What to do with my tranny

[rsparhawk]

So, long story short, I bought my truck from a guy who said it didn't have overdrive. I found out the plug for the solenoids was actually just unplugged while I was dropping the pan to drain the fluid. so here I am, I was prepared for a rebuild, or swap out for another tranny, and now I'm thinking I could get by with just a filter and some fresh fluid. The fluid didn't smell bad, and it wasn't too red, it actually looked pretty good. I know, I should have drove it as soon as I noticed the plug was disconnected, bad diagnosing on my part.

So what would you do? I was actually going to try to visit a couple of pick-n-pull yards to try to find a tranny behind a 4.0 explorer/aerostar/ranger, but now i am second guessing myself. I guess worst case scenario I would be out time and some transmission fluid to just try it as is.

It is a 1988 ranger GT, 2.9 A4LD. Here are some pictures of what the valve body and pan looked like. I am trying to find the guys number I bought it from to see if he knows if the tranny had ever been rebuilt by any previous owners.

the last picture is where I was trying to figure out what brand it said on the valve body gasket, it looked like aftermarket, which is why I want to contact the PO to see if he knew what the history of the tranny was.

Thanks in advance

 

[jhammel85]

That solenoid was the only problem. I would fill it with fluid and replace that filter and gasket. Do that and enjoy your ranger! Was it shifting funny or anything?

 

[Taragon]

I would go ahead and rebuild it. That fluid looks too new, like they tried changing it to fix something, or put it in cause they had to unplug thr solinoid. Also, keep in mind, that silvery stuff in the fluid is metal..

You rebuild, you KNOW what you got instead of guessing at it.