Another A4LD thread

[jballard81]

On my way to the boneyard yesterday i noticed the trans slipping when i approach what i imagine is overdrive, around 50-55mph. Give it throttle and it kicks down and speeds up without complaint. Pulled over and checked the fluid level (it was warm, but off, so i need to check again the correct way) and the fluid was looked burnt and thin.

Lower gears seem to work ok with little noticed slippage. Reverse works but seems to make the engine run rough.

After reading a chunk of the pinned A4LD thread, I'm wondering if this is symptoms of a bad vacuum pressure regulator? I saw some testing procedures for it in the pinned thread so i guess i will give that a go when i pull the pan. At the least, I'm going to change the filter and fluid. If the above mentioned regulator fails testing, i will replace that as well.

If the above isn't a miraculous fix (not holding my breath) what is the preferred 5-speed option for a swap? Does it complicate things that mine is a 4x4? I have the 4.0 engine.

 

[RobbieD]

You'll need the M5OD manual ("Mazda transmissiom"), 4WD version. By far, the easiest way to accomplish this is to find a donor truck, for both the tranny and all of the "annoying small parts" that you'll need. A lot of threads on here about this swap.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

On my way to the boneyard yesterday i noticed the trans slipping when i approach what i imagine is overdrive, around 50-55mph. Give it throttle and it kicks down and speeds up without complaint. Pulled over and checked the fluid level (it was warm, but off, so i need to check again the correct way) and the fluid was looked burnt and thin.

Lower gears seem to work ok with little noticed slippage. Reverse works but seems to make the engine run rough.

After reading a chunk of the pinned A4LD thread, I'm wondering if this is symptoms of a bad vacuum pressure regulator? I saw some testing procedures for it in the pinned thread so i guess i will give that a go when i pull the pan. At the least, I'm going to change the filter and fluid. If the above mentioned regulator fails testing, i will replace that as well.

If the above isn't a miraculous fix (not holding my breath) what is the preferred 5-speed option for a swap? Does it complicate things that mine is a 4x4? I have the 4.0 engine.

So, the A4LD actually has two adjustable bands that nobody ever seems to adjust (I myself forget about it usually until there’s a problem). If I remember correctly there’s an adjustment procedure in the tech archives section. Also if I remember correctly, the adjustment is supposed to be done every like 20-50k.

Definitely check the vacuum regulator and the vacuum system on the truck. Age makes for leaks. I’m about to the point where I’m just going to replace all the vacuum lines on all my junk that hasn’t been replaced yet because I’m tired of vacuum leaks.

If you’re going to pull the pan and change fluid and filter, I’d like to make the suggestion of doing a shift kit (TransGo is what was recommended to me but @holyford86 indicated to me last night there may be a better option that wasn’t available when I bought my kit for my 92 - at that time there was only two offerings and one had springs the TransGo didn’t but you have to tear the transmission completely apart to use them). I did some other mods to the valve body beyond the shift kit, O-ring end caps and a shift corrector thing, plus a large boost valve and some other goodies. At minimum I’d do a shift kit and the shift corrector plus new reverse servo O-rings (square cut is the improved version). Adjust the two other bands and see where it gets you. All the valve body mods in my 92 turned it into an animal. Took about a month to get all the air worked out of the system despite the bleed procedure, but with a 4.0, extended cab, 3.73 gears and limited slip rear it would light up the back tires from a stop if you hit the gas too hard with 170k+ miles on it. No idea if the trans was replaced but it was likely serviced at least once. 1,000x improvement in performance after the work. It was messy and tedious but not really hard. Clean and gentle is how it’s done because it can be easy to scratch the aluminum parts.

 

[jballard81]

@lil_Blue_Ford Thanks for all the info!

Can the shift kit, shift corrector and reverse servo O-rings work all be done with the trans in the truck still? I should preface that I've never done transmission work before, but am willing to try anyway.

Regarding parts.. I found the TransGo shift kit here: https://transgo.com/product-details/sk-a4ld-jr/
can you advise where i could find the corrector and O-rings?

If i have to pull it to do the work, I would be on the fence between that and a 5speed swap. maybe it is easier to pull these? I still need to get the engine/transmission shop manual for my 94

EDIT: I've found the A4LD shop manual in the tech section and will review it to see if i can answer my own question

 

[RobbieD]

I still need to get the engine/transmission shop manual for my 94

EDIT: I've found the A4LD shop manual in the tech section

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@lil_Blue_Ford Thanks for all the info!

Can the shift kit, shift corrector and reverse servo O-rings work all be done with the trans in the truck still? I should preface that I've never done transmission work before, but am willing to try anyway.

