Well my factory stock AOD is almost dead. 2nd gear is slipping bad, and I mean bad. Anything over 1/4 throttle causes the trans to not want to shift out of 2nd gear. If I hold my foot to the floor it will run up to the fuel cut off at 6200 rpm before it even thinks about shifting to 3rd gear. Well really it slips in 2nd and 3rd. Drive it with 1/4 throttle or less and it has all 4 gears. Anything more and it slips like crazy. Hopefully it will last for another 6 weeks and the last few car shows. I'm not going to bother to fix the AOD till spring as at this point it's not worth it. The new AOD will have an A overdrive servo, 2" overdrive band, a worked over valve body, hardened input shaft, and a 2600 rpm stall converter. It should be a hell of a lot more fun than the stock AOD;)
Meh, Do a manual trans swap all ready....
How's the fluid? Does it look or smell burned? It's funny..I still have my original, 100K, V6 AOD behind an H.O. in my '88 and it still shifts tight at WOT. Maybe the Transgo shift kit is keeping it alive (crosses fingers).
I have 3 AODs under my belt. One was bad when I bought my 87 5.0. It only had 2nd and AOD, no 3rd and 1st. The second AOD I broke the output shaft off rocking it in the snow (violently, I was extremely mad). The third tranny was in my current 83, the valve body croaked and I only had reverse. So I drove all the way home in reverse :). That was a cheap fix, I think it was like $180 for the valve body, fluid, filter and labor. Now it shifts like a creamy dream.
^^^ I guarantee it. That sucks man....you shoulda put a shift kit in!!!! Im sure the TransGo is GREAT too, but all I know is the Baumann one I put in has kept the fluid perfect and the shifts have not lost any bite for over a year and honestly I beat the youuu know what out of it. Overdrive I didnt really mess with, bumped up the pressure a little and it actually seems anyway like it will go in if im NOT totally off the gas, in fact its gone in at about 1/2 a pedal once or twice :eek: and you hear the sloooooow rpm drop....honestly kinda reminds me of 1st to 2nd back when I first did the HO.
Im convinced that these are pretty durable units, they just arent programmed anywhere neeear right. Doesnt take much to get em there tho. ;) Now here comes kingcars to smack me upside the head but I LOVE my AOD.
I've blown a C5 and an AOD. I expect my 4R70W to last at least 150k after the work I did to it at 50k miles. Then again, it is a Ford transmission.
I blew a 4R70W in an E-250 van, and the AOD was getting weak in my '91 T-Bird when I sold it, but my worst luck with trannies has been with Nissans. I went through four 5-speeds in my old truck (every 60K miles, like clockwork, the countershaft bearing would disintegrate).
Well atleast with the factory AOD going it gives me an excuse to get a nice converter;)
I still have this goofy idea to do a 4R70W swap but it would cost more than an upgraded AOD.....
Check the obvious before you call the trans dead...Fluid condition and TV cable operation. If those look OK, then pull the pan and make sure the filter is clean and seated on the gasket. If those look OK, then you could always remove the valve body and make sure no valves are sticking. Lastly, pull the tailhousing and verify the governor isn't stuck, this can cause an over rev issue before shift.
The AOD for the most part is pretty strong for most V8 applications, it's usually the small input shaft for direct lock-up in 3rd and 4th that is the weak link, not the clutch packs.
What 88Bluebird said, especially the part about the TV cable... Double especially if it started all at once...
With a Trans-Go shift you can run one with the TV cable loose and won't hurt it... Will shift early and soft but won't slip, at least mine doesn't....
TV cable works fine and is adjusted properly (I just want a new one for the new trans) but the fluid is burnt with a black tint. I just changed the fluid and filter last year and it was fine. It started to slip bad 2 weeks ago. It had been acting funny since late last year though. I dropped the pan this weekend for a fluid and filter change and the bottom of the pan had a bunch of burt clutch pack (black ) on it.
