AOD Tranny Experts??!!

The way it all started for me was there was a guy on here who sold me a used trans for $200 as good, the sprags were gone... I spent a whole day installing it to find out.

Then I took the one I took out first to Cottman, so they could rebuild and I could reinstall it in a couple days.

After waisting a day installing that one to find OD slipping under power I just took the whole car to Cottman, since at that point it was "their Baby", pulling those trannies sucks!!

Wow!!!!!!!! You guys are tough!!! I wouldn't have the nads to tackle this job. Previous experience confirms what you have said that local (even name brand) tranny shops just don't have the expertise to do the job on a performance transmission.

However ... there are high performance tranny shops all over the country that have the equipment and skill to REMANUFACTURE the AOD, replace all the weak stuff with aftermarket race quality stuff for about $1300.

No recommendation for any particular company. There are a bunch. Here's one for example .....

http://www.transmissioncenter.net/AOD.htm

Others that come to mind ... jet, b&m, transgo, Art Carr

your neighbor ... ron

You can get the best AOD man in the world to build your AOD.
YOU WILL STILL HAVE A PEICE OF WORTHLESS JUNK.

Be it FORD, CHEVY, DODGE.auto trans are junk.the only transmmission that I have seen last any length of time is a ALLISON.And they are junk to.And to big to fit in a car.

By the time you go through a few autos you could of bought a nice stick shift
car if not two.Save your money.

There are no AOD experts.Only expert AOD liers.In my area.

RANDY

Wow!.. a lot of reading here, and a subject which touched a raw nerve (I've been through my own "rebuild hell" this summer with my AOD).

Here's my story:

Transmission lost 3rd/4th gears in March. Not a particular worry for me because it was OEM and my AOD has seen 180,000mi of somewhat hard use I was looking forward to a performance rebuild when it cacked.

Take it to a local "performance" shop where they promised me the world (upgraded parts, shift kit, etc.,). Get it back and it lasted mere hours before it stopped shifting period. Take it back... they repair it 3 more times. Get it back, same result... stops shifting altogether after a couple of hours. I suddenly realize these guys know dick about what is causing this and I have no hope of them being able to fix it properly. The only good thing to come out of this is I now have newer 4R70W gear set components.

During the first few hours (when it would shift somewhat) the symptoms were the same as many of you describe... late/erratic shifting, bogging the engine when coming to a stop, etc,.

After doing a lot of research and talking with Len from Lentech, we both agreed it was either the governor or valvebody causing the shift problems (the 2 components that control shifting). *NOTE* At this point the assumption is the gear set components were installed correctly.

I then purchased a Lentech "street terminator" valvebody and governor and had them installed by my local dealership (The AOD requires a different weighted governor when installing the wide-ratio gear set, which the first shop didn't have a clue about... if the OEM one is used, the 1~2 & 2~3 shift RPMs will be too high).

Well damn!.. wouldn't you know it? after a couple of hours the SAME thing happened... the tranny stopped shifting altogether. Talk about frustrated... at this point I've spent $3k and I still don't have a working tranny. Worse yet, I still don't know what's causing the problem!

More research, more consultation with experts, more talk with Len, and slowly the concensus started pointing towards fluid contamination. I pulled a small amount of tranny fluid out and discovered a fine silt in the fluid... confirming the assumption of contamination.

After finally finding someone else to attempt yet another teardown/rebuild (thanks to club member Greg C. for pointing me to John Hart), I now have a working AOD!

The problems...

When the first shop installed the new gear set, they made several mistakes. They installed too many clutch plates in the 3rd gear "direct" clutch pack. They also didn't line up the pump housing correctly (which prevented fluid flow to certain circuits), and they somehow installed the 2" OD band incorrectly, which caused it to be partially engaged all the time. Add to that a ballooned TQ converter from overreving and you end up with a mess!

What was happening is (and I'm going from the explanation given to me) the 3rd gear clutch pack and the OD band were constantly engaged all the time to some degree and this was the source of the fluid contamination (clutch material). The contaminated fluid circulated throughout the tranny and gummed up the valvebody and governor, which quickly resulted in the "no shifting" situation. After 300 kms the 3rd gear direct clutch and OD band were completely worn out!

For all the money and grief I went through, I could have just bought a complete Lentech from the start. Hindsight is easy, I know... AODs can be built to last if the right person/shop is doing the work... unfortunately there are too many others who just think they know what they're doing.

I love the way my AOD performs now, and the wide ratio gearset is a nice improvement, but I still don't like the part-throttle 2~3 shift. It's a little too firm for my taste (mainly due to the fact that 3rd gear is fully locked up in the AODs, and there is no fluid pressure cut-back during the shift like the stock AOD has). Next year I'm going to a non-lockup TQ converter which will soften this shift some.

In the picture below, it says reuse, i know they mean that plastic piston, i'm also assuming that they mean the bottom spring. Let's just say some moron forgot to put the bottom spring, would that prevent the tranny from shifting to second, and not shifting properly at all....

Also, on this first pic, is that how it should be, thats how i understand it and on the second pic, what does that valve control (the one with the arrow).

