CVN member lost 3rd and 4th on the transmission in his 2005 CVPI. He pulled transmission and brought to me for a rebuild.

https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbth...671#Post2811671

basically, the transmission had been rebuilt previously and they did a crappy job. The direct clutches were worn and there was excessive clearance, the OD band was glazed and starting to burn. The intermediate clutches were glazed and the steel plates were severely hot spotted. The previous rebuilder used the old style, scarf cut sealing rings on on the output shaft that seal the direct clutch. These seals are sufficient for a short time, when they are new, but as they get hot they collapse, don't seal well anymore and you loose pressure to the direct clutch. The one piece teflon seals work much better and don't collapse over time.

The direct clutches were severely worn/deteriorated. These clutches appear to have been some off brand, aftermarket clutches, that I had never seen before. They had an unusual horizontal pattern, where most OEM/raysbestos/borgwarner clutches have a vertical pattern.
The direct steel plates also had an unusual wear pattern, which I had not seen before.







The intermediate clutches were glazed and the steel plates were hot spotted. It's difficult to see in the pictures I took, but they were regular tan paper clutches that have been discolored,
I believe these were Alto red clutches. The problem with smooth clutches is they hydroplane on the fluid and will glaze quickly. The factory clutches are made of carbon material and have grooves to displace the fluid and eliminate the hydroplaning.






A full rebuild was done;

New rubber seals, gaskets, O-rings and teflon seals.

New Raysbestos clutches, correct material and proper waffling for fluid displacement which prevents glazing.

Lubrication improvements to Direct drum and front stator support. This allows better fluid flow to critical areas for better lubrication and cooling.

New Overdrive band. Updated band with High carbon material that resists wear. Installed Sonnax Overdrive servo pin with o-rings for better sealing - http://www.sonnax.com/parts/2379

Rebuild Valve body with Sonnax replacement valves and performed Jmod

Here is the upgraded black carbon band 7L3Z-7F196-A

That sonax od pin is the [censored] right?

seems to work well.

Yea, what have you been doing as far as od servo springs, do you use the older softer outer spring and/or install the spacer on the inner that comes with the sonnax?

So you're telling us that getting a rebuild by the cheapest place around leads to premature failure??

Theres is a huge difference between inexpensive and cheap.

When a rebuilder uses some no-name rebuild kit that has inferior quality parts such as the clutchs and plates pointed out, and the builder is too lazy, or worse too stupid to use the Teflon seals and uses the older scarf cut seals instead because its easier and faster, that's cheap.

There are plenty of builders out there that use quality parts can get the job done quickly, and inexpensively, and still make money themselfs. Obviously the previous builder was not one of them.

But I don't imagine that that is the point of this thread. To me its just FYI tech info. I enjoyed it.

oh... I forgot to mention, in addition to what I posted above, the front pump to case bolts were loose (2 were finger tight).

The front pump/torque converter seal was "glued" in place with RTV.

I suspect at some point, the front pump seal probably popped out and the transmission ran low on fluid. Just a theory.

as with anything, sloppy work and cheap parts don't last long.

If it's a stock rebuild, I re-use the stock spring. If the OD pin bore, in the case has wear, I install the Sonnax Pin. I have been saving the Hi-performance spring for trucks that do a lot of towing/hauling or performance builds.

I sold several of the springs and install my last spring this weekend. They are getting hard to find. The 2 vendors that have any left want $30 each for them plus shipping.

If someone has one of the HD/HP OD springs handy, and can measure it, I might be able to source a reasonable alternative. Need to know:
ID
OD
wire size
spring force
height
any "odd" feature (tapered ends, etc)

Good stuff!

Thanks for sharing very informative, what do you normally charge for a rebuild? I'm thinking I will need one soon and was just going to throw a used one in since they are pretty damn cheap.

Just wanted to chime in, I was the CVN member he did the rebuild for, and let me tell ya. The car is a blast to drive now. Shifts are firm, and happen RIGHT NOW! Too bad I'm selling it, lol. I highly recommend a rebuild from Eric to anyone on here! Thanks Eric.