I sold my 1991 Aerostar with 4 liter/2wd about a week ago to a friend of a friend, and today, he calls to tell me that the transmission is slipping. When I had the van, the transmission worked fine as far as I could tell. Of course, it being a used vehicle, I had no idea about its condition. It shows about 35000 miles, but I'm sure the odometer has turned it over once already. I've done a full fluid and filter change (by dropping the trans and TC) a couple years ago, at which point the fluid looked fine. Although he agrees that I have no responsibilities for the van now that he's the owner, I'd like to help him in any reasonable way I can.

So he said that the van started slipping after he hauled some stuff a couple days ago. In addition, he has a really steep driveway. He says he saw some ATF on the ground as well. I advised him to check the fluid again, as I think maybe he overheated it. I also advised that if he planned to do a lot of hauling to install an auxiliary transmission cooler, removing the stock PS cooler, routing that to the stock ATF air cooler in the bumper. Maybe I should have told him to haul in Drive instead of OD before he started hauling stuff.

Is there anything else I can tell him to check or do, short of having a transmission shop look at it?

thanks in advance

 

parking on a hill either nose up or nose down with a 17 year old 130k mile transmission is a guaranteed leaker.
17 year old seals are worn and hardened.
how does he know it's slipping?
the OD in these under heavy load conditions likes to hunt gears. 3rd>OD>3rd.
there is an online owners manual at the Motorcraft site for Aeros that lists tow/hvy loads only in 3rd. almost all rigs have this limitation including the 1 ton diesels with auto.

Caveat emptor

 

i'd advice him to check fluid level and add if necessary. I hope he did not toast tranny with low fluid level. if tranny is still ok advice him to change rear tranny seal.

 

Ditto, check out the fluid level & get the leak fixed. Also, towing up any incline with O.D wont be good. Maybe he needs a lower ratio diff for that type of work?

 

He did check and add fluid, after noticing leakage. I asked him to see if the fluid is coming from the vent tube, as I've seen other transmissions overheat and puke out from there. I hope he had not burned anything out as well. He said something about having to work at getting it home.

I don't think he parks on an incline; just has to get up one to get to parking area. When I had it, I did park on a very slight incline, but I never saw any ATF leakage.

He wasn't towing, just hauling stuff IN the van. But I do know that he drives harder than I do just from his test drive around the block. I'll talk to him next week to see what's happened.

Thanks all for the responses. These are what I would be asking if I still had the van, and the problem happened to me.

 

are you sure he has slipping? Good ATF, no smell? I had a4ld. PCM actuates TC clutch with wierd logic and sometimes when you accelerate it seems to you that tranny slips but this is just lock-up disangages.

 

BTW. A4ld is weak for 4.0 and hauling and towing. I realised it some years ago and did tranny swap. I used stock bellhousing, but my friend told me that bellhousing for T5 is awailable. Anyway in EU all the cologne engines have manual trannies. So to get bellhousing for 2.4, 2.8, 2.9 and 4.0 is really easy, not like for my 3.0

The other problem is that t-case planetary diff is not good for towing too. Chaine is a weak point, so it is much better to get part time awd t-case (made by BW with manual ore electric actuation). for donor look for Ranger t-case. but is t-case is electrically controlled, stock t-case electronic unit does not fit. You need ranger t-case unit too


My friend had to swap t-case a week ago. Now he has manually controlled BW used on european Rangers. Looks aka bronco 2.9 t-case but w/o shifting motor. Now he has manual hubs to save some fuel.

He says that the real problen is to engage hubs when van is deep in mud....))))

 

LOL, my A4LD can handle more than my engine can, and the 4.0L is no wimp. The A4LD when properly built can handle up to ~300 HP, far more than the 4.0L can dish out.

With that many miles chances are that the transmission is just worn out. There are seals which are obviously leaking, but the bands and clutches are probably pretty worn out. A total rebuild is probably due. If he intends to keep that van a while longer, a rebuild may be worth the investment. A rebuild with better parts does not cost that much extra and could make the van good for another 200,000+.

You can also order an already rebuilt transmission from these guys
A4LD Performance Transmission and Parts from PATC, A4LD

 

but why A4LD is considered weak in EU and USA? A4LD is problem less on Sierra and Scorpio with 4 cyl engines... but 2.9 is sourse of problems.

 

I haven't heard from him yet, so I have no updates.

There is a reason it's called "Light Duty", and putting it on a van weighing close to 4000 pounds seems to be a mis-application. In this case, it's not just the engine it has to deal with; it's also the load it has to move.

 

M5OD R1 is not strong enought too, especially OD gear. T5 is really bullet pruf. one, but overheated and scratched sufrace of OD gear teeth making grindig sound is typical M5OD issue... especially with 4.0. So tranny is a weak point of Aero, rANGER AND Bronco.

 

Will a T5 bolt up to a 4 liter v6? Will the tail end allow the transfer case to attach? That's an intriguing idea.

 

the only way is to use bellhousing of end of life A4LD. Mashined bellhousing fits T5.

I used GAZ tranny that is like a T5. All works are done with milling mashine.


easy to use internal clutch slave ore external one, like I did.



T-cases for T5 are available too, generally part time AWD.

But to make drive shafts is the other deal.

 

Pablo, you are awesome. But it does look quite involved; machining the A4LD bell housing to fit the T5, adapting a TC to the rear, modify the front and rear drive shafts. Wish I had access to a machine shop.

 

fortunatly I have at work.... This is a way to get in stuck so far and so deep in mud that big off road truck can taw and pull me out.... As say in Russia - better AWD vechicle - longer way to walk and get a trucktor....

One thing I want to pay attention on. do center marks very carefully and line all the powertraine and drive line, becouse one dual DS, front DS, 5 UJs.... ruther heavy parts. If something is made not accurate it will work fine, really fine, but noisy at high speeds. At 40-60 MPH you will hear ZZZZ sound and slight vibration.

BTW. TC for T5 is really easy to get on JY. I saw many old chevy SUVs on wreked yard in Moscow with T5 and t-case. It is funny, but Volga, Chevy, old Ford SUVs and early Mercedes with diesel engines made in 70-s and 80-s share clutch parts.....