2012 Archives - Page 2 of 10 - Transmission Digest
Unlocking Some 55-50 Valve-Body Mysteries

Let’s start with identifying the AW 55-50 valve body and the differences that matter when you’re choosing a replacement valve body. There are four castings, which can be identified by either a letter cast into the valve body just to the right of the S4 solenoid or a blank spot.

What Did You Expect?

When you’re hiring new employees it is extremely important to tell them exactly what your expectations of them are right from the beginning. There has to be some direction from the start or they can easily decide for themselves what this job should be, and that probably won’t get you the results you want.

Tests Confirm Uneasy Feeling about Diagnosis

When was the last time you had a customer bring you their vehicle – along with a part – and ask you to install it? On occasion, I have a customer ask me to do just that, and it is often large, used and costly to purchase new – such as an engine, transmission or differential. This was the case recently when my friend Jim had his 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GT towed to our shop; he also had a used automatic transaxle delivered from a local, reputable used-parts supplier.

Understanding the 5R55S/W Initial Engagements

The 5R55S/W transmission has been with us for a little more than a decade. Its common complaints include harsh forward engagement; harsh reverse engagement; delayed, harsh initial engagements; flares on the 3-4 shift; and bind-up on shifts.

Getting Greased

In an ATSG seminar several years back we covered a noise problem with Ford’s 5R55W/S transmissions in 4×4 applications. The description of the noise was either a clank or metallic-type noise during any forward or reverse engagements. The noise was typically perceived as a differential or transfer-case problem.

Diagnosing Explorer’s Shift Complaint not an Easy Task

A 2002 Ford Explorer came into our shop recently with a shifting complaint. The customer said it slipped or felt bumpy under fairly hard acceleration.

Differential Basics

Differential is a term that stems from the word difference, and it applies here because of the difference in distance traveled by the vehicle’s drive wheels in a turn. In a straight line both wheels and, therefore, both drive axles travel at the same speed. When the vehicle is entering a turn, it is obvious that the inside wheel will travel less distance than the outside wheel during cornering. If the drive axles were hooked directly into the differential carrier, to which the ring gear is bolted, the driving wheels would crow-hop and bind up in the turn, and the tires would take a lot of excess wear and heat.

November 2012 Issue

In This Issue
Nissan RE5R05A: Solenoid gasket
Nissan RE5R05A: False code P1774
2004-up Subaru 4AT and 5AT: 2-3 flare and/or harsh downshifts
2001-03 Toyota RAV4: PCM warranty enhancements
Toyota: ECM check mode
TF60-SN, 09G, 09K, 09M: ISS-OSS codes
TF60-SN, 09G, 09K, 09M: Flared or harsh shifts

Dodge Caravan’s Sensor Goes Awry

I got a call recently from a friend of mine who runs a car shop, asking for help on a code for a cam sensor.

He had changed the sensor twice and double-checked the circuitry and even replaced the crank sensor. The powertrain control module (PCM) was the next stop, and it was a rather expensive one, so he asked me to take a look at the vehicle before he got a PCM to see if I could verify his diagnosis.

October 2012 Issue

In This Issue
Saturn VT25E CVT
Belt slippage Saturn VT25E CVT
Case damage Allison 1000/2000: Code P0562
Allison LCT1000: Resetting shift adapts

Included in the Quote

Let’s look at an example of what I’ve discussed. Let’s say that you were working on a 2001 Volvo V70 XC AWD, with an AW55-50SN transmission, and the vehicle had been towed in because it suddenly quit moving. You discovered that the transmission had a problem in the final-drive area but you found no other issues. All the clutches were like new, and there was no obvious wear in the valve body etc. That being said, the transmission was probably operating normally just before the final-drive component failed.

What Are You so Afraid of?

Do these customers threaten physical violence if they don’t get their cars fixed at a cheap price? Not usually; if anything they say scary things like “That’s too much money,” “the car’s not worth it,” “I can get it cheaper down the street,” or “I don’t have that kind of money.” Now, if those phrases have rattled you so much in the past that you are now at the point where you drop your price before you even present it to the customer, you are losing sight of a very important point. The customer who would try to negotiate down your price by giving you all those objections would do so no matter what price you started out at. He or she would have fought you no matter what. The problem is that if you started low out of fear, there is nothing more for you to do than go even lower or try very hard to fight off the onslaught of price objections to follow. Starting higher would at least give you some wiggle room if you couldn’t handle every one of their price objections and felt at some point that you would have to negotiate. Then even a negotiated price would be profitable.