Hello all,
I have a 93' Ranger with the 2.3L I4 and A4LD trans. Recently it blew its front seal and all its fluid came out (clutch material and metal shavings in pan). The truck has 100k on it I believe (engine and trans). The trans will most likely need a rebuild (and probably a new front pump considering its been idling in my drive way). The seal blew when it was just sitting in my drive way. I have started and idled it (I was focused on getting the engine running before investing in the trans. The engine is running a hell of a lot better) so it's entirely possible the pump is done for. I've been quoted $1800 for a bench job and $2300 regular. However, I was viewing this trans https://www.transdepot.net/a4ldst1 and was considering buying it and throwing it in the truck due to the cost being roughly the same. I understand that the trans cooler lines will need to be flushed before it being installed. I do not want to get a junkyard trans that will most likely have the same problems that this one has now (old seals, etc.). Should I just go with the new trans, find a junk one, or another idea? I considered trying to fix the seal myself but don't want to buy the $450 pump alignment tool. Also, I know that these A4LDs suck and tend to need to be overhauled in order to get decent life out of them. What modifications do yall reccomend?

 

A4LDs never sucked, that MYTH was from transmission shops that had never seen, or worked on, an Overdrive Automatic before, A4LD was the first
So when they F'up and their rebuild failed they blamed it on the design, lol

The design and pretty much all the same parts were used until 2011 in the 4R55E and 5R55Es, only changes were Valve bodies
26 year run automatic, and that does not happen often with automatics, lol
So certainly not a bad design, generally you should get 250-300k from a new one, 200+k from rebuild if done right

In any case rebuild is the best option in my opinion since you will know what parts are going into it
Most rebuilders just replace bands and clutches(soft parts) and that will pretty much guaranty a failure within 12 to 18 months, just out of warranty, lol
Because you have the metal bits pumped thru the system:
Always replace pump(motorcraft only), replace sprags, check or replace OD drum, they get "out of round"
New valve body and separator plate run $125

 

Thank you for the advice! I might just shell out for the reman since I have no experience with working on auto transmissions and then all I'll have to do is flush the cooler and trans lines (hopefully). However, I do think I might take a shot at rebuilding the currently busted trans in the future (this is p much a project truck). Any advice on cleaning the cooler lines? Would a DIY (with the trans disconnected from the lines ofc) suffice in this situation? About the junky A4LD myths, I have heard that heat can be killers for them (as for any trans), so while they aren't junk, I've heard they can be finnicky.

 

In my opinion all automatics are marginal, lol
Some are just way worse than others
Only Automatic that ever lasted for me was the centrifugal clutch on my Briggs and Stratten powered mini-bike

A4LD, 4R's and 5R's were just better than most

Just get a hose that fits snug over one of the trans cooler lines and a funnel
Put a pan down under the other cooler line
Pour in solvent, gasoline, paint thinner, ??
Let it run thru the lines and cooler
When it looks clean pour in some new ATF to rinse it out