I'm fixing up my ford explorer thought there was really nothing wrong with it..just needs new fluid all around.
we had the tranny rebuilt 8 years ago and it has never had any problems other than leaking fluid. When the fluid got too low it would slip, top it off and it would shift fine.

I droped the tranny pan to change the oil and filter this is what I found

first the bolts holding the pan on were all loose enough for me to not have to break them loose at all.

in the pan were a few little needle bearings and a couple large pieces of metal the rest was fine shiny metel particals floating in the fluid as the magnets were missing.

removed the filter...and the part above the filter with a bunch of little bolts...half of them were loose!...

this doesnt make sence to me...
if this metal was from the tranny...
then topping off the fluid shouldnt fix the slipping.

the guys at the parts store agree that there is something funny here.

there are no other signs of damage and not enough bearings
there should be more if they are from my tranny.

91 automatic 4x4 ford Explorer
any Ideas??...

next question...

to do a thorough tranny fluid change my book says to drain the torque converter
but it does not say where the access is or how to do it on my Exploder

I have a 91 4x4 explorer, A4LD tranny with the 4.0L engine...
any help would be wonderful <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

hey ladyfrog, this is jody from the kia forum, i'm about to buy me a 91 explorer so i guess i'll be over here a good bit now, sorry i can't help any with your question yet. maybe once i have the explorer i'll get a chance to look over some of those things and be able to help out. the one i'm getting is a 91 with the 4.0 and automatic 4WD also. don't look like there is much traffic over here for the explorer's, hopefully that will change.

Hey Ladyfrog, I&#8217;ve had many Ford&#8217;s and the one thing that has been true on every one is that they have all leaked in at least two places. The bolts on the pan should only have about ten pounds of torque on them to begin with, but if it was built on a Friday near the end of the day&#8230; well you know. Every time your transmission slips it will take off a bit of metal. It may not be an issue now but if you put a big load on it you might find that it slips again even with all of the fluid in it. Not much help but moral support should count for something.