new a4ld in old truck?


1stgenxlt

10+ Year Member

Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
6
Points
3,001
Vehicle Year
1987
Transmission
Automatic
Ok so I have a 1987 ranger 4x4 with a 2.9 and a4ld. My tranny(250k+ on it) has had the front seal replaced twice in the past year and now leaks like crazy again to the point that it is not driveable. Anyway since i lack the money and or knowledge for a rebuild, im just looking for a lowere mileage replacemnt. I've read the a4ld changes after 87 to electric shift, correct? So is it possible to make the newer version tranny (88-94 from a 4.0)work with my older truck? What would be needed if possible?
 
seal leaks

From what I have been reading here and found out on my own, A front seal leak is a major problem with a4ld's Some say the seal is machined in others say not. When I had my a4ld problems I tried to have it rebuilt by a local shop ( waste of time and money) . Any way the lesson I learned was take a4ld to the dealer for a warrenty thats worth something Or by an after market tranny like the raptor transmission. After you try and save money a few times like me you could have bought the high performance transmission any way. The only positive, is I got real good at removing and installing a transmission. Good luck
 
Would I just need the wiring harness and ecu for the new tranmission, or could i just splice the tc lockup wires together since the plugs probobly won't match and then run the overdrive solenoid wires to a toggle switch inside the cab?
 
You could swap valve bodys from a 85-87 to a newer style 88-94 trans. That way you don't have to wire in any switches and what not.
 
Would that be fairly easy to do without much inside trans experience? But then if I were to happen to find one with the upgraded valvebodies it would be a waste though. Iv'e been having a very difficult time trying to find any kind of a4ld in salvage yards around here so I doubt I would be lucky enough to finde one of those though. But does my switch idea sound like it would work?
 
So does nobody else have any knowledge on this. Or am I really the first person who has ever had this problem?? Because I would find that very hard to believe.
 

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