Regarding parts.. I found the TransGo shift kit here: https://transgo.com/product-details/sk-a4ld-jr/
can you advise where i could find the corrector and O-rings?

If i have to pull it to do the work, I would be on the fence between that and a 5speed swap. maybe it is easier to pull these? I still need to get the engine/transmission shop manual for my 94

EDIT: I've found the A4LD shop manual in the tech section and will review it to see if i can answer my own question

You’re quite welcome!

And yes, all the work I did to my 92 (minus the torque converter which I replaced when I replaced the engine after it slagged a piston and I was concerned that the torque converter wasn’t doing its job correctly at the time and doesn’t have to be replaced if it’s not suspected of being a problem) was done in the truck. You just drop the pan, pull the filter, then pull the valve body and stuff. Lots of bolts that go in very specific spots and very messy. Take the valve body, spray it off with some brake clean after pulling the separator plate, then put it on a clean work space. Everything except the band adjustment and reverse servo o-rings will be done on a bench. Then it all just gets bolted back in. Specific torque sequence on stuff when it goes back together, you’ll need a 1/4” drive inch/lb torque wrench for bolts and a tap socket for doing the bands. I just bought a Harbor Freight one. I have part numbers somewhere for the stuff I used. I have a thread on here that I’ll link below. I was going to do a write-up and I have some video, just haven’t got it done yet. Life got in the way.

A4LD mods (and 4R44/4R55/5R55)

So I wasn’t exactly sure what to title this, but here’s where I’m at. I was surfing around on the web, think it was on a rainy day, and only like a month ago. Came across a thread or write up somewhere about the A4LD and it’s descendents the 4r44/4R55/5R55. Suggested the usual stuff, bigger...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[jballard81]

Well, I've ordered the TransGo shift kit and reverse servo O-rings. I will definitely be taking a lot of pictures.

 

[jballard81]

I received the shift kit yesterday and should get the rest of the o-rings and gaskets tomorrow. I'm realizing that I don't have a manual for removing the valve body from the transmission itself.

I'm fine until I get to the valve body itself. Are the bolts that hold it in place all the same length? How many should there be?

I know my fluid is burnt, does that mean I need to follow a flush procedure along with draining torque converter?

As usual, thanks for the help!

 

[jballard81]

Well, I'm in it now!

So I've pulled the valve body and reverse piston.
Taking the wire clip off the reverse piston was not fun, but got it done and also drilled the .063 hole for step A from the TransGo instructions.

This is where I've stopped for the night. Kind of got stuck trying to remove the valves after removing the retainer clips. Doesn't seem like I should be trying to poke it out with a screwdriver or tweezers...

Any tips?

 

[jballard81]

Learned a very unfortunate lesson today. One that I should have been very well aware of...
The shift kit i received is missing parts. And to keep to my super-cheap-skate roots, i ordered from fleaBay and while i will msg the seller i don't think anything will come from it.

Now my transmission guts are strewn around my work bench and have to stop, store everything as carefully as possible and order another one (probably a 3-7 days at best)

Learn from my mistakes and check your parts BEFORE you tear your truck apart

Aside from that, being a complete novice with transmissions, I've followed all the advice I've seen here. Take lots of pictures and work slow! It is initially quite a daunting task, but taking my time i feel like i'm becoming more comfortable with the process and was working through the steps before i ran into the missing parts issue

 

[sgtsandman]

I learned a long time ago that going through the parts list in the instructions is a very important step and very much worth the time.

Hopefully the seller will work with you. If not, perhaps ebay may be willing to help you out. Worse comes to worse, if you bought it with a credit card, you will have a course of action for restitution by going through them.

That being said, I've been burned by a deceptive seller looking to unload a known bad part or kit and looking to make money in the past. We all get burned at some point.

 

[jballard81]

So I'm looking at the rest of the instructions from TransGo. They say to install 5 check balls in a 2 solenoid body. None were provided in the kit and mine only has 4 originally...

@lil_Blue_Ford do you remember this? No idea where I would find another check ball...

 

[jballard81]

Anyone that's done one of these shift kits on a 2 solenoid trans that can comment on the check balls in the above post?

 

[jballard81]

I've ordered check balls and went ahead and got a new separator gasket set. so everything's on hold until parts arrive. Here are some pics of the pan and magnet. pretty sludgy, but no chunks and no big obvious metal bits as far as i can tell:

everywhere was pretty sludgy on the pan, magnet might have held a bit more. it is grey looking in the pictures. seemed more like mud in person

 

[RobbieD]

The sludge is probably friction material worn off from the clutches.

In your pics, are those four tiny "puck" looking things loose? Seems like I remember some pan gaskets having spacers like those.