When I first purchased the van it had a terrible hesitation when accelerating moderately. I figured I would try changing the transmission oil and filter. The filter is in the transmission so I dropped the pan to get to the filter. The transmission pan showed signs of weeping so I changed out the gasket for a new one. This was problematic because there were two different gasket types that could be used. As far as I can tell, the gasket I was supposed to use was a rubber one because my pan had ridges in between the bolt holes.
That is what I used. Unfortunately the transmission started leaking again about six months later. I verified that the leak (one of them at least) was coming from the pan gasket. Now I was wondering if the pan itself was somehow warped. When browsing Ford's website I found that they sold a new pan for the van that includes a drain plug. This is a really nice thing to have when you are changing the transmission fluid so you don't have to make such a big mess. I nearly installed one last time I had my pan off but opted not to.
Well this pan with the drain plug was an option offered by Ford dealers but never, as far as I can tell, installed from the factory. It was actually cheaper than the original pan without the drain plug so I purchased it. It called for a cork gasket so I got that at the same time.
I installed it on the van but only after cleaning up the transmission area of all the oily build up. Its not perfect, but it should be enough for me to see where a leak is coming from should the transmission leak again.
I had plans to install a transmission oil cooler at the same time but unfortunately the unit I had ordered did not arrive in time. I will hopefully install it next weekend.
While I was under the van I also worked on the rear heater / AC coolant vacuum valve. This valve allows hot coolant to flow to the rear HVAC unit, but only when vacuum is applied to a control line. Presumably vacuum is only applied to this line when the front HVAC is set to hot. The rear HVAC unit never seems to blow the correct temperature of air. I would never expect cold air since the AC for the entire van is broken. I would expect it to blow hot air on demand. Unfotunately it is very intermittent.
My guess is the vacuum line to coolant control valve is bad. Either that or the valve itself is bad. If the rear heater does not blow hot air 100% when requested, then I will replace that valve next. That thing has to be pretty inexpensive.
If this works it should allow us to ensure the rear heater does NOT blow hot air when it is hot outside. This will effectively turn the rear HVAC into just a fan for recirculating the air, which would be great because it has a very strong fan.
|||