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Demersus
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
- Messages
- 47
- Vehicle Year
- 1990
- Engine
- 2.9 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
Hello everyone,
I had replaced the vacuum modulator on my '90 Ranger w/ 2.9L & A4LD because it had a delayed shift into 3rd. Everything else worked fine, even TQ lockup. I took it for a test drive and realized that it wasn't shifting up properly. So I parked it and did some research and figured out what I did. Turns out I didn't notice that the modulator pin dropped inside the transmission.
I was able to retrieve the pin by dropping the valve body down enough to fish it out. I put it all back together, but it's still not shifting right. I believe it makes it into 2nd, because after getting up some speed I can manually shift down to 1st and the shift is very apparent and positive. But I can't really tell when it shifts up from 1st to 2nd, whether I shift manually or not. Moving the shifter to 3rd or 4th doesn't do anything. It never makes it out of 2nd. And putting the pin back in didn't change anything, it's the same behavior as when I first test drove after the modulator swap.
I've done quite a bit of reading since, and in one post a guy had the exact same problem and took it to a shop. He said that the shop fixed it pretty easily, that the throttle control valve got stuck when the pin wasn't in. But then the thread ended, plus I can't find it again.
I've studied the exploded parts diagrams and I see this particular valve, but there is no spring shown in the assembly. So I don't know which way the valve moves to close vs. open, or in which direction is might get stuck if the pin is missing. I assume that it wants to move outward during operation, and that the pin pushes in when there is vacuum on the modulator. But it could be opposite I suppose.
Thanks for reading this long post. I hope it's all clear and makes sense.
I had replaced the vacuum modulator on my '90 Ranger w/ 2.9L & A4LD because it had a delayed shift into 3rd. Everything else worked fine, even TQ lockup. I took it for a test drive and realized that it wasn't shifting up properly. So I parked it and did some research and figured out what I did. Turns out I didn't notice that the modulator pin dropped inside the transmission.
I was able to retrieve the pin by dropping the valve body down enough to fish it out. I put it all back together, but it's still not shifting right. I believe it makes it into 2nd, because after getting up some speed I can manually shift down to 1st and the shift is very apparent and positive. But I can't really tell when it shifts up from 1st to 2nd, whether I shift manually or not. Moving the shifter to 3rd or 4th doesn't do anything. It never makes it out of 2nd. And putting the pin back in didn't change anything, it's the same behavior as when I first test drove after the modulator swap.
I've done quite a bit of reading since, and in one post a guy had the exact same problem and took it to a shop. He said that the shop fixed it pretty easily, that the throttle control valve got stuck when the pin wasn't in. But then the thread ended, plus I can't find it again.
I've studied the exploded parts diagrams and I see this particular valve, but there is no spring shown in the assembly. So I don't know which way the valve moves to close vs. open, or in which direction is might get stuck if the pin is missing. I assume that it wants to move outward during operation, and that the pin pushes in when there is vacuum on the modulator. But it could be opposite I suppose.
Thanks for reading this long post. I hope it's all clear and makes sense.
