Just bought - BIG problem! (long)

jaredebel

Registered User
I found a 1989 Cougar XR7 SC through sccoa online and flew out to WA state to purchase it. It's really clean with only 87K miles and the leather interior is in great shape. I had it inspected by a mechanic in WA before I paid the guy for it and the mechanic said there were no major mechanical problems, no fluids leaking, overall above average condition. He said he wouldn't worry about driving it back to Kansas City where I live. The tranny was recently replaced about a year ago which included a new torque convertor and new clutch packs. It shifted very well the first few days I had it out on the road.. until I reached Nebraska. Without warning while cruising in overdrive at 75 mph, the tranny BLEW UP - completely! I lost all foreward motion and the rpm's shot up like I was in neutral. Isn't that nice? I had it towed to a Certified Transmission where they told me that a missing "throttle cable grommet" caused the demise of my entire tranny! WTF!! Some 50 cent part caused a 1,400 dollar problem? He said that this grommet (outside the trans) helps control throttle linkage inside the trans, so with it gone, there was enough slip over time to cause it to overheat and blow up. So this "new" tranny from the guy in WA had a three year warranty on it, but they are now telling me it is not transferrable and they will not warranty it. This all happened four days after I wrote the check for it. It now has a bad trans fluid leak, and the mechanic that inspected it for me gave me a printed receipt with a warrany that said there were no major problems and no leaks.

Do any of you have a suggestion for legal action I can take?
I don't think there is anything I can do - I'm probably screwed.

**What would you reccomend I buy to replace my blown-up tranny? I'd like to get something that will hold up and give me a nice, solid shift. I may throw some extra horsepower at it. I still want good driveability though.

Thanks for any help!
Jared E.
1989 Cougar XR7 - black w/ tan leather - 3.8L SC V6 - auto
 
Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

As regards the TV linkage grommet this has long been a problem with the AOD and is IMO the leading cause of the moniker AO-dead for this trans. Well that and the 1-D-1 shuffle shift which BTW never EVER do.

What I was going to say is that the grommet may well have been there during the inspection. AOD's are not known for lasting long after the TV cable comes loose from the throttle arm. Some have burnt up in as little as a mile. What happens when the TV cable comes loose is that the internal pressures of the trans drop to almost nothing and it slips. Badly. What happens next depends on what you're doing. In town you might find that suddenly there's no Drive. Out on the highway the possibility of some hard parts coming apart and making a real mess is very real. Anyway IMO the grommet missing situation probably didn't pre-exist the trans failure by more than a few hours. Not that that makes you feel any better.

Oh and I agree with the Lentech opinion. The big thing about those tranny's is that the valve body changes power flow through the trans. This is important since the AOD has TWO input shafts. If you look where the converter goes you'll see three splined shafts. The outer one is the converter stator shaft and it doesn't move. Next in is the input shaft used for First and Second. The smallest one is the one for Third and Overdrive. This shaft is, for all intents and purposes, locked to the converter shell (OK there's a VERY small amount of slip in Third/Direct).

Needless to say the Third/OD shaft is pretty easy to break. There are some reports of these breaking on downshifts followed by acceleration in normal driving. The Lentech valvebody changes powerflow through the trans so that Third stays on the much larger First/Second shaft. A side benefit should be that you get some converter slip in Third instead of the locked-clutch feel the car has stock. I'm sure you've noticed that low-speed getaway after slowing to about 20mph to let someone turn is a little lackluster. Some converter slip will improve that.

Another benefit is that now you will have 1-2-3 manual control should you want it.

Downside is that you must add a switch, relay, and wiring for the OD which will now be electrically controlled.
 
Umm, take it for a second opinion.

All it sounds like what happened is your od band shot which is a $200 fix...
 
If I may add my input here also, my friend and neighbor bought a 35th recently and I drove him there to pick it up. The seller mentioned that he had the transmission serviced just before he put it up for sale. The car did great for about a couple of weeks and then it locked basically in overdrive. It wouldn't start in park at all, only in neutral. We pulled it and he went through it. The parts were around $200 and the clutch bands were basically fried. We are surmising that the new fluid caused an already old trans to fry but it may have also been a faulty setting on the TV cable. It's doing okay for now and he used my shop manual to set everything. I am by no means even close to knowing the idiosyncracies of the AOD so I hope he set the TV correctly. I have heard about the TV cable causing problems for years if it isn't set correctly. I just want to thank you guys for your input on this for my friends sake as well as jaredebel. I will touch on the TV cable setting again with him again tomorrow just to be safe. I had not heard of Lentechautomatics either and am glad to hear of them. Best of luck to you, jaredebel.
 
Last edited:
Aside from doing a Lentech automatic, how can I rebuild my AOD to get a 1-2-D-OD shift pattern? It just doesn't hold the gears for long enough. When going from 1st to drive, it hits second and then goes immediately to third. Any suggestions?
 
jaredebel said:
Aside from doing a Lentech automatic, how can I rebuild my AOD to get a 1-2-D-OD shift pattern? It just doesn't hold the gears for long enough. When going from 1st to drive, it hits second and then goes immediately to third. Any suggestions?
This is a good indication that the TV pressure is not set right. If you drive an AOD like this for very long you will fry the clutch's and bands very quikly!
 
transslip

i have a 90 sc with 263000 kms. the trans was rebuilt @ 248000 and the tv grommet was replaced but i do not thunk that the cable was ajusted cause the hotter my car gets the more it slips in od and now i am having a problem in 3rd and 2nd. but i still love that car. 263oookms iand i dont think the engine has ever been opened cool it that uncommom for a 3.8lsc?
 
I wouldn't say it's that uncommon. If you can evade the headgasket monster you can run one of these things for a real long time and never have to get inside the engine. Just keep up on maintenance.
 
see thats the thing i think my headgaskets are gone/going.
i have almost no heat in my car. i relize that its cold in canada but the temp. gauge only goes a high as the slash at the low end and the coolant was changed under a vacum flush system so there shouldn t be any air in the system. also i do have to add coolant ever month or so. thx for the info cool site!
 
Me too!

The TV cable got me too, and don't feel bad because I only drove my cougar for 2 days after i bought it. The head gaskets went fixed them and then the tranny went because of the TV cable. owned the car for a month and a half and only drove it for 3 days. I'm in the process of putting the tranny in now. Does anybody know the proper way to adjust the TV cable after I get the tranny in? Someone told me to take the plug out of the side and put an oil pressure guage in there and adjust the cable til I get 35lbs? does that sound right?


I'd suggest just trying to find an AOD with the shorter tailshaft and throwing it in, Just like me.
 
This happened on my cougar.

Damn grommet, did me in too. But, my new tranny shifts from first almost to third immediatly. But, only if I am driving easy. I figured that it was fords idea of helping out with fuel economy. I've played with the tv cable, and found that if it is over-adjusted, the car shifts into overdrive hard, almost like the band is on loose. If the cable is under-adjusted, the car won't hold gears long at all, even under w.o.t. It just one of those things you have to play with. I will say, when I have it stomped, the car holds the gears long as can be. I've been able to hit the 90mph+ range while still in drive, not OD. Oh well, Whatcha gunna do with an AOD. It's fully mechanical, Unless You wanna play with the internals to get what you want out of it. One advantage of the 4r70w is that the computer helps control the shifts. It old technology mixed with a technically advanced car.
 
Back
Top