Official A4LD Problem Thread!

[TXBII]

1989 BII Auto A4LD.... My tranny started acting up the other day. Was on the hwy running in OD and was going to pass a big truck and when I punched it, it down shifted but wouldn't rev any higher than 3K or speed up so I let off and it shifted back to OD. So pulled over got out looked it over no noticeable issues. Got back in started and all was good again. No issues shifted fine down shifted fine revved like it always has. Well since it has done this to me about 3 or 4 more times and stopping killing the motor and sitting for about 5 mins and it works again until the next incident. But it is not consistent in anyway I can tell.

Any ideas?

Was thinking about flushing it and replacing the filter. ( just keep hearing horror stories about how the tranny will never work right again after the fact....)

BII has 175K on it but have no idea if the Tranny has ever been worked on. Only had it about 7 months.

 

[tsego62]

a4ld

the engine/ crank output has a spacer the flywheel bolts to and causes the rear main and trans front seal to go bad.It was a defect. I saw a tech spec on it once and can t find it now. It s an 88 w a 2.9 , a4ld. The part broke taking out the trans and rear main. What is the name of the part the flywheel bolts to? 480-217-8916. HELP !!!!!!

 

[whatsyurprob]

KOEO code 29. The VSS. Could that be making my tranny slip?

 

[Alaska_Guide]

No forward or reverse

Son of a gun that took some time going through all these posts, but I could only find bits and pieces for my problem, so here goes from the beginning as it might help someone in the future.
93 Ford Exploder Eddie Bauer 4x4 97k miles.
So my kid (25) says he is driving around and loses the tranny completely. Wont engage into any gear has to be towed home. He changed the fluid and filter.
That's it! Parks it and buys another ride.
So now he moves out of state and gives me the vehicle. This is the Eddie Bauer Addition power everything and leather seats. I should be able to make a quick buck I am thinking.

First thing I do is remove carpet to clean and have access to top trans cover which I remove, give a quick visual.
Modulator is cheap and replace it as well as all rubber hoses. Check trans again same thing, no go.
Now I have already checked linkage on the outside and appears to be working fine.
Not looking good for a quick fix. Heading to Autozone or Oreilly's to pick up a manual and check prices for code reader and vacuum tester
***Note to self. Autozone prices are better than everyone else saved $22 on just the modulator. Had spare tubing so zero cost. Total so far 1hour and 22 fun tickets. Will update after I check a fw other things. Please feel free to chime in on what to check next. I am posting this to help others as well as learn the "Yute" to fix things on his own showing him he could have made some money here.

Will post photos where I can of what I am doing in the future.​

*** Update Found A4LD manual on this site and has great info:icon_bounceblue:

 

[Robert_1967]

Son of a gun that took some time going through all these posts, but I could only find bits and pieces for my problem, so here goes from the beginning as it might help someone in the future.
93 Ford Exploder Eddie Bauer 4x4 97k miles.
So my kid (25) says he is driving around and loses the tranny completely. Wont engage into any gear has to be towed home. He changed the fluid and filter.
That's it! Parks it and buys another ride.
So now he moves out of state and gives me the vehicle. This is the Eddie Bauer Addition power everything and leather seats. I should be able to make a quick buck I am thinking.

First thing I do is remove carpet to clean and have access to top trans cover which I remove, give a quick visual.
Modulator is cheap and replace it as well as all rubber hoses. Check trans again same thing, no go.
Now I have already checked linkage on the outside and appears to be working fine.
Not looking good for a quick fix. Heading to Autozone or Oreilly's to pick up a manual and check prices for code reader and vacuum tester
***Note to self. Autozone prices are better than everyone else saved $22 on just the modulator. Had spare tubing so zero cost. Total so far 1hour and 22 fun tickets. Will update after I check a fw other things. Please feel free to chime in on what to check next. I am posting this to help others as well as learn the "Yute" to fix things on his own showing him he could have made some money here.

Will post photos where I can of what I am doing in the future.​

*** Update Found A4LD manual on this site and has great info:icon_bounceblue:

If you still have reverse, then it might be one of the rubber parts on the side behind those two round caps, or at least it was for me on my crapmatic, it had cracked in the front rubber disk and for some reason it would not go forward.


Robert



posted with Dos 1.1 and Apache.

 

[alters1did]

First guess, overdrive clutch and/or od overunning roller clutch.

