A4LD Reverse Slips, No engine braking - Fixed

[Synchman]

I have a 1990 V6 4.0L with an A4LD tranny. After the truck warmed up, the reverse slips. No engine braking in first gear. It has had about 50,000 miles since a tranny rebuild.

I took it in to the dealer for a diagnosis. The diagnosis was tranny case worn out, need a new transmisssion for $2,785. This "diagnosis" cost me $200.

Since that was more than the blue book value of the truck, I took this to be an IQ test. I took it to a transmission specialist for a second opinion. Snohomish Transmission.

Snohomish Transmission pulled the pan off, and found the servo cover bolt sitting at the bottom of the pan. They replaced the servo gasket, O-ring, instaled the cover bolt, put in new filter, pan gasket, and ATF and test drove the rig. Problem solved for $200.

That was the good news... The bad news was that the axles were worn where the bearings ride. I needed new axles, which I had put in. And while they were in there, I had them put in a Detroit True-Track limited slip, and Amsoil synthetic. It is pretty sweet compared to the open differential I had eariler.

And I'm in discussions with the Ford dealer about them charging $200 for what I view as a wrong diagnosis.

Scott.

 

[Forcus]

Nice! I hope you nail them to the wall. And good call on the second opinion!

 

[Synchman]

Refund of diagnosis

The dealer has offered my money back on the diagnosis, plus a free detail job for my trouble. This is a perfectly acceptable resolution to me.

Here is the part I am struggling with:

"Our transmission tech pulled the pan and removed the servo unit and noted the scarring on the side on the case (which is evidently fairly common on these units) and recommended a transmission vs. sanding down the surface and installing new seals and o-rings which he believes is a short term solution.
Then to make matters worse, he didn't put all the bolts back in"

There seems to be some transmission experts on the forum.... Do you think the fix I received (replaced the servo gasket, O-ring, re-installed cover bolt) is a short term fix? Snohomish Transmission did not mention any scarring on the case. And if this scarring is common, have you seen it before?

 

[Bent Bolt]

What Snohomish Transmission did is a perfectly acceptable repair. So what if there was a bit of scoring on the reverse servo bore ?? It only comes on in reverse and MAN 1. If it were the intermediate servo, that'd be a different story.
As for the dealer story... bullshit. You had slipping reverse and no MAN1 when you went there, and still didn't when you left. Any tech worth anything would have seen the bolt and put two and two together and fix the servo......if they took off the pan in the first place, which I really doubt.

 

[Synchman]

Thanks, Bent Bolt. And I saw your occupation in your profile. Double thanks.

I'm kind of doubting the dealer took the pan off as well. They should have charged me for a gasket and ATF if they had. And Snohomish Transmission implied the pan had not been off in a while.

Scott.

 

[MAKG]

The dealer is offering you the equivalent of hush money.

They committed an act of fraud by not performing the diagnosis they said they did, and charging you $200 for nothing. They don't want you going to the D.A. Which you absolutely should do.

 

[Synchman]

Yes if there was fraud I should go to the D.A. for the good of the community. But I don't need more stress in my life.