2005 CVPI 4R75 transmission rebuild... and other stuff

[88grandmarq]

A local CVN member contacted me about his 2005 CVPI transmission acting strangely. When it was put in drive the transmission would not engage, if you revved the engine up to a certain RPM, it would drop into gear and chirp the tires. I did a Jmod on this car last September and it had been shifting perfectly - http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=196772&Number=2756999#Post2756999

Went for a quick test drive I noticed the transmission was not shifting as crisply as it should and it had trouble finding the correct gear
for the load and RPM. We both agreed it needed to be rebuilt.

Once I got the car lifted high enough to start working on it, I noticed several external leaks from the shifter seal and the drive shaft yoke.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Tail_leak_zpsgkyzkzf2.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/shifter_leak_zpshc4wxglr.jpg

The fluid that was drained out of the transmission was orange and had a strange odor, Not normal for less than year old fluid.

The transmission was removed from the car and disassembled for inspection. ALL the gaskets and rubber o-rings were hard and brittle.
The extension housing gasket was baked on to the case, I had to scrape it off with a razor blade.
The o-ring on the output shaft, that seals the slip yoke was brittle and flat, when I attempted to pry it out of the groove it broke into 3 pieces.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Output_oring_zpsj6yqoi8j.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Output_oring01_zpstqvnil5k.jpg

When I removed the front pump, I found the pump stator and reverse clutch drum were seized together. I had to use a 80 ton shop press at my buddies tractor shop
to get the pieces to separate.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Frontpump_reverse_zpsyizqmwei. jpg

Once separated, I found the metal sealing rings on the pump stator had cut grooves into the reverse clutch drum and the stator support bushing was badly worn.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Reverse_grooves_animated_zps4p sowmls.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Reverse_bushing_zpsvlfqkqrl.jp g

[88grandmarq]

Further inspection of the reverse drum found the snap ring that holds the intermediate mechanical diode one way clutch on the drum was bent and about to fail.
The mechanical diode one way clutch also showed evidence of something making contact/rubbing on the top race.
On the inside of the reverse drum, with the clutch pack removed, it was discovered the piston return spring was cracked in half.
The entire reverse drum went into the metal scrap bin. I updated the factory snap ring that holds the one way clutch on to a spiral ring with a cage, it won't be coming off any time soon.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Reverse_snapring02_zps3prlcpwh .jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Reverse_spring_zpsfncuiyi0.jpg

The forward clutch outer piston lip seal was brittle with a 3" section of the sealing lip missing.
The forward clutches were worn to the point the cross hatch was gone and just starting to burn (note the dark ring towards the inner edge of the clutches)
The wave plate/spring that sits between the clutch piston and bottom steel plate was completely flat.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Forward_piston_zpsqzzlnytp.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Foward_clutch02_zpsmfbaq14x.jp g

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Forward_clutch01_zpsziqj7h2k.j pg

The low/reverse accumulator piston is steel with molded rubber, the rubber was brittle and basically broke into pieces when removed from the transmission.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Lowreverse_piston_zpsisfevlei. jpg

The overdrive servo snap ring was broken and a royal pain to remove. I finally got it removed and found the last missing piece hiding in the valve body.
The new aftermarket snap ring is hardened to resist breaking, it's black in color.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Snapring_valvebody_zpstfbiuywf .jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Overdrive_snapring_zpsy33ltv8v .jpg

This is some pretty significant damage with such low miles (77K showing on the odometer). My best guess is HEAT killed the transmission.
The car has aftermarket catalytic converters installed and both drivers side cats converters (upper and lower) were failed and rattling loudly.
I noticed several problems with these aftermarket cat converters;

1) The upper converter is large and mounted horizontally and comes very close the transmission case.
2) There are no heat shields on the bottom side of the cat converters
3) Because the upper converter is so large, the top pipe with the flange that mounts to the manifold is shorter and it pulls the already large converter
much closer to the transmission case.

I believe the failed drivers side cat converter along with the factors mentioned above caused extra heat to be transmitted to the transmission.

I replaced the failed drivers side cat converter with an OEM replacement from Walker. This cat converter assembly has the correct upper cat and has heat shields on top and bottom of both cat converters. I cut the heat shields off the failed cat converter assembly and welded them on the bottom of the passenger side cat converter and re-installed it on the car.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Cat_converter_animated_zpsztop nnav.jpg

[88grandmarq]

While I had the car, I noticed several other things that needed to be fixed

When I removed the driveshaft, I found the pinion flange was damaged from someone or something hitting it. The front U-joint was very loose and the
rear U-joint was worn and binding. The drive shaft was sent to the driveline shop, they installed new HD sealed Spicer U-joints, replaced the damaged pinion flange and did a high speed balance.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/U_joint02_zpsrnjdjss1.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/U_joint01_zpsujjlxnn6.jpg

The left front shock was collapsed and leaking oil everywhere, so much so, the lower shock bushing was deriorated from being soaked in oil. Once I got the shock
off, I discovered it as completely siezed, it would not compress or expand. both front shocks were replaced with Motorcraft replacements from Rockauto.com.
Both upper ball joint bolts were seized and the sway bar links were worn and both boots were torn.
Upper ball joints and sway bar links were replaced with Raysbestos parts from Rockauto.com

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Left_shock_zpsubxb2zfn.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/LF_bushing_zpssna9fhqs.jpg

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Swaybar_link_zpszjq3vwoz.jpg

The last thing I noticed was the rear bumper cover was loose and making lots of noise at low speed and going over rough pavement.
I found 2 off the screws that hold the bumper cover on were missing. I did a rear bumper tuck on the car and used 1/4" pop rivets to replace the missing screws.
read here for more information on CV rear bumper tuck - http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1358686#Post1358686

Going back together, the transmission was rebuilt with new gaskets, seals (everything rubber was replaced) clutches, both bands and a reman torque converter.
I upgraded the forward clutch wave spring that is used in 5.4L trucks (XL3Z-7E085-AA) This is a stronger spring and applies the forward clutch with more force,
it also helps make the 4-3 down shift more crisp and not slip.

I added an auxiliary transmission fluid cooler to help keep the fluid temps down.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a414/88grandmarq/Aux_cooler_zpsae3yzkow.jpg

The left Cat converter was replaced with a walker OEM
New U-joints and drive shaft was balanced
new front shocks, upper ball joints and sway bar links
rear bumper tuck

This was quite a big project and took a several weeks to get everything back together. It turned out well and the car shifts nicely and drives smooth

[88grandmarq]

changed my picture hosting a while back and realized I never moved the pictures for this project over. pictures are updated now.

[RF Overlord]

Holy Frijoles! That transmission had some major abuse. I bet it's better than new, now... :up:

[fastblackmerc]

Great job! I know whom I'm going to use when it comes time to redo my tranny!

[crownvic05]

This guy knows what his doing. He helped me with advice and a few parts. My trans and now working great and leak free thanks to him.

[BAD MERC]

I have seen broken stuff but holy cow you had everything broken all at once!!!