Another A4LD thread

[jballard81]

The sludge is probably friction material worn off from the clutches.

In your pics, are those four tiny "puck" looking things loose? Seems like I remember some pan gaskets having spacers like those.

good eye! that's exactly what they are. tiny magnets presumably for keeping the gasket in place. scared the **** out of me initially though!

you can see near the top-right where there is a space for it in the gasket

 

[RobbieD]

I think that they're also spacers, to keep the gasket from getting too crushed and splitting.

I gotta give you credit, for not being afraid to take on the needed repair jobs on this truck.

Good luck, and keep on it; you're going to end up with a VERY nice Ranger.

 

[sgtsandman]

That sludge is normal to find in the bottom of the pan. You'll find that in the engine oil pan, if you ever have a need to pull it, and sometimes in the differential if you don't change the gear oil often. The lack of metal anywhere in the pan or on the magnet is a good sign.

 

[jballard81]

Pretty significant difference between the old and new spring for the reverse servo

Original on the left. I guess the smaller and lighter looking spring will allow for "easier" pump actuation. I'm no expert by any means, but that seems like the logical reason...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, I'm in it now!
View attachment 107830
View attachment 107831
So I've pulled the valve body and reverse piston.
Taking the wire clip off the reverse piston was not fun, but got it done and also drilled the .063 hole for step A from the TransGo instructions.

This is where I've stopped for the night. Kind of got stuck trying to remove the valves after removing the retainer clips. Doesn't seem like I should be trying to poke it out with a screwdriver or tweezers...

Any tips?

So, what I used the most for working the pistons free (after hosing it off as good as I could with brake clean) was some popsicle sticks. Think I used one as it was and trimmed another one or two for different purposes. Used a small screw driver very carefully and some hemostats for where I could reach in and grab something. It was an exercise in patience and care. I had bought some Lucas transmission stuff and used that to lube for re-assembly. Think I even used a zip tie a couple times.

Learned a very unfortunate lesson today. One that I should have been very well aware of...
The shift kit i received is missing parts. And to keep to my super-cheap-skate roots, i ordered from fleaBay and while i will msg the seller i don't think anything will come from it.

Now my transmission guts are strewn around my work bench and have to stop, store everything as carefully as possible and order another one (probably a 3-7 days at best)

Learn from my mistakes and check your parts BEFORE you tear your truck apart

Aside from that, being a complete novice with transmissions, I've followed all the advice I've seen here. Take lots of pictures and work slow! It is initially quite a daunting task, but taking my time i feel like i'm becoming more comfortable with the process and was working through the steps before i ran into the missing parts issue

That‘s definitely a bummer. Worst case maybe try contacting Transgo, they may help you out with the missing pieces.

So I'm looking at the rest of the instructions from TransGo. They say to install 5 check balls in a 2 solenoid body. None were provided in the kit and mine only has 4 originally...
View attachment 107890

@lil_Blue_Ford do you remember this? No idea where I would find another check ball...

Oh, yeah, I ended up ordering extra check balls. Forgot about that. I did drill everything out as close to maximum as possible (I didn’t have all of the drill bits I needed at the time) and did all the upgrades I could. I was really happy with the results, it wasn’t harsh, just a good firm shift, nice and crisp.

I've ordered check balls and went ahead and got a new separator gasket set. so everything's on hold until parts arrive. Here are some pics of the pan and magnet. pretty sludgy, but no chunks and no big obvious metal bits as far as i can tell:
View attachment 107960

everywhere was pretty sludgy on the pan, magnet might have held a bit more. it is grey looking in the pictures. seemed more like mud in person
View attachment 107961

That’s about how my pan looked on my 92. The fluid didn’t smell burnt and was still red-ish except at the bottom of the pan with all the sludge. I worried about that, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.

 

[jballard81]

That’s about how my pan looked on my 92. The fluid didn’t smell burnt and was still red-ish except at the bottom of the pan with all the sludge. I worried about that, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.

Thanks for the reply! Through trial and error I found these tools to be super helpful:

That pick is from a $2 harbor freight set. Kind of hard to tell in the pic, but it has a little jog in it. It could fit almost anywhere in the vb and then I could rotate it to push out the valves.

Picked up a more precise caliper to accurately measure the drill bits as well. Waiting on the check balls and new separator gaskets now.

A zip tie is a brilliant idea! I can see how it would have been helpful!

 

[RobbieD]

I'm sure that you know this, but "just in case", be VERY VERY careful with the valve body and its parts. It can't have any scratches, dings or burrs, and it must be kept as clean as you can possibly get it.

 

[jballard81]

Well, finally get parts and time to put the valve body back in. I'm putting the bolts into the vb finger tight and while doing so realize that I have 2 30mm bolts not 1...

I can't recall where that other 30mm came from but it looks like it's been cranked on (bottom bolt on pic).

Can I just put this 30mm bolt near one of the solenoids where TransGo say to tighten less (75 instead of 90)?

