Manual t/c lockup switch FTW!, A4LD owners read...

[The_Dealer]

Well my a4ld has been giving me problems ever since i got my bronco, and im working on a 5spd swap, but i decided to try to make it last until i get the rest of my parts together. heres what i did

i unplugged the t/c lockup plug (right above the trans pan lip on drivers side of tranny), then i used my multimeter to figure out which wire was hot with key on(happend to be red/blue stripe on mine). once i figured out which one was hot, that told me the other was ground(yellow/blue stripe). i cut the ground wire and soldered a piece of 16awg wire on and ran it up through the speedometer cable hole to my switch. i put this wire on the positive side of my switch, then ran a ground to the ground side.

how it works, if u dont already know, is u are manual locking the t/c. what this does is, better fuel economy, lower trans temp, and it keeps the trans from feeling like its always shifting on the highway. the drawback is u have to manual flip the switch to lock/unlock the t/c. this aint rocket science, it wont let u lock the t/c under 45, about the time the tranny shifts to o/d. i like to lock it around 55, and i can give it more gas to stay at a steady speed without it unlocking and locking. also in the D position u can lock it up at 55 and it wont keep dropping down to 2nd and shifting back. once again u can give it more gas without it downshifting. its perfect in D with my 31's so i can hold a steady road speen(i can actually go 70 now lol)

just figured i would share about the manual lock up switch. i highly recommend it to all with the a4ld. my problem was alot of shifting at 55 and alot of slippage in o/d, and its gone. im still swapping to a 5spd though, but it makes driving a whole lot better

 

[heptofite]

i piggybacked the existing harness for mine, you can manually lock it, or let it lock on it's own, there is no disable function.

it'll work in either 3 or overdrive, but not 1 and 2, and if you don't unlock before you stop it'll bog down the engine until it forces a downshift and unlock.

 

[The_Dealer]

i can pretty much tell when its time to unlock or lock, judging by the sound of the motor and road speed

 

[heptofite]

True, but i was trying to say you over-complicated it, you can install a switch to force lockup without removing the functionality to lock up on it's own.

 

[ChopTop84]

You guys are just figuring this out? We've been doing this to the ford 4r100's and e4od's for coming up on 16 years now.

I have a circuit diagram somewhere that lets you put a couple of LED's into the circuit so you can see when the computer is commanding lockup, and also when you've manually locked it up.

Should work on the smaller 4r70w and any other trans with a computer controlled TC lockup.

 

[whocares]

And of course less locking/unlocking means less heat...which is a good thing when it comes to auto transmissions.

 

[The_Dealer]

You guys are just figuring this out? We've been doing this to the ford 4r100's and e4od's for coming up on 16 years now.

I have a circuit diagram somewhere that lets you put a couple of LED's into the circuit so you can see when the computer is commanding lockup, and also when you've manually locked it up.

Should work on the smaller 4r70w and any other trans with a computer controlled TC lockup.

i would like to see that, i already have one that lights when its locked up, i would like to have another one that says when the computer is commanding it. one question, when i rid my junk for the duraspark would i still be able to see when the computer was commanding it? im planning on leaving the pcm in place and cutting the unused wires off instead of trying to unweave everything

 

[bronco_lou]

You guys are just figuring this out? We've been doing this to the ford 4r100's and e4od's for coming up on 16 years now.

I have a circuit diagram somewhere that lets you put a couple of LED's into the circuit so you can see when the computer is commanding lockup, and also when you've manually locked it up.

Should work on the smaller 4r70w and any other trans with a computer controlled TC lockup.

I would like the info on this also, I would like to add a led or two to my dash
Please post the info or a link.
Thanks,
Louis

 

[vDawG]

My tran has 3 wires. Any ideas on what each wire does?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

i would like to see that, i already have one that lights when its locked up, i would like to have another one that says when the computer is commanding it. one question, when i rid my junk for the duraspark would i still be able to see when the computer was commanding it? im planning on leaving the pcm in place and cutting the unused wires off instead of trying to unweave everything

When you do the duraspark all you need is the oil pressure water temp and alternator wires the rest can go away the computer will not be working anyway get rid of it and just take the harness apart from the coil to the alternator so you know which wires to keep and the only vacuum you will need is the dizzy from manifold you can remove that rats nest also along with the sensors and vacuum solenoids the computer controls the ground for the lockout so once it is gone you can control it however you want if you wanted to get fancy there is probably a way to wire in a relay/s for the brake similar to the cutoff for a cruise control when you touch the brake to unlock it.

 

[ChopTop84]

Here is the schematic. The switch is a Double Pole, Single Throw switch. Its pretty simplistic, but Ive had it on my 4r100 in my superduty for 7 years now with no problems, and complete control over lockup.

When the switch is UP, everything is normal, and the green LED turns on when the computer has the TC locked up. This is just so you know its locked by the computer. Red LED is off.

In the DOWN position, you take control of the lockup. The red LED turns on to let you know its in manual lockup mode. The green LED will still turn on and off to indicate to you that the computer thinks the TC should or should not be locked, but it doesnt actually have control of the TC, because you do.

 

[2001FORDRANGER]

thats because its jealous, lol

Well my a4ld has been giving me problems ever since i got my bronco, and im working on a 5spd swap, but i decided to try to make it last until i get the rest of my parts together. heres what i did

i unplugged the t/c lockup plug (right above the trans pan lip on drivers side of tranny), then i used my multimeter to figure out which wire was hot with key on(happend to be red/blue stripe on mine). once i figured out which one was hot, that told me the other was ground(yellow/blue stripe). i cut the ground wire and soldered a piece of 16awg wire on and ran it up through the speedometer cable hole to my switch. i put this wire on the positive side of my switch, then ran a ground to the ground side.

how it works, if u dont already know, is u are manual locking the t/c. what this does is, better fuel economy, lower trans temp, and it keeps the trans from feeling like its always shifting on the highway. the drawback is u have to manual flip the switch to lock/unlock the t/c. this aint rocket science, it wont let u lock the t/c under 45, about the time the tranny shifts to o/d. i like to lock it around 55, and i can give it more gas to stay at a steady speed without it unlocking and locking. also in the D position u can lock it up at 55 and it wont keep dropping down to 2nd and shifting back. once again u can give it more gas without it downshifting. its perfect in D with my 31's so i can hold a steady road speen(i can actually go 70 now lol)

just figured i would share about the manual lock up switch. i highly recommend it to all with the a4ld. my problem was alot of shifting at 55 and alot of slippage in o/d, and its gone. im still swapping to a 5spd though, but it makes driving a whole lot better

 

[bonedoc]

When I did the duraspark conversion, I left my computer in place and only removed the excess ignition wires and vacuum lines/ports. By doing this and leaving all wires going to the trans my overdrive functions normally. Didn't have to do any switches, it engages and disengages normally. I can easily cruise on roads with 31's at 55-60 in overdrive and hold highway speeds of 70-75 without the annoying in and out of overdrive.