A4LD rebuild
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Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,452
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From: Southern California
A4LD rebuild
Hi everyone:
Lately, I have seen a lot of posts on transmission problems. I guess even the youngest Aerostars are at a point where these problems are starting to show. Since I have done a couple of these things, I think I'll post what I have gone through so that the next unsuspecting soul doesn't have to go through the agony I did. This is going to be a long post, so I apologize in advance and ask you to bear with the rambling of an old man.
When you pull the valve body from the tranny, watch out for one small spring that stays on the tranny case. I have no idea what that spring does, but it seems to serve no purpose whatsoever, except perhaps to swirl the fluid flow in one of the passages. Make sure you take note or a picture of where it goes and don't lose it.
The valves in the valve body for a high mileage vehicle can be very stubborn. They are really hard to remove from the bores on the valve body. A small plastic pick or tiny screwdriver would help. Best yet, put in a couple of those chemical additives and drive around a few days while keeping your fingers crossed that they will "free the sticking valves" as advertised.
When you remove the cover plate from the valve body, watch out for a couple of springs, ***** and two "hockey pucks." Take good pictures to make sure you know where they should go. For Heaven's sake, don't move the valve body and spill all these items on the table before you took your notes and pictures.
When you remove the valves from the bore, take pictures, make notes, and I mean lots of notes. Beware that some bores have two, three springs and valves, all different in size. Better make sure you know the ORIENTATION of the valves in the bore and which spring goes with what. The pictures in the manual are pretty much useless here.
To change the seal on the little shift shaft on the side of the tranny, you will need to remove a retaining pin which is about 1/8" in diameter. The manual says to grab this with a pair of pliers and pull it out. DON'T do that yet!!!!!!! The problem is that you have only about 1/8" to grab on, and it is stuck pretty solid. Take a punch and tap this pin side-to-side (very lightly) a couple of times to loosen it first. Then you will be able to grab it with a small pair of needle nose pliers and pull it out. If it's still hard to pull out, tap it again until you can pull it out like a feather. Don't squeeze the pliers hard because you don't want to ruin that 1/8" tip that's sticking above the surface.
About the pump and the bell housing. If you are sure the pump is still good, don't remove it from the bellhousing since you need to align the pump and the bellhousing again if you did. However, I find that changing the front seal with the pump on is extremely difficult. So if you decided to separate the pump from the bellhousing, the pump alignment tool can be purchased for $59 plus shipping from TCS (the cheapest I could find on the web)
http://www.tcsproducts.com/products/...t=5&validate=1
However, if you don't want to pay that and you are also rebuilding your engine at the same time, here is what I did before I got that tool. First, leave the bushing on the housing alone. That bushing had been machined to be concentric with the crankshaft, so don't change it. If it's too worn out, you'll have to send it to some outfit on the web so they can put in a new one and machine it again. Then do the following in sequence:
1) Install the front pump seal on the bellhousing and bolt the pump on the bellhousing loosely.
2) Install the torque converter on the flywheel on the engine, turn the engine so the Torque Converter is pointing up into the sky to eliminate gravity
3) Push the input shaft into the TC as far as it'll go.
4) Install the bellhousing with the pump on it and bolt it to the engine as you would normally do. You may have to jiggle the input shaft and turn the housing back and forth to seat the TC on the pump gears.
5) Now jiggle the pump and turn the crankshaft. Jiggle the pump up and down and side to side until you feel it centered. I used dials placed at 90 degrees on the pump body, so I adjusted the travel to half the distance read by the dials between the extremes.
6) Now torque the bolts on the pump and you should be done. I did this on my 3.0L and have gone through 30,000 miles since the rebuild without leaks. Your results may vary
The rest of the rebuild process is pretty well laid out in the manual. However, you need some special tools to compress the clutch pistons to change the seals on the pistons. I didn't have those tools, so I used a steering wheel puller, which worked out quite well.
Lately, I have seen a lot of posts on transmission problems. I guess even the youngest Aerostars are at a point where these problems are starting to show. Since I have done a couple of these things, I think I'll post what I have gone through so that the next unsuspecting soul doesn't have to go through the agony I did. This is going to be a long post, so I apologize in advance and ask you to bear with the rambling of an old man.
When you pull the valve body from the tranny, watch out for one small spring that stays on the tranny case. I have no idea what that spring does, but it seems to serve no purpose whatsoever, except perhaps to swirl the fluid flow in one of the passages. Make sure you take note or a picture of where it goes and don't lose it.
The valves in the valve body for a high mileage vehicle can be very stubborn. They are really hard to remove from the bores on the valve body. A small plastic pick or tiny screwdriver would help. Best yet, put in a couple of those chemical additives and drive around a few days while keeping your fingers crossed that they will "free the sticking valves" as advertised.
When you remove the cover plate from the valve body, watch out for a couple of springs, ***** and two "hockey pucks." Take good pictures to make sure you know where they should go. For Heaven's sake, don't move the valve body and spill all these items on the table before you took your notes and pictures.
When you remove the valves from the bore, take pictures, make notes, and I mean lots of notes. Beware that some bores have two, three springs and valves, all different in size. Better make sure you know the ORIENTATION of the valves in the bore and which spring goes with what. The pictures in the manual are pretty much useless here.
