So a guy was telling me i could 'hold' 2nd gear by starting in 1st speed up shift to 2nd and back to first to hold second shift to second to shift to. TCI Auto Valve Body Streetfighter Automatic Manual Forward Pattern Ford AOD Ea. Transgo AOD-HP Valve Body Shift Kit Ford High Performance Automatic.

1. Ford Aod Transmission Identification
2. Manual Shifting With Ford Aod Transmission
3. Ford Aod Transmission Diagram

Ford Aod Transmission Identification

Text and Photography by C. Asaravala It is no coincidence that AOD spelled backwards is DOA.

The Ford transmission is plagued with slow shifts, poor downshift response, and an overall lack of performance. The fact is that if you want to racing with an automatic transmission, you are better off with a C4 or even a C6. However the AOD, being a four speed overdrive, is the only choice for those wanting to maintain highway cruisability without having to lift their left foot. So what can be done to make the AOD more enjoyable? Well, you can go out an spend $1500 to $3000 on a race prepped, manually shifted and virtually bulletproof AOD. But who has that kind of money? The other option is to install a high performance shift-kit.

Shift kits have been around for a while, and several companies make them. However the quality of the kits vary tremendously, almost in proportion to how much work that is involved to install the kit. The super cheap ones may have you replace a spring or two, eliminate a check ball here and there, and install a new separator plate. This will result in hard tire chirping shifts, but will do nothing for extending the shift points, or reducing downshift time. Furthermore, the cheap kits wont make the transmission more durable, and actually are likely to increase wear. Contrary to some beliefs, a hard shifting automatic is not always desirable.

Unless the clutches and bands are upgraded as well, a hard 'banging' shift is going to accelerate wear of the internal components. That is why it is important to get a shift kit that offers an upgrade in performance, as well as increasing durability. TransGo AOD-HP. They also make kits for the C4, C6, AOD-E and FMX. Also available are fully manual shifting for full competition.

The AOD kit runs about $130. We did our research on 'do it yourself' AOD shift kits, and found that TransGo offered the most comprehensive kit to meet out needs. We wanted a kit that would provide firm, but not annoyingly harsh, shifts. We also wanted to extend the shift points in 'D' by 1000 rpm. The stock AOD, at part throttle, will shift from 1 to 2 at a ridiculously low 2200-2400 rpm. The 2 to 3 and 3 to OD come just as quick. We'd like to extend this out to into the powerband a bit, so the engine isn't bogging a hundred yards off of a stoplight.

Manual Shifting With Ford Aod Transmission

We also wanted the ability to hold gears to any rpm at wide open throttle, as well as downshift, quickly, at any rpm. The TransGo Performance Shift Kit (PSK-AOD) offers all of that and more. Gil Younger of TransGo pioneered the whole idea of 'shift kits' over 35 years ago, and thus they've put a lot of engineering and research into these kits. Their tag line is 'firmness, control, durability', and we definitely got all of that with the AOD kit.

We installed the kit in our 1988 Mustang, using their video and detailed instructions, and the results exceeded our expectations. The shifts are firm, and the shift points have been raised all across the board. At wide open throttle, in 'D', the transmission upshifts at 4900rpm. Shifting manually, the engine seems to rev quicker, and the transmission responds immediately to the gear switch, with an affirmative bark of the tires. Manual downshifting has improved big time. Instead of the endless delay between moving the shifter and waiting for the rpms to climb, now the tach responds instantaneously. The install takes the better part of a day, so plan ahead, and more importantly, be patient and meticulous!

Valve bodies are mysterious chunks of aluminum, full of very tiny parts. Don't lose anything or leave something out, otherwise your transmission is toast! Take your time, go over the instructions and video beforehand, then tackle the job with confidence.

Could Ford's Maligned Overdrive Automatic Become The Turbo 400 Of The 21st Century? We’ve all got to believe in something. I know adults who insist that the world is flat, and I know those who believe in the Easter Bunny. And then there’s Len Bertrand. Bertrand believes that the Ford AOD transmission is going to replace the Turbo 400 as the performance transmission in the 21st century.

Stop laughing. We know Ford’s autobox is a weak suck. By leaving Second gear off the shift pattern (some cynics speculate for cost reasons), the AOD has been doomed to languish on the performance sidelines. Second gear is accessible when you shift an AOD manually, but only after you jam the lever into Drive and then, hideously, back into First. All that 1-D-1 box banging wreaks havoc on the bands and clutches, causing bigger messes than are seen daily on the Jerry Springer show, and makes them unreliable and ill suited to performance applications (at least by reputation). But reputations can be turned around. Bertrand, who heads up Lentech Performance from his sleepy Richmond, Ontario, Canada, digs, is spearheading the AOD’s march from the nether regions of performance respectability.

