Help, just killed my autobox

[AlanN]

Isolate battery, remove prop, inhibitor plug, speedo and starter motor, then wind the engine over by hand to reveal the 4 nuts on the fly wheel, which atatch it to the torque converter.
Support box, remove bell housing & support cross member bolts, slide box backwards a little and lower
Have I forgotten anything

Parts are cheap enough I think, front and rear seals, filter, sump and pump gaskets, pump bearing and couple of other knick knacks came to £25 for my C3 and A4LD's aren't that much different

[stevo]

cant someone on here have a look at it?

[shortcut]

AlanN, the four bolts that you mentioned to disconnect the torque converter, I'mguessing you access these through the opening where the starter lives ?

I've managed to borrow a car for a few weeks so no longer need a quick fix, would rather sort the the transmission out for good now whilst i have the chance.
As i mentioned earlier the rest of the van is in good condition and should pass another few years mot without any more welding and major stuff so i think its worth doing properly.

The only nagging thing in the back of my mind is that i know th emrs has ideas about dragging a caravan around the countryside later this year and next and i would be really upset to have rebuilt this box to kill it towing a van.

thankyou all for the posts so far i really appreciate them

[AlanN]

AlanN, the four bolts that you mentioned to disconnect the torque converter, I'mguessing you access these through the opening where the starter lives ?

Yes sorry, don't let the converter come off the box, as the oil will pour out. Bolt a ring spanner onto the bell housing across the face of the converter, to stop it sliding off until you want it to.

As for towing, not sure its a problem, BUT the fuel economy might be another question

[shortcut]

Okay , in a bizare twist of timing i've once again shafted by F**k up fairy.

Have to get the van in working order quickly so i can get mother to a specialist hospital a few hundred miles away for few days and the van is the only thing big enough to hold us all.

Andyg, i'm going to pull the bottom of the gearbox of and this valve block to have a look inside. to clarify the valve block is the big aluminium plate with what looks like a million oil passageways cast into it yes ?

Looking at previous posts this also houses the reverse thing, does this come out attached to the valve block or seperate to it ?

does anyone have the part no.s for the filter/screen and sump gasket and the valve block gasket so i know the guy in fords is giving me the right part?

wish me luck and i''l let you know how i get on this weekend !

[AndyG]

Right, I've taken some more pictures for you this evening As the ones I had, weren't as clear for this particular problem

The good news is, you SHOULD be able to refit the strut with the valve block in situ
It may be fiddly and thin pointed instruments, pliers etc.. will be required

Remember that the band will be in the "sprung open" position, so make sure the strut is correctly located
The band is clearly visible in the last picture

You may even be lucky and the strut is still located and has simply slipped down a fraction, resting and being held by the band pressure against the side of the box

Sump off, valve block unbolted but in position. As you can see, the strut is actually visible


Zoomed in


Without valve block for clarity







Make sure the box is as clean as possible before opening it up
Maintain cleanliness throughout the operation

If the oil is still red and the container used to catch it is clean, you can reuse it

Be prepared for the box to be constantly dripping on you
Have loads and loads of old newspaper and paper towels to hand

Make sure there's plenty of hot water....................for a good bath afterwards

[shortcut]

Andyg you are a gentleman and scholar. thankyou .

Just out of interest i've discovered you but workshop manuals that cover this type of gear box but so far i can only find them in the usa, have stumbled accross a few people selling haynes manuals but don't think they cover this particular type of transmission.

neil

[AlanN]

blimey Andy! did you strip you spare box down

[AndyG]

blimey Andy! did you strip you spare box down

Yes I did
The worst part of these auto boxes is; the oil going everywhere and the weight of them
I'm looking forward to rebuilding this one But there's no hurry, as the other one I "threw" together (to get me out of trouble) is doing well

[AndyG]

Andyg you are a gentleman and scholar. thankyou .

Just out of interest i've discovered you but workshop manuals that cover this type of gear box but so far i can only find them in the usa, have stumbled accross a few people selling haynes manuals but don't think they cover this particular type of transmission.

neil

Workshop manuals will be thin on the ground in the UK as most people are brainwashed into thinking that manuals are best
Fine for a normal traffic free drive, but in and around any town/city where you are constantly getting up to 30 mph and back to 0mph, the manual box and clutch become very tiresome
The 2.5 diesel engine doesn't have a wide/comfortable rev range, so you're always up and down the box
But the auto is very well suited to this engine, especially around town


The TIS disc does have all you really need

[shortcut]

Okay here's an update after a few hours today rolling around in oil i'm convinced the box is coming out.

I bought new gaskets and screen and the stupidly expensive oil from ford, got the van in the air, old shower curtain on the block paving and a big catch pan and the best idea two smart price bags of cat litter or oil absorb to me and you.

undid the sump bolts let it rip, came out of it quite unscathed and even caught some in the catch pan, sitting in the bottom of the sump was the missing distance piece just like in the photo's from andyg.

After 20 mins messing about its back in place and looking good, done by lunch most prob and the oil nice and clean so no damage done huh..... except when i tighten up the adjusting the bolt it keeps on going and going.

Distance fork back out and a little prod on the band with a screw driver reveals i can spin the band around the barrel nicely as if its not attached at the other end ! F**k. I can only think that when i drove it the servo operated nicely extended out further than it can normally and i've lost the fork the other side.

Now i'm stuck , can't see a way around it, loosing the will to live, wondering about selling it if i can and buy the best car with the money, set light to it or what ?

I put so much effort into this van it would sting to see it go and its bloody usefull. could just leave it on the drive untill i get some money together to by a donor manual van.

[AlanN]

There is another fork on the other end too, which is in a fixed position
Must of fallen off too

[apples26]

weirdly enough we have a di auto gearbox sat in the office of our workshop, chap was gonna get us to convert his, he might sell it as its been there months

[AndyG]

Never mind
Next stage, valve block out

You will need the gasket for that now And yes, you will also need the one for the reverse servo (which comes out before the valve block can iirc)

The bolts that hold the valve block, must be kept from being mixed up, as there are a few different lengths

Have you got a TIS disc

The selector detent block flat springy thing needs to be removed first.
You will also see the "S" that moves the control valve that floats through the valve block.
Be careful, as this can slide out completely, once the valve block is moving

Hopefully, it will be common sense as to how it comes out

One VERY important thing to remember, is to be really fussy when fitting it all back, STRICTLY NO OVER TIGHTENING
Tighten the bolts up evenly across the whole block evenly Meaning, don't do up one side first
They aren't done up that tight and is probably the reason why there's so many



Hoping it falls out with the valve block


The servo side is pivoted and here's a TIS version of how it actually sits in the box


I hope you don't have to take the box out, as it's really really heavy

[shortcut]

Hi andyg, thankyou for taking the trouble to reply.
I was just about to say £$ck it and rip the box out earlier when the mrs arrived home with the baby and the good news her renault p.o.s had dropped another window so had to stop work on the van and work on that instead, almost glad that happened now if there is a chance this can be done without removing the box.

I didn't think there would be any access to the servo side of the band by removing the valve block.
( the gasket i have for this came from ford and they called valve chest.. same thing right ? ) I did look at removing the servo to have a look but the circlip has had its lugs removed by someone before me so i didn't bother.

As for the Tis disc, nope I don't have one them but i'm thinking it would be worth it.

neil