ATX Lost OD on transmission: code P0761

New 10/23/05, 10/24/05

Follow-up to my lost OD ...

So armed with my trusty 1998 Ford Taurus factory repair manual, I spent a good part of 6 hours disassembling everything on the right side of the engine, and after a lot of loud cursing and frustrating moment, including almost giving up three times, I finally got the transmission side pan off and the main valve control body off (see Img_0900.jpg). Upon inspecting it, this is what I found (see Img_0910.jpg). It appears that the retainer clip for the forward clutch control valve failed. This is exactly what TSB 98-10-7 had stated could happen, and it appears that it happened on my car.

Upon closer inspection (Img_0912.jpg), you can see that a fracture had occurred on the corner of the square notch cut which extends all the way to the slot cutout in the center. The main wear spot on that leg of the retainer seems to indicate that this leg was seeing a lot of impact wear from the forward clutch control valve, and eventually that leg developed a crack at the corner of the square notch (its weakest point). Hopefully, if I replace this clip with the revised clip F8DZ-7F194-AA, my 3-4 shift will be restored.

I do have a few questions however ...

a.) Looking through the exploded assembly drawing, I notice that this same clip exists in 4 other locations. Would it be worth it to replace all the other clips with the revised clip? Currently, the other 4 clips look ok, but I'd hate to have to tear apart the entire right side of the engine compartment to have to do this job again.

b.) See Img_0912.jpg and Img0915.jpg. You can see that the aluminum body was gouged in that thru-hole when the forward clutch control valve retainer clip failed and the leg was forced out. Will this be of a concern? I'm assuming that if the revised clip is wider in dimension and has the semi-circle cutout on the side that this may not be a big issue, but I'd like to hear from those of you who have done this job for your feedback.

c.) Since I have the main control valve body sitting on my table now, is there anything else that might be worthwhile to swap out? I measured the resistance across all shift solenoids, and all measured 16.6 ohms, so I assume that they are all ok.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hoping to be back on the road again soon,

-Alan

============================
'98 Vibrant White, 115k Miles, *Welded* (Thanks John!)
Magnaflows
Hayden Transmission Cooler
X-Treme Foglamps
Living in the land we natives like to call "SoCal"

Alan -

Having had my pump/valve body off as well, I'll offer this advice: replace the bearing where the pump drive shaft enters the pump/valve assembly, and replace the seals on the pump shaft. Also, open the pump cover and check to make sure everything in there looks OK and that none of the pump vanes or retaining rings are cracked. You'll also want to very carefully look around all the fluid paths for metal debris, although it looks like your issue is contained to that one valve. Your service manual should also have told you to slide each of the valves back and forth to see if any of them are binding, which isn't a bad idea while you've got the thing off.

I also had a broken retaining clip, but wound up changing out the entire valve body b/c my pump jammed, so the clips were a moot point. I'd say why not - go ahead an replace all of them if you're in doubt. As far as the gouge goes, it looks like the broken clip actually caused the gouge, and from your photos, it *looks* like a new clip wouldn't interfere with the gouged area, unless it allows fluid to pass through the gouged area even with a new clip.

Hope that helps,

--Sam
97 Sable LS 3.0 24v Duratec 173k miles
Replaced AX4N pump @ 168k

10/24/05

Small follow-up.

Placed an order through a Ford dealership near my work place; $7.20 each for the F8DZ-7F194-AA upgrade retainers (bought four; planning on replacing all the older F8DZ-7F194-A_ retainers) and two pump shaft seals (E6DZ-7G092-A) at about $6.50 each. Yes, I know I overpaid because another dealership I called had the items cheaper, but because this was the closest one to where I am and was more convenient for me, I ended up paying a premium for this.

Anyway, parts should come in tomorrow hopefully; I'll take pictures of the retainer for cataloging purposes.

-Alan

Contact Information