future9er24

Hey guys,

As some of you know, the AOD in my II is out of comission. I'm not entirely sure what is wrong, but I figure I might as well come here and start learning about AODs before anything else.

Heres what happened, I started the car, backed out of my parking spot, and drove around the block. the car went, but i couldnt accelerate much. I topped out at MAYBE 10mph (speedo doesnt work). I even revved up to 4K rpm, and it would not go any faster than it was already. also, when i got back to my house, i pulled into my parking spot, and i noticed there was a pool of liquid where my car was a few minutes earlier. went out, touched it and it was red, tranny fluid. I'm not sure what is wrong just yet, but if worst comes to worst I'll need a new tranny.

I have a few things I'd like to ask. Would it be cheaper to rebuild a busted aod, or just buy a new one? Is it worth it to go with a stock aod setup, or will it just break again? I'd like to get an AOD that shifts a bit more aggressively, and not drive like a granny, and one that could take more power should i choose to add it. I've seen a few online that cantake around 450hp/lbft but they are expensive. on top of that, they say lockup or nonlockup. what on earth is the difference and which is right for me?

I really know very little about transmissions, and I figure I need to learn as much as possible as soon as possible. any tranny tips, hints, or recomendations would be very much appreciated

Thanks everyone!

hi5.0

Don't know the price difference between a rebuild or a "new" one. If you're planning to add more power to the II, beef it up a bit with some 4RW70 or AODE components. I think Baumann's site has a lot of good info, but I think you know that already. TransGo and B&M make shift kits for the AOD that will give more aggressive shift quality. Lockup/non-lockup means the torque converter, I think lockup gives you more fuel efficiency because it has no slippage - the engine is directly driving the transmission in 4th/OD. In any case, if you got room and don't have one already, install a transmission cooler - the biggest you can fit that includes all the tubing and fittings needed, your transmission will thank you. Or just get a beefed up T5!

future9er24

Well, I don't know if I'll be able to fit it, but I'll look into a cooler. My goal is to find me a tranny that wont bust on me for a looooong time. I've read somwehere that AOD/AODE components don't all interchange.

I know for sure I'll be asking for a B&M Transpak. I'm hopinh to have a transmission that will handle over 300hp and 350 lbft, just to be safe, in case I add more power to the car later on. I keep seeing racing trannies in the 1200+ range that can handle 400/400 or more.

edit: darned post buttons, pressing before im ready

And I guess I will be going for a lockup version. I read a bit about it last night, not sure if i completely understand it yet though.

Also, when it comes to torque converters, should i look for anything particular? I keep reading about different ones that had different stall rpms and I have NO idea what that means. can anyone help with that?

A T-5 would be nice, but after so much time, effort, and hammering went into making an AOD fit, i dont think i have the cash for all the parts required to get a T5 to work. I do still have the dead clutch pedal though... But i wouldnt be able to use all three pedal. My brake and gas are too hard to distinguish between right now, sicne the tunnel was widened. I need to bend the brake pedal so that i can hit the gas with NORMAL shoes and not hit the brake as well.

I'm not sure when I'll have time to get it to a tranny shop just yet. I still need to find one, and make sure that i can trust them. oh well, at least after this, the car will be good enough to drive around while i do cosmetics and electrical

Coupe

Sounds like the OD band is toast, and burnt/slipped clutch pacs. Did the TV cable slip out of its bushing on the throttle? Does the fluid on the stick look dirty brown and smell/taste like dirt? If so, time for a rebuild.
AODs aren't bad. That's a rap people give them to talk/justify themselves into a manual swap.
I rebuilt mine last Fall. Was a FUN experience (like rebuilding C4s better). It'll bark the tires going 1-2 and 2-3. Manually slip it into to OD at 65+ mph.

edit: "I'm hopinh to have a transmission that will handle over 300hp and 350 lbft, just to be safe, in case I add more power to the car later on..................... "

Rebuild the one you have and it should handle up to 300-400hp

future9er24

I don't think their bad either, I just want a good and solid one that will last me a long time. I'll take it to a shop one of these days. life is so god ****ed hectic.

svopaul

Your problem is because of the loss of fluid....it could have done some damage or you might just be able to fix the leak and it will work again. The fluid on the ground tells me this....find out where/why it leaked and go from there. I've seen this happen and the trans was toast and I've also seen the leak fixed and the trans run for another 4 or more years....depends how long it was run low.

