I have a problem. My transmision(A4LD, 3.0L Aerostar) is not shifting. Here is what happened. I was driving back from Iowa (270 miles of nothingness) and when I stopped for a stop sign the van would barely get into first gear. I had to go really really light on the gas and it finally got into gear, made a lot of noise and some shuddering too. Not good, I managed to not come to a complete stop for the rest of the trip and made it home. Parked it in the driveway, that slopes down if it matters, let it sit for a while and it drove into the garage fine. Next day I take it out and I get down the driveway and a block away and then I realize I have no gears at all. Nothing! I can shift the lever but nothing happens. Got the car back into the garage, dropped the tranny pan, fliud was pretty brown but no metal flakes at all, infact the fluid was totally clean. Changed the filter and put new fluid in but it didnt seem to help, still cant get it to engage. I also checked the linkage and when the shift lever is moved it does move down at the tranny. What could the problem be? I assume it can't be that bad or else I would have found some debris from something breaking in the pan. Also, how are you supposed to know how much fluid to put in the tranny after changing it? I can't exactly test it hot since I can't drive the car to get it that way and it is about 30 degrees outside. Any idea's?
Thanks,

 

Brown tranny fluid is usually a very bad sign. Especially if it smells burnt.

Normally you would have small pepper flake sized pieces of clutch in the fluid, maybe you missed those? Normally you won't see any big chunks of metal or anything else, you hope.

Sorry, I am no expert but I would say "it's dead Jim". Your clutches probably either wore out over long miles and lack of maintenance or they blew suddenly. A fluid change probably won't help.

Brown also often means things got hot, so you may have burned some seals so the fluid does not hold it's pressure.

The fluid should never get to the point of being brown(except in the case of a few old style fluids).

Time for a rebuild I think, hope I am wrong.

Jim Henderson

 

Reminds me of my chevy(<-that's a fightin word at my house)scottsdale I had. I was driving around town one day, pulled into a gas station just fine. After getting gas, it would not shift into second gear at all. Drove it home in first gear (which took me twice the time to get home). Found out I needed a new vacuum regulator or something.

Sorry for posting a chevy memory, just wondered if it was related to what was going on with the van above.

 

Update: I found the vacuum modulator and pulled the hose off, no fluid in it. I also checked and it is getting vacuum. Here is a rehash of the symptoms, I forgot one before: The transmission will not engage into any gears. Originally when it stopped working i checked the fluid level and it was past the full line, although I had not added any fluid to it ever, not sure where the extra fluid came from, any ideas? When I move the shifter nothing happens at all, the linkage is moving with the lever so I figure that is not the problem. There is no clunk like their used to be when dropping into gear. Any idea what the problem is or what the logical next step to try is? Is there a sensor or a check valve that keeps the fluid in the torque converter? That is the only place I an think of that the extra fluid could come from.

C(-)ris

 

Mine is getting rebuilt right now for that purpose. What me and the tranny guy think is that the valve body got stuck and didn't apply the right amount of pressure to the clutches and it burnt them up. Thank god for warranties.