Help!! My 4r70w broke!!

My 95 4.6 T-Bird decided to ditch 3rd gear. When I reach 3rd gear it just free revs and sometimes 3rd will kick in, usually wont! 1st and 2nd seem fine, so I don't know whats up. I left it at Fords and they said it's probrobly a forward clutch?? And that I'm looking at about 2100 for a rebuild!!

Anyway, any sugestions? I don't know what to do, I can't even afford this!!

I'm thinking used 99ish GT transmition and as far as I know, I only need the different flex plate to do this. Anyone have more info on that??

If anyone knows a good place or even has a good 98 MK8 or 98+ GT 4r70w I could purchase that would be great! Any clue what a 98+ low K GT tranny/TC would go for??

Thanks,

Jake Dufton

Andrew V. might be able to give you some answers on this topic.

You may also want to have a look over on TCCoA, many more 4R70W owners over there.


cheers
Ed N.

STUPID COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, just lost everything I typed, so here I go again.

The 98+ stuff has the 'better' valvebody, but it won't make you any faster at the track. It's more of a longevity item than anything else. Most scrapyards won't sell you just the VB, only a complete tranny, but it doesn't hurt to ask around. It's a long shot. Also, don't forget that when you deal with a USED tranny from a scrap yard there are NO gaurantees!!! First you gotta find it, then pay $700-900 for it, and you should still rebuild it. That's expensive.

If affordability is in question, i'd forget about it (newer tranny and/or VB) all together. Spend the money you don't (?) have where it will count, or don't spend it. If you're really that tight for cash then discuss this with the dealership and see if they'll replace only what you need. While it's not the best plan, it is the cheapest (for now). If the car was at home in a garage i'd strongly suggest you remove the tranny and bring it to them ('out of the car'). It's always cheaper when you bring them the tranny out of the car. Unfortunately this is not the case (can that be changed inexpensively???).

IMHO - forget the newer VB/tranny, rebuild what you've got and get an auxillary tranny cooler, at the very least. Make sure it's rebuilt with the upgraded 1-2 and 2-3 shift accumulators!!! A shift kit wouldn't hurt, but can easily be installed later (I believe we discussed this already?) A noticeable upgrade (again, IF you can afford it) would be a flex plate from a Mark VIII with a Marauder/Mach 1 torque converter. Under $500 for parts, but if the tranny is out already....you see where i'm going with this, i'm sure.

A few guys here have had rebuilds done recently, perhaps one of them will chime in (guys?).

buy a 98 mark viii tranny and tc from www.greenleafauto.com for about 500-600 dollars, get it shipped to you in ontario for probably another 150, then swap a few things to make it work on your car (tcc solenoid, repin computer harness, MLPS). That's what I did and I'm really happy with it. And actually, there is a way it could make you faster at the track. The mark viii valve body allows for manual shifting. Also, you can j-mod the mark viii tranny by just drilling the seperator plate and taking out the accumulator springs. Nothing needs to be upgraded or replaced other than 2 new 3 dollar valve body gaskets.
-Thomas