future9er24

Ok, but on another note (assuming it is just the fluid leak thats causing the 5mph problem) why is it that in the past when i drove the car around, sometimes the car would tach up when i hit the gas, not move and then jerk forward and start going?

also, why is it that in any gear not first if i was already going about 50mph it would hardly go when i revved it more while going? when crusing at 2500rpm, i could floor it and hardly go anywhere. should my car be that slow based on power output (its a stock '92 motor with only a 4bbl holley carb and an edelbrock performer 289 intake and open headers) or is it tranny related?

svopaul

What you are describing sounds exactly like low fluid....maybe you didn't notice a small leak and it just got worse but if you've driven it long enough to notice the symptons described above then I'd bet the tranny is smoked now. What was happening is you didn't have enough fluid in the trans...revving it up causes the transmission pump to pump fluid up and it would jerk forward as the fluid reached the necessary passages. A transmission typically holds 12 quarts and even being down just 2-3 quarts can cause this to happen.

Coupe

Ahhhhh, more information comes to light. Paul is correct. Low fluid will cause the jerking. It will not take long to smoke/toast the trans, which might have already happened considering your high rev and no power to the wheels.
Pull the pan, you'll have your answer. Or, as Paul said, find your leak, fix it, fill to proper level, and then see if that fixes the issue.

future9er24

I think you guys may be right. I just went outside, started it and let it idle in park for a bit. checked the tranny fluid level on the dipstick and its almost nonexistant. I'm still going to take it to the mustang-friendly shop in town and have then at least find out why it spattered all over and if there has been any damage done to the tranny.

I hope there is nothing too major wrong with it

Coupe

You are going to put fluid in it before heading to the trans shop, right?

future9er24

Nope We have State Farm insurance, and they have free towing for any of our cars that we have insured with them. I figure I'll let them just handle it as is just in case there is more than just a lack of fluid to blame. Id hate to go buy the fluid and then have them just drain it all in order to fix it anyway lol.

State Farm ROCKS! The shop im taking it too specializes in mustangs, and they also built my friend's Dodge dart, which came out gorgeous. So I definately trust that these guys know what their doing. I've actually also seen the owner's stangs in a few local shows, they're pretty sweet

svopaul

Actually State Farm sucks....just wait until you have a claim. They are better than they used to be only because of a major lawsuit. I used to be a State Farm customer until I got screwed by them years ago. I've also seen them screw a couple of my customers who's Mustangs were damaged and not their fault.

Just be forewarned....towing plan doesn't make them good....service and doing what right is what counts and they are lacking there many times.

future9er24

They've never given us any problems with our previous accidents in the Mazdas and such. We haven't had any accidents in the bimmers or the mustangs yet, so I'm not sure how they'll handle those. I do think the towing plan is rather conevenient though.

svopaul

Well they are notorious for using aftermarket parts...which was the source of the major lawsuit. They can now get away with it on a car a few years old claiming it is older and does not deserve OE parts.

One of my customers was bumped in her '89 GT...it bent the quarter and the car was perfectly driveable but they told her they would only give her $2200 and the car was totalled...she wanted to keep and pay extra to fix the car and they claimed they could not do that and forced her into submitting her title to be branded as salvage....that is not the law, the owner CAN keep the car but they strong armed her into it.

Me personally....I had health insurance with them years ago and (long story short)I was exposed to a rabid animal...not bitten but exposed and the health dept. called and told me I had 10 days from the date of exposure to start the rabies treatment or I could die if I contracted it. State Farm told me "We don't consider that an emergency" and refused to cover it....costing me nearly $2,000...the vaccine along was $1100. Now I don't know about you but if someone calls and tells you that you could die if you don't get treated in X number of days...THAT is an emergency!

Like a Good neighbor....they are robbing you blind while at work.

I'm sure some people have had good experience with them and they are the lucky ones....I've met more people than I can remember who have not and I personally have not had good experiences with them.

kevinspann

Ruh-Roh....looks like i drove my way into a stick conversion....my trans does a similar kind of thing (it doesnt do it all the time)....oh well the a4ld is a turd anyway

future9er24

Sorry to hear about your Sh*tty experiences Paul And yeah, I do consider that an emergency. Our agent though has been with our family since my parents started driving back the 70s and 80s, and they've taken care of us all throughout. Let's hope the trend continues