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85 A4LD and duraspark


19Walt93

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I just read this thread and after doing transmissions for years I'm horrified that anyone would drill into a fluid passage without completely stripping and cleaning the transmission. I'd want to tear it down and go through it but you may get away with cleaning the valve body if you're lucky. Once the valve body is out you should remove and check every valve to make sure they move freely and aren't scored. Polish any scratches with 400 paper and check the bore it rides in carefully. I used a tinkertoy with a piece of 400 folded into the groove to polish inside the bores. If you're too young to know what tinkertoys are, get a 1/4" or 5/16" wooded dowel and cut a slit in one end to hold the 400 paper. Obviously, you'll only be able to rotate the dowel in one direction.Go slow and check frequently, you want to remove only the scratches and not oversize the bore.
 


Transman304

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Did you unbolt and disassemble the governor? The valve body would be the next place to look. 369594D2-F358-402C-B4A9-B71DCC302FAA.jpeg4F0277AC-75DF-4448-A33A-E8B03B383945.jpeg
 

ford4wd08

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ford4wd08

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I just read this thread and after doing transmissions for years I'm horrified that anyone would drill into a fluid passage without completely stripping and cleaning the transmission. I'd want to tear it down and go through it but you may get away with cleaning the valve body if you're lucky. Once the valve body is out you should remove and check every valve to make sure they move freely and aren't scored. Polish any scratches with 400 paper and check the bore it rides in carefully. I used a tinkertoy with a piece of 400 folded into the groove to polish inside the bores. If you're too young to know what tinkertoys are, get a 1/4" or 5/16" wooded dowel and cut a slit in one end to hold the 400 paper. Obviously, you'll only be able to rotate the dowel in one direction.Go slow and check frequently, you want to remove only the scratches and not oversize the bore.
Knowing what I know now, I agree.

I read on the tech article about drilling it and followed the directions. I used grease on the tap and drill, but I doubt that was enough.
 

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For drilling the hole and keeping pieces of metal out;
I wonder if using a vacuum and clear plastic hose would help. Cut the hose on an angle and an access hole for the drill bit. Some duct tape to hold it in position.
 

19Walt93

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Don't drill into it unless you strip it down to the bare case. I've had governors stick after washing all the internals and case in the parts washer and then rewashing everything with spray carb clean and blowing it off. A tiny particle is all it takes.
 

ford4wd08

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My goal is to remove the valve body this week and clean it really well. Any tips? I've heard the separator plate gasket might be a pain to get off.

I might replace the OD solenoid because I'll already be in this deep....
 

ford4wd08

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Never got around to fixing this yet.......

Plan is to drop valve body, and remove extension housing to get to governor better.

I'll make sure I clean it all up real well and reassembly. I hope that fixes it....
 

ford4wd08

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Well, I had the bronco towed to the local transmission shop. Show far they have been great to work with and have seen their fair share of A4LD's.

I called and talked to their main rebuild guy today that has been troubleshooting it while working on other rebuilds.

He said today it wasn't getting enough vacuum at the modulator. he was going to temporarily run a line straight from the manifold to see if he could get more and make it shift.

I hope it is that easy and a cheap fix. I am glad to have found a local trans shop that seems to be honest. I'll have him make sure it is shifting through all gears and my TC lockup pressure switch is working correctly too!
 
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RonD

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The A4LD vacuum modulator would use intake vacuum directly, its to detect engine Load

Wouldn't be connected to the vacuum reservoir, which has steady vacuum, or should have, lol
 

ford4wd08

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The A4LD vacuum modulator would use intake vacuum directly, its to detect engine Load

Wouldn't be connected to the vacuum reservoir, which has steady vacuum, or should have, lol
I thought about that again after I posted.... oh well. Maybe I just have something unhooked. He said it is low on vaccum to make it shift, surely I have a leak somewhere?
 

ford4wd08

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Update for today from Trans shop.

They confirmed it was getting good manifold vacuum to the modulator.

They jacked it up and put it on jack stands and ran it hard and tried to make it shift with a vacuum pump. No dice.

They are thinking the governor now, which makes sense. Hopefully they know something I don't and can figure it out tomorrow. They are putting it on a lift and removing the trans case first thing in the morning.

I honestly don't know what else it could be. I don't think it is the valve body as I can manually shift it to 2nd.

@RonD any other ideas?
 
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ford4wd08

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Trans shop has been through everything I have been through. Talked to the main rebuild guy last night. Said he was tried of it kicking his butt. Lol. They are going to finally drop the valve body today and go through it.
 

ford4wd08

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Well the long awaited updated lol.

Talked to the trans shop off and on for a few weeks. They dropped the valve body and couldn't see anything wrong.

They tried everything they knew to troubleshoot and requested to pull it to go through it. Well I just let them do it. At this point it wasn't doing me any good sitting in the driveway doing nothing.

Once they dropped it and went through it, they discovered one band was broken.... Not sure if, when, or what caused that, but they spent a week and a half looking for the correct band. The rebuilder told me he did not want to put the newest kevlar band in it as they didn't work well with that Vintage A4LD. I think they replaced the torque converter too. Said they also reemed the modulator hole to help it get goofs vacuum. They seemed to know what they were talking about. At least it will have a warranty on it for now.

I'll report back all that they did when I go pick it up.

@RobbieD thought you might enjoy the update....
 
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ford4wd08

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Well the trans is still not up shifting......

The shop put it all back together after replacing the band and still won't shift....

The owner said he waiting on a call back from his main rebuild guy who is out on vacation.

They said they have a spare case and at no cost to me they may swap it out.....

Guess we will see what happens....
 

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