The only thing I can figure that killed it is some full throttle expressway on ramp runs to check to make sure the replacement rear axle shaft resolved my vibration problem;). It has been funky after that. The trans is completely factory stock with 131,000 miles and 21 years on it. It's had a good run.
I figured that the couple of times I had it at the track last year would have killed it but I lasted through that like a champ...
Ya, I'd say you got the "goodie" out of it then :) I know you are putting a bit more power to your trans than I am too. Not a bad run at 130K miles trans that was only designed for 155HP motor. I'm anxious to hear about your plans for replacement.
If you'd installed a shift kit when you did the engine mods, I'd bet it would still be fine...
Stock, my Super Coupe AOD slipped badly when I manually shifted it 6000, after the kit no slip at all... Over nine years later and probably 800 drag strip passes, it still does fairly good but isn't as firm as when I first installed the kit...
The '83 5.0 Cougar we had went through 7 AODs while it was still under the extended warranty.
My '88 Town Car slipped in and out of o/d
My '92 Thunderbird 5.0 slipped out of o/d
My '89 Mk VII didn't have reverse or o/d when I got it.
So yeah, I've never been really impressed with the AOD.
This trans: http://www.silverfoxtrans.com/silverfoxtrans.com/TM_AOD-550.html
and this valve body, SPT-2:
http://www.silverfoxtrans.com/silverfoxtrans.com/VB_AOD.html
This guy really knows his stuff and is on clickclickracing.com.
I could get an AOD built local by a guy who does AODs for 9 second 5.0 Mustangs but the cost for the trans (a non lock up btw), converter, and instalation (he wants to instal the tranny so he can set the TV pressure and make sure everything works properly) is $2600 :eek: It is rated for 700 hp and has a 3 year waranty.
If I go with the Silverfox AOD I can instal it myself, save some money, and still have lock up. Plus I'll have a trans my GT40 5.0 can't kill :D
Man that sucks...but at least it didn't break on you in the spring. Sounds like the buildup you have planned should really be an improvement.
I think AOD's are pretty good trannies. Mine is dead stock with 180000+ on it and has never been touched other than regular fluid/filter changes. Still shifts like it always did (now that I say that it will probably puke on me). If and when it does puke, I will have to do some serious thinking about a 5 speed swap...but thats just me.
It was a no brainer for me. :hick:
I'm just gonna go ahead and agree with this one :D
X2, you definatly wont regret it if you enjoy driving the car at all....
It might still be alive but I was just lazy and let it go. Now I'm going to pay for it but I'll have a better trans :hick:
But the sleeper factor of a column shifter AOD car is just too much fun;)
If I did a manual trans swap it would have to be a T-56. Why bother with a breakage pr0ne T5. If I went with a T-56 swap it would probably cost more than the AOD replacement.
who is gonna see that when they are at the stoplight beside you... try racing another car, not a semi...:D
an aod that slips is nothing but garbage. once it slips there is no true fixing it. this is a replace only job. it will take 2 guys, a couple beers, a garage, and a jack. ok well it took us 2 days. but it was DONE by mid day on the second day.
I have blown up 2 AOD behind v-6's. One at 160-170,000 or so, and another at 115,000. I also blew one behind a 86 5.0 with no mods with higher mileage.
Mine had 220k (original trans) when it started to let go out of nowhere. This was shortly after the stock motor came out and a new one went in though. The Mustang one that went in to replace it was much better behaved and had a slightly higher stall. A new transmission is a huge difference after working with one at the end of its life. Adjusting the TV cable to get more pressure helped bring it to life more also.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the AOD.
I guess I am lucky to not have experienced that problem yet. But then again I put shift kits in my cars right after I buy them.
The only AOD I currently have that makes me nervous is the one in my 95 F-150.
We tow our race cars with that truck and it has a 302. I am not worried about the 302 tho. The trans looks to be the weak link in that truck.
is it just me or when i see an auxiliary oil cooler on a aod car i think "yep its burned up the transmission already" or "i wonder if their coolant lines dumped too"