Thanks!!

Paul93sc I went through three trans.Then got a lentech.They sent me I beleive a stang trans.So I talk to lentech on the phone.cost $35.00.
He sent me some new levers.I got them they were the same as I had.
Still could not get the trans to work after taking it apart.Called again
don't have the bill but this one will be over $35.00.And pay another
$37.00 when I ordered the trans for the phone.My lentech still will not
let me adjust the shifter to set up the lentech.So I will need to call again.
to find out what to do.Don't know what another call will be.The money I am paying the phone company,to talk to lentech has been just as a big rip as a local trans shop.
Plus I have had to buy new cats evey time I take the lentech apart.
I wish that I would of not bought the lentech.It is going to cost me a few hundred dollar to get enough info to fix the wrong trans that they sent me.
So far I don't see a lentech any better than the local yocho trans shop down the street.At least the local trans shop could give me a trans that would work
a 1000 miles or less.I have well over $4000.00 in the lentech.
And it still dos not work.

Randy

Randy N Connie said:

You can get the best AOD man in the world to build your AOD.
YOU WILL STILL HAVE A PEICE OF WORTHLESS JUNK.

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A properly working stock AOD is an acceptable compromise for a passenger car driving intown and on the road. Drive like granny and you'll be just fine.

Randy N Connie said:

Paul93sc I went through three trans.Then got a lentech.They sent me I beleive a stang trans.So I talk to lentech on the phone.cost $35.00.

Randy

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Randy,

Doesn't Lentech still have a toll-free number? I know it says orders only, but that's the only number I've ever used for tech support. It rings at the same place.

Kurt

Geeze, I don't know what to say Randy. I've been following your troubles from the beginning (along with others) mainly because of my own problems with the AOD.

Have you been speaking to Len himself? I found Len to be very helpful, knowledgable, and not once did he come across as being arrogant or condescending. He has built numerous AODs for SCs and knows our cars fairly well (important when selecting a TQ converter). He was a crucial information source for me when I was trying to get my own problems sorted out, and he spent over 2 hours with me on the phone (in total) without so much as a complaint.

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Kevin: To the best of my knowledge, if those springs are left out of the 2~3 shift accumulator, it will just shift a little firmer. They have nothing to do with the 1~2 shift (AODs don't have a 1~2 shift accumualtor).

Check out the transmission articles written by Jerry W. on the TCCoA site... he explains this stuff there.

LEN HAS BEEN GREAT.IS EVERY THING YOU SAY.AND MORE.

Its just me .Still cant get the shifter right.Maybe My standards are to high.

Been to all the trans shops in my area.They can't built a AOD either.

All the other transmissoin that have been in the car adjust right.They just
fly apart inside.I would at least like to drive the SC and be able to burn the clutchs up some time.

I have spent close to $20,000.00 in parts.A lot of them I have not installed
yet.I think I will just forget the trans,And finish with my other mod plans.
Then buy a trailor with a winch to haul my SC around.

There is no way that I would sell my SC to someone.I would be afraid that
they would shoot me or burn my house down.I am sure they at least would hate me,after buying this mistake for a car.But I highly reccomend any one to
buy a MN12 or fox chassis birds with stick shift trans, but not a SC with auto trans.

This is a nice thread by Mike 38sc on AODs.Just not for me.So I do not want to have to answer any more ?? about my failures.Start a new post.

Thanks Randy

Fianally got the damn thing back! I think the guy gave up on trying to make it a better transmission. Shifts like a slug. It has one more major problem that my very un-educated guess would pin on the throttle valve. Whenever the tranny is in neutral, or park the idle speeds up to around 2500. Am I looking at the right area? I am extremely reluctant to take it back where it has called home for the past 15 months. Also now, both windows just hum, like they too, are in neutral and will go up and down only with manuel assistance. Thanks, to every member here for the help I have received.

Mark

MIKE 38sc said:

Well theres a limit on the size of PM's, 1000 characters. I was WAY over the limit. You just cannot talk about auto tranny's in a 1000 characters to someone just learning. LOL!!!
Maybe the best route to take would be doing this through email, then you could do write ups on your journey that could be posted on the site somewhere to help others. I think that would be a nice addition to this site as theres really not much indepth talk here on the subject. Nothing would thrill me more than freeing the SC people from the rip off artists out there.
Everybody out there knows we are pretty much on our own because VERY VERY few mechanics know anything about our cars, nor do they understand them very well.
Everythings about money anymore. The majority of SC owners own these cars because we love them, not because we can make a buck off them.
It really saddens me to hear of a young guy or gal spending 1000's of dollars fixing there SC up only to find out they got took or got very little in return for there money.
The owners of SC's need to learn as much about working on all aspects of these cars so it would be more affordable to own one.
All they need is the knowledge and some mechanical skills, its not rocket science, but there are people out there in the world that would have you beleive so.
Really, if these cars are going to survive, we as owners and lovers of these cars are going to have to educate ourselfs better or we are going to be at there mercy until everyone gets tired of it and gets rid of the car.
I would hate to see that happen.

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I'll second that notion!