After 10 years of pokin’, he has discovered the secrets of making this transmission sturdier than a Turbo 400 and with the benefit of Overdrive. Your hub for horsepower Get first access to hit shows like Roadkill and Dirt Every Day Join free for 14 days now Bertrand has plenty of raw material to work with: The AOD appeared in millions of LTDs, Mustangs, Fairmonts, and light-duty trucks from 1980 to 1993. His plan to overthrow the Turbo 400, current King of Performance Transmissions, is a crafty one-Bertrand feels that Ford’s cogswapper has plenty going for it.

Compared to a TH400, the AOD is 30 pounds lighter (thanks mostly to an aluminum valvebody and a far lighter center-support section), its rotating mass is 4 pounds lighter and 1 inch trimmer in diameter (6 3/4 inches versus 5 3/4 for the AOD), and comes with all of the benefits that this difference implies. Other advantages over a TH400 include a thinner pump gear, which reduces drag for a given line pressure; a beefier intermediate sprag; and both sets of planetary gears living within a single carrier (rather than the two carriers and two sets of pinions peculiar to the TH400). With some cunning piracy from the later AODE and the Ford parts catalog, plus a healthy dose of valvebody reengineering, Bertrand has created a transmission that’s as beefy as a Turbo 400 and can support more than 1,200 hp-enough to handle all but the hairiest race applications. One of Bertrand’s customers runs a 1,100hp small-block Camaro in the 9s and is backed with an AOD, which, in two hard seasons, has not yet failed. Traditionally, the AOD’s big bugaboo has been unreliability; it’s also notorious for bopping back and forth between Drive and Overdrive in traffic. The AOD features a complicated twin input-shaft system-the outer shaft controls Reverse, First, and Second gear clutches via the torque converter; the inner shaft, driven directly off the engine, controls Overdrive. Third gear is split between the two shafts (60 percent goes through the small inner shaft, which is prone to breakage).

This unusual system can accommodate up to 450 hp or so before pieces start snapping. A sturdier single-shaft arrangement keeps the converter from locking up in Third and Fourth gears, and this alone makes a worked AOD effective into the 600hp range. But a quick fix like a single-input shaft wasn’t enough for Bertrand.

He has discovered the secret to AOD reliability: He engineers the valvebody to engage the Reverse and Third clutches simultaneously when the AOD is in Third gear, thus relieving the tremendous stress placed on that small inner input shaft. Instead of simply locking the Third-Fourth planetary carrier to the forward sun gear as is the norm, the Reverse sun gear is also locked to the Forward sun gear, so the transmission drives off the beefy end of the input shaft. This arrangement provides 58.5 percent more clutch area than the Turbo 400 and doubles power-holding potential.

Besides utter reliability for most street and race applications, this also means that there will be no more hunting for gears in slow-moving traffic: Pick a gear, and it stays there. The result is a reliable automatic that feels plenty firm, will let you upshift manually or automatically (or either exclusively, depending on your needs and wants), has all the performance benefits of the GM ‘box, and has the added cache of Overdrive. The OD ratio is a cushy 0.67:1, so you can effectively knock a 4.11:1 gear down to a jaw-dropping 2.75:1 when you’re on the open road.

Best of all, the AOD is easily compatible with your Ford small-block. On early Mustangs, and even later intermediates like our long-suffering ’70 Montego, you just need a C6 crossmember and tranny mount (thanks to Dearborn Classics for ours), for a direct bolt-in. You can even use the same driveshaft despite the 1/2-inch difference in length. Our torque converter is a 10-inch, 2,800rpm-stall design built to Bertrand’s exacting specifications. Is Bertrand nuts to hop up the Ford AOD? Then again, we believe the Easter Bunny story, too.

Ford Aod Transmission Diagram

We mentioned that Len Bertrand has several of his AODs running behind GM powerplants-namely Jerry Otley’s 1,100hp, nitrous-fed small-block ’76 Camaro and a Buick 3.8 Turbo in Chris Nowak’s Chevy II. Neither has suffered a tranny failure. An AOD will mate to any GM engine with minimum trouble. The adapter plate works with any SB Chevy or Buick-Olds-Pontiac (including the Turbo V-6). If your AOD will replace a Turbo 400, Bertrand recommends a 31-spline 4×4 AOD output shaft for both length and strength. Additionally, the tailshaft housing has to be slightly altered-nothing horrible, just a quick chop ‘n’ weld, as above, to make the AOD tailshaft the same length as a Turbo 400 tailshaft. Both mounting pads remain, meaning you can put a Ford AOD in your Camaro, or you can drop a small-block Chev into your Mustang, and the tranny will fit.