Transmission Trouble (it quit)

[skippy]

i was wondering if you notice any smoke from the exhaust when it revs but will not go?

 

[old409]

No smoke

 

[skippy]

ok,i wondered about modulating valve if so equipped.but usually they let tranny fluid by the diaphpagm into the engine and smoke like hell.sorry.

 

[4.0LRanger]

This what I have, nothing in the pan and no gears at all. The only noise was a snap, just like somebody had knocked it out of gear. Another couple days on the Talon and i'll let you know for sure when I get it checked apart. Oh, to be young again and able to move about.

This is exactly what happened to me. Driving one day and heard a "snap" and it rolled to a stop. Engine would rev but no forward or reverse. Found the splines in the torque converter were gone. The shaft itself was fine. I tore the trans down anyway and found the overdrive drum was eating into the star washer but this wasn't the problem but I am glad I caught it anyway.

If your going to do it yourself it wouldn't hurt to install a shift kit and some of the Sonnax updates. Also don't forget to replace the flexplate to crank spacer, mine was cracked and its supposed to be a common problem. You'll also need a pump alignment tool specific to this transmission if you want to check the pump. The pump bushing is specific to the bellhousing since its installed undersize and machined to size so don't remove it unless you want to pay someone $50 to install and machine a new one.

 

[old409]

This is exactly what happened to me. Driving one day and heard a "snap" and it rolled to a stop. Engine would rev but no forward or reverse. Found the splines in the torque converter were gone. The shaft itself was fine. I tore the trans down anyway and found the overdrive drum was eating into the star washer but this wasn't the problem but I am glad I caught it anyway.

If your going to do it yourself it wouldn't hurt to install a shift kit and some of the Sonnax updates. Also don't forget to replace the flexplate to crank spacer, mine was cracked and its supposed to be a common problem. You'll also need a pump alignment tool specific to this transmission if you want to check the pump. The pump bushing is specific to the bellhousing since its installed undersize and machined to size so don't remove it unless you want to pay someone $50 to install and machine a new one.

That sounds like my problem. I lucked out over this weekend. I picked up a 2.9l, a4ld, transfer case, driveshaft and front bumper for $175. It's still all hooked together and has 90,000 on it. The man rolled his Ranger, the insurance paid it off and he just wanted rid of the stuff left over.

I'm going to swap the tranny with mine and then take my time rebuilding mine and if and when the other one goes bad I'll have one. The 2.9l has the newer better type heads, so I may rebuild it too. My truck's body is A-1 and I plan on keeping it until the end of time. I'm 64 now and I figure with a new trans and engine and with the limited amount I drive, this should last me at least until I hit 100 years old.

When I get my trans out and apart I'll post what I find. I want to thank everyone on here for all the help. This is a nice community you have here.

 

[Bent Bolt]

That sounds like my problem. I lucked out over this weekend. I picked up a 2.9l, a4ld, transfer case, driveshaft and front bumper for $175. It's still all hooked together and has 90,000 on it. The man rolled his Ranger, the insurance paid it off and he just wanted rid of the stuff left over.

I'm going to swap the tranny with mine and then take my time rebuilding mine and if and when the other one goes bad I'll have one. The 2.9l has the newer better type heads, so I may rebuild it too. My truck's body is A-1 and I plan on keeping it until the end of time. I'm 64 now and I figure with a new trans and engine and with the limited amount I drive, this should last me at least until I hit 100 years old.

When I get my trans out and apart I'll post what I find. I want to thank everyone on here for all the help. This is a nice community you have here.

I am 90% sure that the splines in the converter have let go. Best thing is that you don't have to teardown the trans to find it. Please let us know what you find.

 

[john5482]

If it's not the transfer case then the overdrive drum in the transmission is destroyed. There is a flat metal support disk that is installed on top of the drum that supports a sun gear. On models that do not have the newer design drums, that metal disk can strip along with the retaining spring plate. When this happens, the springs that hold down the drum piston pop out and fly around inside the drum getting chewed up as the drum moves. There is no clear reason why this happens, only that the spring support holder tends to loose grip on the springs and twists off. I have felt that this issue would happen if the rear end play becomes greater then what the specs call out. I have had this happend on my A4LD, except mine does not have a transfer case (not yet, planning on converting 4x2 to 4x4 at a later time). Needless to say when the overdrive drum fails-the entire transmission dies, regardless on the range selected (including reverse). If you do a teardown inspection, you will likely need to replace all of your thrust washers, OD drum, intermediate drum as well as do a overhaul and valve body check/replace.