Rear ABS got anything to do with A4LD transmission?

[RobbieD]

Make sure that all of the wiring connectors are securely plugged in on the transmission.

 

[Paisano]

I'm taking it in next Monday. The shop owner said the first thing he'll do is check the connectors.
He said it should be ok for me to drive it till then....................don't you all think I should avoid driving it?
Or just use regular 'D' on gear shift selector and not overdrive 'D.'

 

[mmerlinn]

Drive it in any gear you want.

Worst case scenario in OD is that it will start shifting normally.

 

[Paisano]

I tested it in OD this weekend. Still no 4th gear. It climbs from 1st to 3rd gear like it should.
It just won't go beyond 3rd

 

[mmerlinn]

I tested it in OD this weekend. Still no 4th gear. It climbs from 1st to 3rd gear like it should.
It just won't go beyond 3rd

Most likely bad connection or bad solenoid. Either way, easy fix without removing transmission.

Though, not likely, could be stuck OD valve or broken OD spring. Swap/rebuild valve body to fix that, again without dropping transmission.

 

[Paisano]

OD was working before the last repair. I dropped it off this morning.

 

[Paisano]

The shift solenoid connector was loose. They made sure it was completely seated and now I have 4th gear overdrive again.
But I might not be done with all this yet. They might need to adjust something or install a shift kit

 

[Paisano]

4th gear went out again. I have to bring it back to the transmission shop Monday. The guy also agreed to install a shift kit. Any further problems and I will insist on a second rebuild without delay.
But they might do that next week anyway.

 

[Paisano]

The transmission guy called me today. They've had my truck since 11/27. He says they have been unable to isolate the latest issue.
He says it has to be internal. They are going to tear it down and build it again.

 

[Paisano]

This is a nightmare. I picked up the truck Saturday. It still doesn't run right. The 2nd and 3rd gear shifting is sometimes weak or barely noticeable. Sometimes with a slight 'slide' also.
And they say they rebuilt it and added a shift kit also. I guess I'll have to submit a consumer complaint or tell them to keep the transmission and refund my money.

 

[Blmpkn]

My vote is for a refund.

My experience with shift kits are GM trannys and not ford's.. but.. either way.. a shift kit is should be a night and day difference.. spirited driving causing tire chirping shifts..

 

[Paisano]

Yeah. Every time I take it back to them, I never know what to expect when I pick it up. On more than one occasion, they tried to let me drive when it has an obvious defect.
I catch them every time. This last time, I was getting ready to leave their lot and the gear shift selector was all squirrelly, misaligned with the gear selector indicator and very tight.
They fixed that at least.

 

[Paisano]

Also 4th gear still doesn't work. I can feel 4th gear try to engage. But it leads nowhere. Nothing happens. The RPM's don't go down and it stays in 3rd gear. Is this the PCM sending a signal the transmission is not responding to?

And won't that very weak shifting shorten the life of the transmission?

 

[Paisano]

UPDATE: I must have done about 25 test runs in the last 10 days. I also did a test drive (below) with the shop owner and I agree with him
that 4th gear IS kicking in every time.

However.......

The shop owner took the truck for another test drive Thursday. I complained the shifting is sometimes weak or barely noticeable. He doesn't think there is a problem
and says he isn't worried about it. He says the transmission will last for years. I don't agree. And I don't believe him. He said he installed a Transgo Shift Kit.
Basically, it sometimes runs like a continuously variable transmission when you barely feel the gear shift transition. I have not heard anything about A4LD being
redesigned to run like a CVT.

But without me asking, he added 6 months and an additional 8000 miles to my warranty and initialed it. He said there are a couple adjustments he can make to increase fluid pressure
and firmness of shift. He said it's difficult to adjust and there is a fine line between lite and hard shift. He doesn't sound thrilled about doing this. But he said he will do this for me if I want.

All this this back and forth to get this trans running right is crazy. I had another shop take it for a test drive and they thought something was off. I'm not being too picky. I'm not an expert. But I know how the A4LD should run. I'm willing to take it back one more time.

He said he has to pull the valve body to make these adjustments. Let me ask you guys this. Does this mean if he doesn't get the adjustment right, he has to keep removing the valve body
to make adjustments? I thought at least modulator and bands could be adjusted from outside the transmission.

 

[Paisano]

I never followed up on this. The only remaining drawback is alternating firm and light shifting for the same driving conditions. There was some improvement with a modulator adjustment. The other problems were fixed. The free extended warranty will probably expire mid July with current mileage.

Unless there is a major malfunction or failure between now and then, I won't go back to them. Every time I drop my vehicle off, they keep it for 10 days or more. And it's extremely inconvenient without a second vehicle. I just don't have confidence in them. And they almost let me drive it off the lot with low trans fluid twice......and once with very stiff shift linkage I could barely move. Not only that, they got grease stains all over the passenger cab.

The light shifting must be a valve body/line pressure issue. Everything else they fixed twice. I've decided I will do valve body work myself. So it's question of whether I want to do a simple shift kit........complete correction package with boost valve.........separator plate......reman valve body with upgraded parts.........or.......just leave it as is.