AODE on toast please

[Ogre]

Kind of a long post, so get a cup of coffee. I know this kind deals with a V-6 Mustang (I posted in that forum as well) but the people here are a little more knowledgeable.

I am having a problem with a AODE tranny in a 1994 Mustang with 3.8 engine. Just bought it from somebody and he told me the car would not shift out of 1st gear. He said he checked the fluid level and made sure it was full. I confirmed that it was full. Still, stays in first gear when put in Drive. Anyway, bought the car and took it home on a trailer. I pulled the pan off the transmission and replaced the filter. I also drained the torque converter to completely change all the transmission fluid, which has probably never been done since Ford put transmission fluid in it. I used MERCON V tranny fluid. Well, took it out for a test drive. When put in Drive, the car will not shift out of first gear. I can put it in 1st and then manually into 2nd gear, but the car will not go into 3rd or overdrive at all.

Well, went and bought a OBD II scanner from a local parts store. I had been wanting one anyway, so now was a good time to buy. Did the scan and there are no codes in the system. That is good news, I guess. I was kind of hoping for some kind of code that pointed to a bad sensor on the tranny. I guess the transmission need to be rebuilt.

A quote from the web site of Baumann Electronic Controls - "The bell housing pattern is different for a 4.6L or 5.0L/3.8L/4.2L engine and the two are incompatible. The two case types can be distinguished by looking at the starter flange area. If the starter has three attaching bolts, the case fits only 4.6L engines. A two-bolt starter indicates a 5.0L/3.8L/4.2L compatible case (casting number may begin with "F4ZP", not available before 1994)."

This quote leads me to believe that 5.0/3.8/4.2 all are bell housing compatible.

Put a add out that said I was looking for a AODE for a 94 Mustang w/3.8 V6. A guy called me and said he has an AODE that came out of a 94 Mustang with a 5.0. Anyone know if this will just swap right in with no issues? I am not sure, but I would say no. I think that the bolt pattern for a 5.0 and 3.8 are the same, but here is why I say I don't think it will work. I did some research and the 94 Mustangs with a 3.8 V-6 (AODE and manual tranny) use the EEC-V system (OBD-II). 94 Mustangs with the 5.0 (AODE and manual) use the EEC-IV system (OBD-I). I think this would make them impossible to swap out easily. Anyone know for sure? Any ideas. Thanks for your patience.

 

[The Green GT]

Dont the AODE trannys have a removable bell housing? I bet you could just swap it with a V6 one if it wont fit.

 

[zZsKyZz]

I'd also like to know.. I've had a v6 AODE from a 1994 sitting in my room.. I payed $1700 to have my trans in my 5.0 rebuild... I wanna know if the guy who rebuilt my AODE in my 5.0 was just BSing me to make some $$$....

Cuz' if he did......

 

[STM1965]

Check the wiring harness

Have you pinned the wiring harness plug? It may just be a bad wire. Just a idea cause when I had the AOD for my swap rebuilt we had similar issues, and it turned out to be a broken wire in the harness near the connector plug.

 

[Ogre]

Are you talking about the harness that runs over the top of the transmission? If so, I have not pin checked it, but I will when I remove the transmission from the car and before I take it somewhere to have it rebuilt. Did your car have the same problem I am having, no upshift?

 

[STM1965]

Are you talking about the harness that runs over the top of the transmission? If so, I have not pin checked it, but I will when I remove the transmission from the car and before I take it somewhere to have it rebuilt. Did your car have the same problem I am having, no upshift?

Yep the car wouldn't upshift, if you tried to drive it very far the C/E light would come on, car ran very hot. When we dropped the pan the fluid looked like it had sand in it, that was the OD band breaking down due to excessive heat build up. This tranny was just rebuilt and had a shift kit installed and 373's I wasn't impressed, but the shop and the tranny guy stood behind their work and made it right. Boy was the shop pissed when they found the wire broken in the harness was the problem from the get go!

Hence the reason I suggested you check it.

Good Luck

 

[gcomfx.com]

Dont the AODE trannys have a removable bell housing? I bet you could just swap it with a V6 one if it wont fit.

No, the bell housing is not removable.