Hello fordman.. and Ronin

I have this issue with my 1991 ranger 2nd 4.0. No overdrive. I have hard reverse then 1.2.3.but no 4. I drive till about 45/50 nph and I'm able to move the shifter over to the od position. Come to a stop light and repeat. I've had the speedometer act funny so I replaced the speed sensor. Also the shifter isn't quite perfect on the position it actually is, like on od it's actually in between d and od. Don't know if that would actually matter. Previous owner replaced the steering column and did a poor job. Any light on this will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance and sorry for the super bump

 

[alters1did]

*1991 ford ranger 2wd 4.0

 

[work_in_progress]

This problem needs resolving. The transmission in the vehicle is missing the ball joint that the shift arm coming from the engine bay connects to. The donor transmissin has this arm. Is there any ways to solve the problem without pulling the tranny in the bronco? PLEASE help I've been stuck on this problem for three months! The images are in my Album. I couldnt get them to post!

 

[Robert_1967]

This problem needs resolving. The transmission in the vehicle is missing the ball joint that the shift arm coming from the engine bay connects to. The donor transmissin has this arm. Is there any ways to solve the problem without pulling the tranny in the bronco? PLEASE help I've been stuck on this problem for three months! The images are in my Album. I couldnt get them to post!

Are you typing about the arm on the transmission?? if so, you should be able to get the part from the auto part store.


Robert




posted using a broken link and spam software.

 

[work_in_progress]

Thanks, didn't think that the parts store would carry that, but we thought that there was another way. Maybe that's all that we can do and have been worrying about being stuck on it for nothing!

 

[Rangurr]

Took my bronco on a 70 mile trip on a 103* day with a trailer (maybe a few hundred pounds) and my 8.8 axle. Part of this trip was on some pretty steep hills. I should probably mention that I was doing this in OD as opposed to Drive, where I should have been, and that I'm running 3.73 gears with the 2.9l and 33" tires - not exactly ideal for towing things. Anyway, I went and dropped my axle off and noticed that when I was starting the Bronco, the starter was acting like it was under more load than usual to start it - almost like a low battery. The next thing I noticed was that I had less and less power the more I drove. After this, I got the Bronco back home (I live about 10 miles up some pretty steep hills) and backed the trailer up the driveway. On the way up the hill, I was lucky to hit 25mph (usually has no issues with 40 despite my gearing/tire combo) and while backing the trailer up my driveway, I was lucky to even move at all. Once I got out of the Bronco, I noticed a bit of ATF under the trans and quite a few drip spots up the driveway. I started the Bronco back up and revved the motor - ATF gushed out from behind the inspection plate. I haven't really looked into the issue yet. I'm currently in the process of installing my spare transmission and will look at the old one when I get a chance. Anybody have suggestions? I would say just the front seal but at the same time, with the starter having trouble cranking the engine (like there's mechanical resistance in the trans or elsewhere) and the total loss of power, I feel like I may have done quite a bit more. I've heard the A4LD hates heat... Oops. Any thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[bella89]

'89 Bronco lock-up only works intermittently. One day works; next day no go. Anyone else have this problems and how did you solve it, if you did solve it? Vehicle has 152,000 miles filters & fluid was changed at 99,000 miles, everything has been working just fine til this summer. Was thinking of grounding # 53 wire , will this tell me anything?

 

[bella89]

my 1989 bronco 2 a4ld trans would not shift out of 1st until warmed up. Installed new vac modulator, did not help. Now trans is not shifting into 4th, need to go up to about 4500 rpm & maybe a shift will happen. Is vac modulator used for all gears?
Thanks

 

[teknurd]

I have a problem that has yet to be resolved...
History:
I purchased a low mileage (76k) 1987 BII, non-running. It had been sitting for a long time and required a bit to get it running again. New head gasket, new fuel tank and sending unit, lots of new sensors, new radiator, new filters, the list goes on.

The engine runs strong. My problem is with uneven power. What I mean by that is if the truck shifts into 4, I will never get above 45MPH. If I shift it down, the engine has a higher RPM and will gain speed. In addition, if I take off from a dead stop in 1st, it is VERY sluggish until the engine's RPM gets higher (sorry, don't have a tach so I don't know what the magic RPM level is). It starts really taking off at higher RPM.

My thought is that perhaps I have a bad torque converter (could it go bad due to sitting for 10+ years?), or maybe the entire trans. The truck shifts between all gears just fine, so I suspect that the tranny is fine. Do you have any suggestions on what to check or where to look?

 

[wildbill23c]

I have a problem that has yet to be resolved...
History:
I purchased a low mileage (76k) 1987 BII, non-running. It had been sitting for a long time and required a bit to get it running again. New head gasket, new fuel tank and sending unit, lots of new sensors, new radiator, new filters, the list goes on.

