91 Explorer 4x4 Auto Trans leak

I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2 round
housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are about 2
- 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield next to
the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a pretty
good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what these
housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

John G.

Sounds like a servo cover leaking.... These are sealed with O-rings between
the cover and the trans bore.... Behind these covers are pistons that apply
the bands when commanded... Care must be taken when removing these covers
since the pistons are spring loaded....


> wrote in message
ps.com...
>I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2 round
> housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are about 2
> - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield next to
> the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a pretty
> good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what these
> housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
> suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> John G.
>

Hey thanks Jim - Access to that area is very poor because of the
exhaust components crowding the area. It was hard to see how the
covers come off but now that I know it's servicable I'll take another
crack at it. The book says there's a nut holding that cover on but I
can't even see it. I guess I need a light and a mirror - and another
warm day!

On Mar 3, 7:52 pm, "Jim Warman" > wrote:
> Sounds like a servo cover leaking.... These are sealed with O-rings between
> the cover and the trans bore.... Behind these covers are pistons that apply
> the bands when commanded... Care must be taken when removing these covers
> since the pistons are spring loaded....
>
> > wrote in message
>
> ps.com...
>
>
>
> >I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2 round
> > housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are about 2
> > - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield next to
> > the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a pretty
> > good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what these
> > housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
> > suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> > John G.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hey thanks Jim - Access to that area is very poor because of the
> exhaust components crowding the area. It was hard to see how the
> covers come off but now that I know it's servicable I'll take another
> crack at it. The book says there's a nut holding that cover on but I
> can't even see it. I guess I need a light and a mirror - and another
> warm day!

I have a similar leak on my '92 and I've been unable to see where it is
coming from but it's pretty much gushing out. Please keep us posted--it
would be really great if I can fix mine without having to pull the
transmission. So far I've removed the seats and the access panel and looked
and looked with flashlights and mirrors.
>
> On Mar 3, 7:52 pm, "Jim Warman" > wrote:
> > Sounds like a servo cover leaking.... These are sealed with O-rings
between
> > the cover and the trans bore.... Behind these covers are pistons that
apply
> > the bands when commanded... Care must be taken when removing these
covers
> > since the pistons are spring loaded....
> >
> > > wrote in message
> >
> > ps.com...
> >
> >
> >
> > >I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2 round
> > > housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are about 2
> > > - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield next to
> > > the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a pretty
> > > good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what these
> > > housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
> > > suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > > John G.- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > - Show quoted text -
>
>

On Mar 5, 5:44 pm, "Ulysses" > wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
> > Hey thanks Jim - Access to that area is very poor because of the
> > exhaust components crowding the area. It was hard to see how the
> > covers come off but now that I know it's servicable I'll take another
> > crack at it. The book says there's a nut holding that cover on but I
> > can't even see it. I guess I need a light and a mirror - and another
> > warm day!
>
> I have a similar leak on my '92 and I've been unable to see where it is
> coming from but it's pretty much gushing out. Please keep us posted--it
> would be really great if I can fix mine without having to pull the
> transmission. So far I've removed the seats and the access panel and looked
> and looked with flashlights and mirrors.
>
>
I had to pry the heat shield away from the transmission in order to
see the leaking servo cover. I have some photocopies from an '89
mustang A4LD transmission manual that looks identical. It is not
clear how the covers come off but I'm guessing there's an internal
snap ring. The manual shows a retaining ring an then the o-ring, then
the cover. This is spring loaded as Jim described. Next step for me
(after waiting for suitable weather) is to drain the trans and see if
I can get it apart. I'm confident this can be repaired without
pulling the trans - unless there is a surprise when I start taking
thisgs apart.

