retainer out.

If all else fails, remove the valve body. The valve body gaskets are cheap, about 10 dollars a set at a local tranny shop.

Good luck

 

Thanks copper, I think I am going to have to remove the valve cover because I just can't see how that piece of metal is going to come out, I was thinking maybe I could just undo the bolts enough so that I could work that piece of metal out and not drop the valve cover completly or would that ruin the gasket on the valve cover? problem is I am doing this while the tranny is still in the van so it is not easy.

 

You can take the valve body off. Very easy to do. I have done it a couple of times. Just buy a valve body gasket from the tranny shop. No point in reusing the old gasket. I found that I can buy things a lot cheaper at the local tranny shop. You would need to buy the following:

1) New filter & transmission oil pan gasket

2) New reverse servo gasket

3) New valve body gasket (1 or 2 depending on whether you plan to rebuid the valve body)

Here are the steps you need to go through to remove the valve body fromm the tranny:

1) Remove the filter.

2) Remove the wires from the solenoid

3) Remove the reverse servo (4 bolts) - Need to buy new gasket - cheap

4) Remove all bolts attaching the valve body, except for two of them, one on each end. On those, just loosen them .

5) Gently pull the valve body out until it rests on those two loose bolts. Don't force it. If there is a lot of resistance, check and make sure you didn't forget any bolts. Now remove the two bolts completely while holding the valve body up, then ease it down and disconnect it from the linkage.

Now you can do whatever you want with the valve body. Since your tranny oil pan and filter are already off (I assume), this shouldn't take you more than one hour. Faster if you get another person to help.

Good luck

 

thanks copper I am going remove the valve cover just as soon as I get the gaskets and new solenoid, question though, why do you have to remove the reverse servo it does not look like it is in the way of the valve cover coming off?.

 

The valve body is bolted to a flat plate as one unit before you put it in the tranny. The reverse servo cover is bolted onto the tranny via that plate. That's why you need to remove that first, otherwise that plate won't come off the tranny and neither would the valve body. Only 4 bolts. No big deal.