First off, when I took the pan from the transmission, there was what felt like sludge on the magnet inside. When rubbing your fingers through it, it would turn silver which meant it had been a while since the fluid and filter had been changed. These were small particle metal shavings that had got stuck to the magnet over time and formed this shape that is shown in the first picture.


While I was under the car, I decided to take a couple of pictures of the dual 3-4 solenoid and it was no problem at all to replace. The solenoid cost $47.25 total and took maybe 5 minutes to change.



After installing the new solenoid, I was able to push the 2 little gold buttons which in these pictures are black and they aren't able to push up and down. They were modified in 95 because of the problems they were having with the 94's. All is good now with the overdrive and the transmission loved the new filter and Castrol Mercon V fluid I put back in. If anyone is having this problem, change your shift solenoids and most likely your problem will be gone. MLPS was also changed before all of this and that didn't fix the problem but now I know that part is also new and shouldn't have to worry about it in the near future. Thanks again Craig for the help. Also a big thanks to Calvin for having this message board that has helped me in many ways.

Terry


Nothing Like A 94 On Air!!

Nice job and thanks for the info. Pics look great.

93 Mark VIII 214,000 Miles

Terry, awesome job pal. Sure feels good to research, find, and fix, ALL yourself.

think of the money/time you saved.

Knowing 4th gear is one of the first to fail in a typical O/D transmission, think of how many lost souls out there paid thousands of dollars to a tranny shop to fix something like this.

Ya done good pal. And now YOUR post and YOUR pictures are slated into the message board threads for the next person to find/use for their repairs.

Funny how this whole Markviii.org thing comes full-circle, huh?

94 Mark VIII-SPRUNG/97 Mark VIII LSC
Leader of the Wolf Pack

Believe me Craig, I'm thinking of the money saved by doing this myself and also the money that will be saved having overdrive again. It was killin me in gas. That part couldn't have been anymore simple to change once you have the pan off. Now I have a new MLPS, 3-4 solenoids, plugs, trans fluid, Mobil 1 5W-30 Synthetic, new oil filter, new pcv valve, new air bags, well 7 or 8 months old. Glad that was done before I bought it. I also took out the extra MAF from a 93 I had cleaned with engine cleaner and replaced it with my original MAF that I cleaned with electronics cleaner and it has the smoothest idle I could ask for. I just wished it wasn't idled so low but I'll get it back like it's supposed to be when I can afford the Lincoln shop or someone I can trust. Next job will be the thermostat, 180 degree and flushing the system this week when it cools off. When I stomp this car to the floor from a dead stop, it feels like it wants to jump up off the road and jet off in the sky. I love it!! Thanks again Craig for the help.

Terry


Nothing Like A 94 On Air!!

Why don't you warn people when you are showing graphic pictures of transmission parts?!? When I saw your pictures I found myself in a corner shaking with fear . After taking the pan off my Seville for the 6th time looking at those solenoids I think I developed a phobia for shift solenoids. Anyway nice job fixing the tranny, it always feels good to fix something yourself espically when the fix is only 50 bucks.
Jason.
94 Portofino blue.
Knuckles smashed, 10. Cuss words said, 200. WOT, Priceless!

Hold on a minute damn you!!! Am I to understand that you lost the ability to shift into overdrive, and, without paying $$$ to a tranny rebuild shop, you were able to simply remove the tranny cover, replace some solenoids (and other minor stuff), and miraculously - you have overdrive again!!!!

You're going to have to explain this one to me. I'm fairly mechanical, having rebuilt a Ford Aerostar rear-wheel drive four-speed automatic transmission myself once. But, when my overdrive went, the Tranny Shop (I won't name them here - national chain, in fact) advised me that my "overdrive band" had broken and that the tranny would have to be removed from the vehicle and rebuilt. To the tune of about $1800 - not including new torque converter.

Please, please expand upon this idea, this method of fixing for pennies what I've been told is a couple-thousand dollar job!!

"If" your transmission has the same problems that Terry's did, you can replace the shift solenoids, and perhaps you will have OD again.

Start with the MLPS we have discussed in your other thread. If that doesnt cure it, then you can tackle the shift solenoids in hopes that they are the problem.

one step at a time.

if your shift solenoids need to be replaced, then you can do the 1-2 upgrade, and replace all the fluid at the same time.

94 Mark VIII-SPRUNG/97 Mark VIII LSC
Leader of the Wolf Pack
Club 16 Founder/President

Just as an update, it has been 1 month short of 2 years and my overdrive still is working perfectly after changing the 3-4 shift solenoids. I'm posting this because someone from the site emailed me asking if it cured my problem and I figured I would give a 2 year after update to verify that the problem has not existed since the fix.

Thanks again Craig for the help!!

Nothing Like A 94 On Air!!

Nice recap post.

Couple of questions:

Could defective solenoids be the reason my O/D switch does not work? O/D worked after I repaired the broken wire and quit working when I changed the fluid and filter.

I have good fourth gear but at light throttle when shifting from 3 to 4 I get an RPM flare before 4th kicks in. At heavy throttle it shifts fine. Could the flaring be caused by these solenoids?

Thanks

MOD aka "another Craig"
Mark of Distinction
1993 Light Mocha

I'm no transmission expert by no means but all I can do it tell you what mine was doing before the solenoid change.
I would always have a very good 4th gear when the car was cold and it would shift into OD light or heavy throttle but once the car would start getting up to temp, it would start acting like it wanted that 4th gear and rev up the rpm and it might go ahead and change and then again if it was hot enough, it would just stay in 3rd.
After driving long enough for the car to be good and warmed up, there would never be any OD at all. I only had it while the car was cool. If this sounds like what's going on with yours, it never hurts to put under $50.00 into it before taking it in to the million dollar transmission man. I'm sure Craig would have a better answer on this than I would. The hardest part about that job was loosening all the pan bolts, cleaning the magnet off, putting a new seal on and putting all the bolts back in. Other than that, the 3-4 solenoid comes off and goes on within 3 minutes.
I do highly recommend taking it off first and then carrying it to the parts store because luckily I bought 2 of them while I was out. One came from one of those old timey parts stores that's been around since I was a kid and the other was from O'Reillys for about $20.00 less and of course the cheaper one had a different bolt pattern and didn't really look the same. That's about all the advice I can offer on this subject and I hope for your wallets sake, that's your problem also.

Good Luck!!
Terry

Nothing Like A 94 On Air!!