Thread: Never Said I Was A Genius

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I had to pass this along, in case any of you every experience a problem with the AOD transmission in your Ford or Ford powered car.

About 8 months ago I drove my '84 Crown Vic to the shop, and when I went to leave the transmission started to slip very badly when it was time for it to shift into 2nd gear. Low and reverse were perfect, and the trans shifted perfectly when I pulled into the shop. I called a trans shop and he said the drum had probably cracked, and wanted $ 1100.00 to rebuild it, so I parked the car and started driving my Jeep every day.

Jeep is now getting very tired, and I decided to fix the Ford trans and start using it again. I have an AOD in the shop I have been saving to replace the one in my Jeep when it goes. This trans is out of a '90 Grand Marquis, and identical to the one in the Ford. However, I didn't feel like climbing under the car to do it on a creeper, so I took it to a little shop down the way from my shop, and he quoted me between $ 250 to $ 350 to swap the two. I like to build cars, but I HATE to work on them, especially my daily drivers.

Long story short, he called me couple of days later and said "you are going to be a very happy guy." Turns out my old trans is ok. He had it all unbolted, ready to come out, and noticed the kickdown rod just hanging there. The bushing that holds it on had cracked from age. The car only has 58,000 miles on it, but is still 22 years old, so stuff is breaking.

He had to charge me $ 110.00 because he spent a lot of time unbolting all of the components before he noticed the rod hanging there. I WAS happy, and tipped him $ 50.00 for being such an honest guy. He could have kept going and never said a word . The part that broke cost $ 7.00.

So if any of you start to have trans problems with your tranny, especially an AOD, check out the adjustment on the kickdown rod. Who would have thunk? The car sat unused for 8 months because of a $ 7.00 part !!!!!


Don

on an AOD trans, thats not kickdown, thats throttle pressure... if u drive it without the t.v.(throttle valve) hooked up, it will burn up 3rd gear..

Reason I called it that is because it goes on the same shaft as the shift arm, like in a traditional automatic. Is that the one you are talking about?


Don

yes it is... on an AOD trans, that is throttle pressure, not just passing gear... notice no modulator on the trans

Originally Posted by tnsmith10

on an AOD trans, thats not kickdown, thats throttle pressure... if u drive it without the t.v.(throttle valve) hooked up, it will burn up 3rd gear..

It can also wipe out Overdrive like it did on my 83 T-bird back in 96. I fixed it by changing out a Srod from an 83 V8 Capri along with Clutch and brake pedals along with all associated gear. Made for a nice T-bird. Kinda wished I'd kept it.