 

[gcomfx.com]

Yep the car wouldn't upshift, if you tried to drive it very far the C/E light would come on, car ran very hot. When we dropped the pan the fluid looked like it had sand in it, that was the OD band breaking down due to excessive heat build up. This tranny was just rebuilt and had a shift kit installed and 373's I wasn't impressed, but the shop and the tranny guy stood behind their work and made it right. Boy was the shop pissed when they found the wire broken in the harness was the problem from the get go!

Hence the reason I suggested you check it.

Good Luck

I had the same problem, but different symptoms. My harness had melted together. The wires were grounding out to the exhaust.

Mine would blow a fuse and keep me from being able to toggle O/D off and on. I drive my car with O/D off most of the time. Not being able to turn it on, for highway use... sucked.

 

[Chythar]

Well, went and bought a OBD II scanner from a local parts store. I had been wanting one anyway, so now was a good time to buy. Did the scan and there are no codes in the system. That is good news, I guess. I was kind of hoping for some kind of code that pointed to a bad sensor on the tranny. I guess the transmission need to be rebuilt.

I have a '94 V6 as my daily driver, and I can tell you that the standard OBD-II scanner won't pick up any tranny codes. If there's a tranny code stored in the computer, the Overdrive light will blink.

Does the tranny shift into reverse and neutral ok? You also might want to trace the transmission harness and see if it's damaged or disconnected. It runs along the passenger's side to the tranny, then wraps over the tranny to hook up to a couple of sensors there.

I had a similar problem that gcomfx had - my wiring had shifted and melted against the exhaust. Shorted a couple of wires and caused some weird shifting problems.

 

[Ogre]

Mine shifts into Reverse, Neutral, First, and Second with no issues. Like I said in Drive it starts out in First of coarse and will not upshift to second, third, or Overdrive. I drove in for a few miles and the Overdrive light never blinked. I did hit the overdrive button and the light came on in the dash like it is supposed to. The check engine light never has come on at all. I inspected all the wires and harnesses on the tranny the best I could and even removed the speed sensor and ohm checked it, it was good. Didn't look like any of the wires were damaged, but the tranny is still in the car and is hard to check it over the top of tranny. Didn't pin check it yet.

I talked to a transmission shop today and they really acted like they wanted to help me. They came and picked up the car and took it to their shop. They are going to road test it, check for codes, they said something about checking another box that would tell more info about the what the transmission is doing, and also going to pull the pan off and check some stuff under there, and going to check all sensors and controls having to do with the transmission to ensure everything is working as advertised. They are doing all this for free and will basically find out what the problem is and let me know what needs to be done. He said then we can discuss what I want to do (price, etc.) and if I don't want them to do anything else, he said that was fine and just appreciated me for giving them a shot. This is a transmission shop that has over 5 stores locally, so no just some Joe Smoe. I hope they can hook me up. They also said if I want them to fix whatever is wrong, they will give me a Military Discount!

I will let you all know what they tell me as soon as I find out. I hate when some people post an issue and never bother to post the end result or fix.

 

[Green 94 5.0]

you may not have been pulling any codes because the vehicles produced pre 96 are OBD-1.

 

[Chythar]

you may not have been pulling any codes because the vehicles produced pre 96 are OBD-1.

Not correct for the 94-95 V6, it's OBD-II. The V6 is the reason there's an OBD-II diagnostic port on the 94-95 GT & Cobra; Ford tried to save money by re-using the same dash & wiring for all 3 models. Of course, the instrument panel is different between all three.

 

[Ogre]

Here is the result if anyone is interested:

Yes, they found the problem. The transmission was toast. It needed a complete rebuild. They rebuilt the torque converter and did the whole transmission. The whole job ended up setting me back around $1800. The car runs like a champ now. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would just order a rebuilt transmission from Autozone which ran only about $1100. Then I would have to remove and replace myself, but to save $700, I think I would do it. But, now I have a 2 year warrenty, and that gives me some peace of mind.

 

[gcomfx.com]

Glad to see it's running, and ouch on the rebuild price. I sure hope that included a shift kit and a larger stall. Now that I have a GOOD friend that owns a transmission shop, I find out what the TRUE prices are.

Oh, and I've seen a V6 and V8 AODE transmission side by side. They look identical, and they use the same shift kits. I'll ask my friend if they will direct swap or not. Just to let everyone know.

 

[reddy351]

I'd say that the trannys can be interchanged. The 4r70w from a later model V6 will work without modification in a 94-95 GT. (With some tuning changes for gear ratio's and such.) So, V6 to V6 should be just as simple.