Or... And I assume this is the correct answer, get another 40mm bolt?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Are you sure the second bolt isn’t for the filter?

 

[jballard81]

Are you sure the second bolt isn’t for the filter?

filter bolt is 45mm (which i have as well, just haven't installed it yet).
i only removed the other 30mm to confirm that i had 2. manual says i should only need one 30mm bolt for the entire vb. i know it came from towards the 'front' of the vb, possibly right behind one of the front 45mm bolts. I will double check that i didn't mess anything up and then prob just pick up another m6 x 40mm from the store. i read that a bit of permatex high tack is useful for reinstallation of the trans pan so i want to pick some of that up anyway.

i don't have any service records for my truck and it only has 5 digits on the odo, so i can't guess at the last time it was serviced.

thanks for the input as always! i will report back once i've got it buttoned back up!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

filter bolt is 45mm (which i have as well, just haven't installed it yet).
i only removed the other 30mm to confirm that i had 2. manual says i should only need one 30mm bolt for the entire vb. i know it came from towards the 'front' of the vb, possibly right behind one of the front 45mm bolts. I will double check that i didn't mess anything up and then prob just pick up another m6 x 40mm from the store. i read that a bit of permatex high tack is useful for reinstallation of the trans pan so i want to pick some of that up anyway.

i don't have any service records for my truck and it only has 5 digits on the odo, so i can't guess at the last time it was serviced.

thanks for the input as always! i will report back once i've got it buttoned back up!

Couldn’t remember offhand but I knew the filter has a long bolt. I can’t remember if I just used a chart to put the bolts back or if I actually laid them out where they came from. My paperwork I had from doing the work is MIA at the moment

 

[Shran]

I used the Superior shift kit on my wife's 4R55E and didn't think that it made much difference. The instructions are really not great; there are so many variants of these transmissions. For example there were some pieces present in her VB that were not on the instructions and pieces listed on the instructions that were not in her VB - is that because someone was in there previously and messed with it or because it's a '95 (first year of the 4R55E) or what? It is hard to say & frustrating. Actual humans that know technical details about these are few & far between.

Something I learned when I was messing with this one was that the valves can wear out the bores in the VB itself and then they leak, get stuck, etc. If you are SURE that the issue is valve body related, it might pay to just pony up and buy a remanufactured one.

 

[jballard81]

I used the Superior shift kit on my wife's 4R55E and didn't think that it made much difference. The instructions are really not great; there are so many variants of these transmissions. For example there were some pieces present in her VB that were not on the instructions and pieces listed on the instructions that were not in her VB - is that because someone was in there previously and messed with it or because it's a '95 (first year of the 5R44E) or what? It is hard to say & frustrating. Actual humans that know technical details about these are few & far between.

Something I learned when I was messing with this one was that the valves can wear out the bores in the VB itself and then they leak, get stuck, etc. If you are SURE that the issue is valve body related, it might pay to just pony up and buy a remanufactured one.

So I'm 'hopeful' that the kit and new fluid helps me with my sometimes missing OD. I'm hoping to get ahead of some of the other problems as well.
i 100% agree with you on the instructions though. too many variants, intentionally vague instructions printed in black and white on 2 pcs of paper made this way tougher than it should have.

If i am still having issues after this i will have to decide between a reman vb and 5spd swap lol

 

[Shran]

I think you will just have to determine what amount in your mind is too much to spend. Burnt fluid & slipping do not give me warm fuzzy feelings about solving anything with a shift kit or even a new VB - and that is probably another $450+ worth of parts, gaskets, fluid, etc. The mystery here is, was it slipping because the VB or something else was leaking and not holding pressure, or was it slipping because it's just clapped out and needs a rebuild? That's a lot of money to gamble, if I went that route and the trans just ended up being worn out, I would lean towards rebuilding it and NOT doing a 5 speed swap - reman VB can be used on your rebuild trans. I would probably button up what ya got done so far and make your 5 speed swap decision before spending another dime on the auto.

I'm right there with you though, my wife's is doing all kinds of awful things but sometimes it functions perfectly. If it were mine I would put a 5 speed in it. Her truck though, I may end up just ordering a reman transmission from AutoZone.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I used the Superior shift kit on my wife's 4R55E and didn't think that it made much difference. The instructions are really not great; there are so many variants of these transmissions. For example there were some pieces present in her VB that were not on the instructions and pieces listed on the instructions that were not in her VB - is that because someone was in there previously and messed with it or because it's a '95 (first year of the 4R55E) or what? It is hard to say & frustrating. Actual humans that know technical details about these are few & far between.

Something I learned when I was messing with this one was that the valves can wear out the bores in the VB itself and then they leak, get stuck, etc. If you are SURE that the issue is valve body related, it might pay to just pony up and buy a remanufactured one.

I dunno about the Superior kit, I saw a number of people said the TransGo kit was better so that’s the direction I went. Also TransGo has good customer support. I did all of the A4LD mods I could while I was at it, then tightened the bands. It was a night and day difference for me.