To change the seal on the little shift shaft on the side of the tranny, you will need to remove a retaining pin which is about 1/8" in diameter. The manual says to grab this with a pair of pliers and pull it out. DON'T do that yet!!!!!!! The problem is that you have only about 1/8" to grab on, and it is stuck pretty solid. Take a punch and tap this pin side-to-side (very lightly) a couple of times to loosen it first. Then you will be able to grab it with a small pair of needle nose pliers and pull it out. If it's still hard to pull out, tap it again until you can pull it out like a feather. Don't squeeze the pliers hard because you don't want to ruin that 1/8" tip that's sticking above the surface.
About the pump and the bell housing. If you are sure the pump is still good, don't remove it from the bellhousing since you need to align the pump and the bellhousing again if you did. However, I find that changing the front seal with the pump on is extremely difficult. So if you decided to separate the pump from the bellhousing, the pump alignment tool can be purchased for $59 plus shipping from TCS (the cheapest I could find on the web)
http://www.tcsproducts.com/products/...t=5&validate=1
However, if you don't want to pay that and you are also rebuilding your engine at the same time, here is what I did before I got that tool. First, leave the bushing on the housing alone. That bushing had been machined to be concentric with the crankshaft, so don't change it. If it's too worn out, you'll have to send it to some outfit on the web so they can put in a new one and machine it again. Then do the following in sequence:
1) Install the front pump seal on the bellhousing and bolt the pump on the bellhousing loosely.
2) Install the torque converter on the flywheel on the engine, turn the engine so the Torque Converter is pointing up into the sky to eliminate gravity
3) Push the input shaft into the TC as far as it'll go.
4) Install the bellhousing with the pump on it and bolt it to the engine as you would normally do. You may have to jiggle the input shaft and turn the housing back and forth to seat the TC on the pump gears.
5) Now jiggle the pump and turn the crankshaft. Jiggle the pump up and down and side to side until you feel it centered. I used dials placed at 90 degrees on the pump body, so I adjusted the travel to half the distance read by the dials between the extremes.
6) Now torque the bolts on the pump and you should be done. I did this on my 3.0L and have gone through 30,000 miles since the rebuild without leaks. Your results may vary
The rest of the rebuild process is pretty well laid out in the manual. However, you need some special tools to compress the clutch pistons to change the seals on the pistons. I didn't have those tools, so I used a steering wheel puller, which worked out quite well.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
From: CFB Petawawa Canada
Copper/Fellas
I have rebuilt a number of trannies. I spoken to the mech who rebuilds the trannies for the civie vehs here on base. At the Trans Shops they also say.The pump bushing should be change if your input seal is leaking. The seal and bushing cost is only 6.95/8.93 here in Canada. One shop would replace both for 50$, if I brought in the trannie. There are also no leak bushings out now, at 35$. They have a small "o" ring inside the bushing.
Also you should check your torgue converter neck. If it is worn or cracked. You have to replace it. This is just my post, others have different recommandations.
I have rebuilt a number of trannies. I spoken to the mech who rebuilds the trannies for the civie vehs here on base. At the Trans Shops they also say.The pump bushing should be change if your input seal is leaking. The seal and bushing cost is only 6.95/8.93 here in Canada. One shop would replace both for 50$, if I brought in the trannie. There are also no leak bushings out now, at 35$. They have a small "o" ring inside the bushing.
Also you should check your torgue converter neck. If it is worn or cracked. You have to replace it. This is just my post, others have different recommandations.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,240
Likes: 3
From: Dallas, Texas
I for one, am glad that this forum is here. The time I have saved chasing ghost is worth it.
The tranny is coming out Sunday and I will do a picture step by step along with all the post on how too's and upgrades worth doing. this should give everybody a good look at what and how it's done.
The tranny is coming out Sunday and I will do a picture step by step along with all the post on how too's and upgrades worth doing. this should give everybody a good look at what and how it's done.
Thread Starter
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Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 4,452
Likes: 1
From: Southern California
Originally Posted by CdnSoldier
Copper/Fellas
I have rebuilt a number of trannies. I spoken to the mech who rebuilds the trannies for the civie vehs here on base. At the Trans Shops they also say.The pump bushing should be change if your input seal is leaking. The seal and bushing cost is only 6.95/8.93 here in Canada. One shop would replace both for 50$, if I brought in the trannie. There are also no leak bushings out now, at 35$. They have a small "o" ring inside the bushing.
Also you should check your torgue converter neck. If it is worn or cracked. You have to replace it. This is just my post, others have different recommandations.
I have rebuilt a number of trannies. I spoken to the mech who rebuilds the trannies for the civie vehs here on base. At the Trans Shops they also say.The pump bushing should be change if your input seal is leaking. The seal and bushing cost is only 6.95/8.93 here in Canada. One shop would replace both for 50$, if I brought in the trannie. There are also no leak bushings out now, at 35$. They have a small "o" ring inside the bushing.
Also you should check your torgue converter neck. If it is worn or cracked. You have to replace it. This is just my post, others have different recommandations.
The pump bushing is not what I'm talking about. I was talking about the bushing on the bellhousing. On other trannies, you don't have problems replacing that, but the A4LD is a very strange animal.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 391
Likes: 0
From: brooksville, florida
I have replaced the 3-4 solenoid and modulator on my tranny while it was still in the van, pain in the *** getting the valve body out but turned out OK as my tranny is still shifting OK now, strange thing is after a few days it started to do the same thing as before (not wanting to change too 3-4 on cold mornings) but now it is changing OK again, frigging wierd or what.
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