John G

"Old Mechanic" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Mar 5, 5:44 pm, "Ulysses" > wrote:
> > > wrote in message
> >
> > oups.com...
> >
> > > Hey thanks Jim - Access to that area is very poor because of the
> > > exhaust components crowding the area. It was hard to see how the
> > > covers come off but now that I know it's servicable I'll take another
> > > crack at it. The book says there's a nut holding that cover on but I
> > > can't even see it. I guess I need a light and a mirror - and another
> > > warm day!
> >
> > I have a similar leak on my '92 and I've been unable to see where it is
> > coming from but it's pretty much gushing out. Please keep us posted--it
> > would be really great if I can fix mine without having to pull the
> > transmission. So far I've removed the seats and the access panel and
looked
> > and looked with flashlights and mirrors.
> >
> >
> I had to pry the heat shield away from the transmission in order to
> see the leaking servo cover. I have some photocopies from an '89
> mustang A4LD transmission manual that looks identical. It is not
> clear how the covers come off but I'm guessing there's an internal
> snap ring. The manual shows a retaining ring an then the o-ring, then
> the cover. This is spring loaded as Jim described. Next step for me
> (after waiting for suitable weather) is to drain the trans and see if
> I can get it apart. I'm confident this can be repaired without
> pulling the trans - unless there is a surprise when I start taking
> thisgs apart.
>
> John G

So far as I've been able to tell my leak seems to be coming from the torque
converter housing so I'm suspecting a front seal leak. I have the Ford
manual on CD and it shows how to trace the drips to determine where the leak
is coming from but it was of no help to me.

I read somewhere that a clogged vent tube can cause leaks from the seals but
as far as I can tell it's not clogged.

>

i had the same problem on my ’93 aerostar with a A4LD- the front
(overdrive) servo cover was leaking about 3 drops a second, only when
the engine was running. i fixed it with a "shortcut"- i cleaned it
up real well, with a wire brush, and some spray solvent/degreaser, a
covered the entire perimeter of the cover with a good bead of jb weld.
i know that this would make any subsequent repair a bit more
difficult, but this isn’t a vehicle i’m gonna put any money into- i’ll
be replacing it soon, anyways, it’s had a few too many hard miles on
the whole thing.

"getter54" wrote:
> I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2
> round
> housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are
> about 2
> - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield
> next to
> the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a
> pretty
> good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what
> these
> housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
> suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
> John G.

On Mar 24, 1:25 pm, scottf > wrote:
> i had the same problem on my '93 aerostar with a A4LD- the front
> (overdrive) servo cover was leaking about 3 drops a second, only when
> the engine was running. i fixed it with a "shortcut"- i cleaned it
> up real well, with a wire brush, and some spray solvent/degreaser, a
> covered the entire perimeter of the cover with a good bead of jb weld.
> i know that this would make any subsequent repair a bit more
> difficult, but this isn't a vehicle i'm gonna put any money into- i'll
> be replacing it soon, anyways, it's had a few too many hard miles on
> the whole thing.
>
> "getter54" wrote:
>
> > I have a leak that appears to be coming from one of the 2
> > round
> > housings forward of the vacuum diaphram. These 2 housings are
> > about 2
> > - 2 1/2 inches in diameter. They are behind the heat shield
> > next to
> > the cat converter. There's a slow drip while sitting and a
> > pretty
> > good stream when the engine is running. Anyone know what
> > these
> > housings are and why one may be dripping? It happened rather
> > suddenly. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > John G.

Replacing the O-Ring would have been easy if the cat converter was out
of the way. I don't think I could have done the cleaning and
application of JB-Weld - I had to make some serious modifications to
an old pair of snap ring pliers to get it in there to remove the snap
ring. The snap ring has notches instead of holes so the pliers slip
out easily. I will probably junk my '91 EB but if by some chance I
keep it l hope I don't have to replace the seal on the other housing.
I did stop a coolant leak on the front of the intake manifold the same
way you fixed your OD servo housing except I used Marine tex epoxy
instead of JB weld. Something always seems to be in the way every
time I work on my explorer. The cat converter is crowding the servo
housing, the front differential was in the way when I did the seals in
the steering gear. Forget about changing the valve cover gasket -
especially on the passenger side. The front drive shaft is in the way
where the rear brake line goes into the porportioning valve. Even the
oil filter and the oxygen sensor are a pain in the ass to change.
Bring back the '65 Chevy - we didn't know how good we had it!

JG