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Any way to firm up the shifts on CD4E?

G

grcygettr

New CEG'er
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Sep 28, 2010
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My old 2000 Mystique 4 banger is starting to drag out the shifts now and will shift down with the slightest throttle pressure. The car has 143,000 miles on it but the CD4E was rebuilt (or replaced) at 94,000 miles.
I did the oil change/flush and that didn't make any difference. Is my rebuilt transmission going away already or is there a way to change the shift points and firm up the shifts as I am not ready to do another transmission and can't afford it anyway. Thanks for any help.
 
Yes you could put in a shift kit but.........

Yes you could put in a shift kit but.........

Transgo makes a kit to do just that. But I would think that the last thing you would want to do is to 'firm' it up with a shift kit. I suspect that it is NOT the valve body but simply wear in the trans. If you put in an unneccessary shift kit you could kill your trans even quicker than usual.

When you changed the oil what did it look and smell like? If brown AND burnt smelling then you may have burnt clutches and need a trans rebuild.

Do some troubleshooting

1. Any flashing OD light when this happens?

2. If you manually shift through the gears, does it maintain the gears?

3. Does it wind out in first then slip into what you believe is second?

PS just wondering, has anyone replaced the valve body only and had it fix a transmission shifting problem? The reason I am asking is that several folks have focused on the valve body as a fix for shifting problems but I have never heard of it actually fixing any problems
 
Actually the Transgo kit pretty much does NOT firm up the shifts on that trans. Firmer shifts on stock CD4Es just blow out the forward clutch faster since it is weak. Some of the later Ford trans mods address that weakness, like the adding of the wave washer to cushion the hit of the clutch pack lockup. In the shift kit there is a small amount of surgery that goes on with the VB at a spot where worn valve allows for leakage that causes problems. You can tell by the fix that someone is actually trying to control pressure from getting higher at that spot. I believe it also influences converter lock/unlock, which technically IS shifting of a sort. I know Ford threw lots of valvebodies at converter clutch problems.

If the motor getting lower on power then car will seem to be dragging out shifting and drops into passing gear too much especially when encountering hills. My trans works fine but motor is old and I can tell they did not write the shifting software well to cover older dead motors with that trans. OD is spaced too far away from 3rd, with a tired motor you jump too much back and forth between the two. More a function of engine size, 2 liter motors are great when they're fresh, but dogs once they start getting old and ring seal dropping off.

How could a worn valvebody NOT affect shifting?? That is what it does after all. You start leaking in there and all sorts of flaky things start happening. On this trans there were early Mazda stories of VB wear crossleaks causing line pressure to go up to 1000 psi. Tell me that's gonna shift right..................

ANY untoward leak can affect shifting, either in VB or the rotating mass. This trans is wonky in that the multiple seals that go on the pump cover/support shaft are teflon and do not expand out by stiffness alone. They greatly rely on pressure forcing them to seal. That makes for reverse being slow sometimes to lock up so car can move, nothing wrong with trans, you just gotta give it a second to build pressure before loading it. One reason to look VERY closely at the shaft and F/C/D cylinder, bushings to get that area as tight as you can at rebuild time. Potential for like 10 leaks there that could affect trans performance.
 
percentages

percentages

I am playing the percentages here. I don't know of a single case of a valvebody replacement/repair ONLY that fixed shifting problems on the CD4E in 4 or 5 years on this forum.

While it may be the valve body, both you and I have enough experience with the double drum breaking apart, clutches being fried, and the 2 4 band breaking being the typical problems with this trans.

That is why I asked the question, has ANYONE just replaced a valve body or put in a valve body kit ONLY that fixed thier shift or trans problems.

I have seen many a folk ask questions about the valve body in the futile hope that it would fix the problem, but have never heard back if it did. Many that did talk about replacing the valve body went on to either dump the car, replace the trans, or rebuild the trans.
 
Well, I'd question the 'clutches being fried' deeper. While they could easily just be worn out, they could have fried from lack of pressure. Next question would be why. VB replacement might cure the problem but it'd be too late then. Meaning changing it and nothing else will have no result.

To my knowledge though, most VB wear on this one causes converter clutch trouble. The Transgo kit emphasizes that issue.

You are probably right. Most people are looking for the magic bullet and VB science is as arcane as it gets. Vast majority of them could not check out a VB for undue wear if you were to throw one in their lap. Heck, I'm not even sure I can.

As an answer to OP's 'is there a way' question, ALL shift kit makers require as a prerequisite condition that the base transmission must be is good shape and operating correctly. The kit is NOT going to remedy wear damage, haven't seen a one that says that ever.
 
Hi!
Thanks for your interest. I changed the transmission fluid at 122,000 miles so it only had 28,000 miles on it and it was neary as clean as new. I have a 35 gallon can on wheels with a clear plastic hose up the side to tell me when it is getting full and this was the only oil in the barrel and it looked very clean while draining and appears to be the same color as new in the tube. The OD light never flashes except when I push the button to take it out of overdrive. Yes, it winds up nicely in first gear and shifts into second with some slippage and with every upshift after that. It takes almost no throttle increase to make it shift down though, a small incline and it shifts out of overdrive, which it never did until recently. I expected this rebuilt/refurbished transmision to last more than 50,000 miles but the symtoms are the same as the first one at 94,000 miles. Maybe the rebuilder cut some corners or something but he has a good reputation locally and that is why I used his services. Then engine has never used a drop of oil and doesn't leak anywhere. It has had the normal problems with vacuum leaks and coil packs, also the valve cover leaked letting oil onto the spark plugs. It has had 2 timing belt kits also. Other than the aforementioned, that is it. It still gets 30+ mpg on the freeway at cruising speeds. As well as it pulls from a dead stop I can't think that the engine is getting tired. It also passes smog tests here in California with flying colors. I have always used Castrol 10-30 in it as that is what I use in all 8 of my Fords except my F350 diesel. I was hoping someone would have an easy fix but it isn't looking good at the moment. Thanks to everyone who commented, I will let you all know what happens next when it happens.
 
Time to do some troubleshooting.

Time to do some troubleshooting.

Given your oil cleanliness, I'd start checking the oil pump pressures. The main tap is on the left end of the trans (driver's wheel well). A trans book will give you the expected pressures. If you are not meeting the low limits, it could be a few things, plugged oil filter (but I've never heard of that before), a worn pump, or a slipping pump drive shaft. All require at least pulling the trans.
 
Filter on these pretty big since can't be changed. Would be unusual for it to clog.

You should not be slipping at shifts at all.
 
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