The engine runs strong. My problem is with uneven power. What I mean by that is if the truck shifts into 4, I will never get above 45MPH. If I shift it down, the engine has a higher RPM and will gain speed. In addition, if I take off from a dead stop in 1st, it is VERY sluggish until the engine's RPM gets higher (sorry, don't have a tach so I don't know what the magic RPM level is). It starts really taking off at higher RPM.

My thought is that perhaps I have a bad torque converter (could it go bad due to sitting for 10+ years?), or maybe the entire trans. The truck shifts between all gears just fine, so I suspect that the tranny is fine. Do you have any suggestions on what to check or where to look?

Sounds like a possible valve body issue in the transmission. If the valve body is having problems it can cause the transmission to start in 2nd gear and it will be pretty sluggish for a bit till the speed builds up then it'll usually shift fine, but in overdrive not being able to drive above 45mph I believe would also be the valve body causing that issue as well, not enough pressure through the valve body possibly....I'd take it to a transmission shop personally and have them go through it and find out for sure. I had my A4LD in my 88 Bronco 2 rebuilt by my local AAMCO for about $2400 with heavier duty parts, cost more but well worth it to keep it going for many many years.

These A4LD's are pretty problematic and since it was Ford's first 1/2 ass attempt at computerizing a transmission for overdrive they did a pretty lousy job in the research department, all the while my old C5 in my 84 Ranger and my C6 in my 88 F250 have been going for decades without any problems.

 

[B2bomber86]

Got a 88 b2 with the a4ld trans. 2 questions. Was wheeling in 4x4. Stopped took it out of 4x4 threw it into drive and punched the gas. Was on gravel so it should have slung rocks lol. Anyways. It lurched forward then quit moving. No gears at all. D shafts r fine but don't move. Tcase seems to be out of neutral. Rpms don't from when chosing gears. Dropped pan fluid is fine. No chunks of metal. Minimum clutch residue.

Any ideas before I drop whole trans.

What manual trans can I put in this. It is the 2.9L I keep hearing they are more reliable.

 

[B2bomber86]

Got a 88 b2 with the a4ld trans. 2 questions. Was wheeling in 4x4. Stopped took it out of 4x4 threw it into drive and punched the gas. Was on gravel so it should have slung rocks lol. Anyways. It lurched forward then quit moving. No gears at all. D shafts r fine but don't move. Tcase seems to be out of neutral. Rpms don't from when chosing gears. Dropped pan fluid is fine. No chunks of metal. Minimum clutch residue.

Any ideas before I drop whole trans.

What manual trans can I put in this. It is the 2.9L I keep hearing they are more reliable.

 

[duffy]

Are you sure its the trans and not the transfer case? If it's an electric shift transfer case it might not be shifting all the way (motor may be bad).

 

[wildbill23c]

Got a 88 b2 with the a4ld trans. 2 questions. Was wheeling in 4x4. Stopped took it out of 4x4 threw it into drive and punched the gas. Was on gravel so it should have slung rocks lol. Anyways. It lurched forward then quit moving. No gears at all. D shafts r fine but don't move. Tcase seems to be out of neutral. Rpms don't from when chosing gears. Dropped pan fluid is fine. No chunks of metal. Minimum clutch residue.

Any ideas before I drop whole trans.

What manual trans can I put in this. It is the 2.9L I keep hearing they are more reliable.

It may have damaged the valve body in the transmission or who knows what, not all transmission issues are going to show up by simply looking at the fluid, its a huge misconception that the fluid will tell you if a transmission is bad or not. The fluid in the 42RE in my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee is nice and clean so is the pan, no debris at all, it don't move forward or backward.

Rather than guessing and throwing parts take it to a shop and have them properly diagnose it. But first have you tried putting it back in 4WD and moving and seeing if it will move at all in 4WD which may indicate a transfer case issue rather than a transmission problem. My 93 Ranger had a really loud pop/bang then just quit moving, it blew a seal or something in the transmission so it wasn't allowing the fluid to move with enough pressure to get the truck to budge at all.

 

[reclarknipgen]

What To Post Here:

We see a lot of threads in the forum about A4LD problems.

I would like for everyone who has or had a problem with their A4LD to post it in this thread. Please post what the problem is/was and how you fixed it if it's been fixed. If you post the problem now and get it resolved later, edit your post. Don't add it further down the thread.

I want this thread to be simply problems and known fixes. Not a long lengthy thread with a ton of suggestions as to what might be wrong. Try to keep the thread on topic to just A4LD problems and known fixes. Don't wander off in to what ifs and shot in the dark suggestions.

Thanks.

High just joined. I am looking for a valve body diagram for the 1 solenoid valve. There are several 2 solenoid diagrams on line but no single solenoid.