Okay so its been a few months since the wifes Aerostar has had any problems. Now I can see where she drives because of the trails being left up and down the street from the tranny fluid leaking out.
So I decide to drop that sucker and put in new seals! Ha!! Fun stuff if I do say so myself. Getting the trans out was not so bad. Raised the vehicle up on jackstands, removed the driveshaft, no big deal. Drained fluid, again, piece of cake. Only 2 complaints I had was the access hole to torque converter to crank plate was way too small, and access to cooling lines was damn near impossible to get too. Other than that not too bad to get out.
I then cleaned that sucker to look brand new. Replaced the front seal and the rear seal. Replaced the Pump seals and installed new pump gasket. I know I should have rebuilt with new internal parts but it was shifting without any problems so I left well enough alone. We will see down the road I'm sure.
Anyways, my son helped me get it back in and all lined up. Of course after all of the heavy muscle work, it was almost "beer:30" so we took our time tieing up the loose ends.
Long story short, no leaks, shifting as good as before, and I hopefully saved better than a "grand" again!!
I just needed to tell others who would understand what was accomplished!

Oh yeah, on the Sam Adams scale, definitely a "10 Sammy" job.

-reever

 

what did you use to lift it out and back in, grunt power?
you did what you had to do to get the Aero back on the road and Joe Smuck at the local "Ripoff Tranny Shop" doesn't have $500 for a $200 job.
definitely a 20 Sammy job laying in a pool to soak the back pain.
one "trick" with really difficult transmission cooling lines is to cut them where they are accessible with hacksaw, clean out cutting well from inside of lines, then jumper with neoprene hose and clamps when reinstalled. or cut a 3" diameter hole in floor pan with hole saw for access. replace with larger piece of sheet metal, sealer and screws.
some of the lines in certain models are put on prior to tranny/engine install into chassis in factory. impossible to get at fittings in vehicle. why? cheap is better.
how many miles on present tranny?

 

Used a small jack to get it out. No problems there. To get it back in took some thinking though.
Once under the van, I couldn't get the tranny lifted high enough to get the jack under it. So I used a wheel ramp and me and the son (you know the type, no neck and one eyebrow) pushed that sucker up onto where your wheel would sit! Worked great!
Once there, it took about 2 hours of gruntwork to get it lined up properly.
This is the original trans, vehicle has about 130K on it.
The one trans shop I did talk to wanted $400 just to drop it! He really didn't like to do Aerostars. Of course, the price takes off from there once it's out of the van....

-reever

 

I think they say that "I don't like doing Aerostars" just to get more cashola out of us. I walk immediately out of the door when I hear those words from a "mechanic/service manager" and go to
a real auto repair shop.

Local independent shop here quoted me $660 to change 2 spark plugs-I had done the others and didn't have tools at time to reach the 2 and change the auto tranny, front and rear diffs oil, transfer case fluid. I bought the tools, Mac, synthetic tranny fluid and diff oil and filter, still had $550 of my dollars left in my pocket.

Local Ferd dealer charged me $280 for check engine light and PCM reprog when 1 year old on warranty, I fought with Ford regional service rep until blue in face and state attorney general's office. Nada. Needed van at time so paid up.
They did replace windshield and the two large side windows, factory warped and leaked like a sieve-new, no charge to me warranty, wonder what they soaked Ford Motor for that , $2000?
Have not been back since and will not buy a Ferd there.

Only one thing that makes me sicker than dealing with a car salesman is dealing with an auto service manager. They act like they are doing me a favor by fixing their warranty junk.

Have been doing all my own work now on it for last 6 years.
This board is great with suggestions, recommended parts and tips specific to Aero.

Enough soapbox, worktime in saltmine.

 

umm...just thinking about maybe a better way to get the tranny back in. I used a board when I did mine...slide board under tranny (actually, slid tranny onto board) then simply, well sort-of, use the board to raise tranny high enough to get the jack under both, then lift board and tranny together. still takes two people, but much less grunting and the board seems to give a better control when realigning the unit. it worked for me, anyway. as far as the cooler lines, I accessed mine much more easily when the rear of the tranny was lowered before removing the housing to engine bolts, after pulling the x-member and exhaust of course. in fact, if I remember right, just pulling the exhaust would help access.

 

If you cut the heads of some old tranny bolts you can just slip it on. Install the rest of them, then remove the temp bolts and install the last Two.

 

I just did the seal, bushing on my van on Fri. I made up a plate for my jack, had it out and in, in about 3 hrs. I didn't remove the exaust, the bottom bolts are easy. The cooler lines sucked. The only help I needed was to put it on the bench.

 

Actually pushing it up the ramp wasn't too bad. We did use a 2X6 under the ramp with a small hydraulic jack to lift everything up. The onl real hassle was lining the torque converter studs up with the crank plate......

-reever

 

> They act like they are doing me a favor by fixing their warranty junk.

Because Ford does not pay what the repair actually takes to do by normal people (www.flatratetech.com). Then again, only a short sighted jerk would treat a warranty customer badly. I always looked at HAPPY warranty customers as good potential cash customers and as new and used car buyers.