A4LD Rebuild not working - need help!

[wz4rfv]

I rebuilt my A4LD transmission (1989 2.3 vert) following the directions in the Explorer forums rebuild DIY. Everything, except the 2nd gear band, looked great so I just replaced the 2nd and 4th gear bands and the shift puck things. Before the rebuild, I had no second gear but everything else worked fine. Now I have only 2nd gear. Or, more precisely:

Park works fine,
Move the shifter to R, I get neutral.
Move the shifter to N, I still have neutral.
Move the shifter to OD, I get reverse. If I go back to N or R, I still have reverse.
Move the shifter to D, I get neutral.
Move the shifter to 2, I get 1st gear.
Move the shifter to 1, I still get 1st gear.
Move the shifter to 2, I still get 1st gear.
Move the shifter to D, I still have 1st gear.
Move the shifter to OD, I still have 1st.
Move the shifter to N, I get neutral.
Move the shifter to R and I have reverse.
Move the shifter to Park and I have park.

It sounds like a valve body problem to me. I didn't really take the valve body apart other than to replace the gasket. I believe the check balls went in the right place.

Any ideas what I might have done wrong? How do I start to troubleshoot this? This is my first auto trans rebuild and it didn't seem that tough, just really messy, until I got to this problem.

Thanks in advance,

Bob Martin

 

[bonestock87]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, it's a little slow (finally) at work today.

wz4rfv: The reason you probably got no response is that not many folks fool with the A4LD once it starts giving problems. I have personally had one rebuilt on a '92. Spent $650, with a "friend of a friend discount" only to find out the trans was still a turd after the rebuild. Most folks that are on mustang forums are mustang enthusiasts, most "enthusiasts" prefer to row their own gears. Once they start having problems, in goes a T5 swap. A lot of folks in here either inherit or save an automatic car from certain death. I myself would never go out seeking a 4 cylinder automatic in these cars, but like I just stated, I found one in dyer need of some love and it was cheap.

With that said, I hope you get or got your problems resolved and sorry I can't help you with the issues you are having.