Automatic transmission valve body
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I'm getting a transmission rebuilt, the guy is telling me he needs a valve body for it, I'm trying to help him find one
The master rebuild kit for the F4EAT would have all the vital parts for the valve body rebuild, i.e. including the 6 gaskets that go between each side of the three metal separators for the four layers of the valve body. However the kit comes with maybe a dozen of the gaskets, which are not all the same, so it is important to match the new gaskets with each of the existing gaskets; a little bit tedious but not complex.
There is a Transgo shift kit which is advisable to install along with the rebuild kit. It doesnt turn the transmission into a wheel spinning performance product, it just extends the life of the transmission, and corrects the uneven and annoying 'thump' going from first to second. I have rebuilt several of the F4EAT transmissions for my own escorts and those of my kids and family friends. The elements of the kit dont just go into the valve body, but also into the three 'accumulators' that are in the case of the transmission. Full instructions for installing the shift kit come with it. I got each of my shift kits from www(dot)transmissionpartsusa(dot)com. Their model # for the kit is: 33931 F4EAT F4A-EL TRANSMISSION SHIFT KIT 1991-03. I also got several of my master rebuild kits from the same company.
You can also usually find used or rebuilt valve bodies on ebay. Item # 304681077063 is one, and all valve bodies for the F4EAT are the same. That one has a price of $250, which seems about right.
The ford escort/tracer service manuals come with complete instructions to rebuild the f4eat transmission in section 7. One caution is that the gaskets for the valve body are very thin and kind of brittle.
It is always recommended to replace the torque converter with a rebuilt one. The rebuilt units come with a better thrust bearing between the impeller and the stator. The OEM was a simple bronze bearing, while the rebuilts come with a Torrington bearing, which lasts vastly longer before wearing. The worn original bearing can let the blades of the impeller abrade the frame of the stator, which eventually fills the inside of the transmission guts with very fine particles of steel (from the impeller) and the stator (aluminum). Some of the particles are small enough to get sucked through the filter in the bottom of the pan, and then start jamming up the spool valves.
The rebuild instructions in the manual say to always check and adjust the preloading for the bearings in the inner half of the transmission, that is for the intermediate and output gears. I didnt have the expensive Ford Rotunda jig to accomplish this but none of my transmissions had any slack in the bearing races; and after 7 rebuilds, things have continued to go well. Besides I was just a hobbyist, and since I was working for free, none of my relatives had any say in how I fixed their cars!
There is a Transgo shift kit which is advisable to install along with the rebuild kit. It doesnt turn the transmission into a wheel spinning performance product, it just extends the life of the transmission, and corrects the uneven and annoying 'thump' going from first to second. I have rebuilt several of the F4EAT transmissions for my own escorts and those of my kids and family friends. The elements of the kit dont just go into the valve body, but also into the three 'accumulators' that are in the case of the transmission. Full instructions for installing the shift kit come with it. I got each of my shift kits from www(dot)transmissionpartsusa(dot)com. Their model # for the kit is: 33931 F4EAT F4A-EL TRANSMISSION SHIFT KIT 1991-03. I also got several of my master rebuild kits from the same company.
You can also usually find used or rebuilt valve bodies on ebay. Item # 304681077063 is one, and all valve bodies for the F4EAT are the same. That one has a price of $250, which seems about right.
The ford escort/tracer service manuals come with complete instructions to rebuild the f4eat transmission in section 7. One caution is that the gaskets for the valve body are very thin and kind of brittle.
It is always recommended to replace the torque converter with a rebuilt one. The rebuilt units come with a better thrust bearing between the impeller and the stator. The OEM was a simple bronze bearing, while the rebuilts come with a Torrington bearing, which lasts vastly longer before wearing. The worn original bearing can let the blades of the impeller abrade the frame of the stator, which eventually fills the inside of the transmission guts with very fine particles of steel (from the impeller) and the stator (aluminum). Some of the particles are small enough to get sucked through the filter in the bottom of the pan, and then start jamming up the spool valves.
The rebuild instructions in the manual say to always check and adjust the preloading for the bearings in the inner half of the transmission, that is for the intermediate and output gears. I didnt have the expensive Ford Rotunda jig to accomplish this but none of my transmissions had any slack in the bearing races; and after 7 rebuilds, things have continued to go well. Besides I was just a hobbyist, and since I was working for free, none of my relatives had any say in how I fixed their cars!
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