Paid to have Trans Rebuilt but dont think it was done need help

[funboy6942]

I just bought a 1988 TC and was a victom on the damn bushing at the throttle control and od went out and it started to slip. I am mainly a Chevy man and this is a new thing for me to incounter and bought the car at a great price. As soon as it started to happen I took it right away to a "trans" guy who didnt mention the bushing problem but wanted to charge me $1100 to rebuild the tranny. I didnt have it and was 10 miles away from home and drove the car the rest of the way. By the time I made it home od was fully gone, 3rd was slipping and didn't want to go into 3rd unless I let off the gas.

I called around and found a guy that would rebuild the trans including a new converter for $550 when everyone else wanted $750+. I called the local tow place in his town and asked about the shop and he said he knows the guy and he knows what he was doing. At the time between the other shop and this one I still didnt know the lousy $10 plastic bushing caused my inital problem.

I had the car towed to the $550 trans guy and he showed me the plastic part and said that was the cause of the problem but because I drove the car and what I described as it no longer haveing OD, lost 3rd, and when putting it on the tow truck it was slipping really bad in first going up the ramp, said it would now have to be rebuilt so I told him to go ahead, lesson learned on my part, and picked it up a few days later (3 days to be exact).

Heres where it gets really messed up. He said it shifts really hard and he made it that way, and partly that the metal shaving scorched the valve body, and it does shift hard. Shifting into all the gears it slams into each gear hard unless I floor the car and then it shifts smooth into each gear. When cold it doesnt really want to shift at all but is delayed going into second, hard of course when it does, and I really have to rev it up to go into 3rd, hard again. Once warm though it will shift into each gear as described above, going into OD around 40-45 mph, also hard. All hard unless I floor the car and then all shift points are smoth but Im flying down the road.

Today I decided to do some work on the car and looked under it and none of the bolts look like they haven't been touched. I am a ex back yard mechanic, was a service manager for period of time for Ford and Dodge, so I know a thing about cars. I never owned older Fords though so im lost about their trannys and shift points. But in looking at all the bolts on the trans, trans cross memeber, and drive shaft they do not look as though they have been touched at all, the trans looks like they took oil and squirted it all over the trans to make it look as though something was done, but the bolts dont look as though the almost 20 years of rust and grime has been worked off the threads one would see, or clean parts on the sides of the nuts and bolts you would see where one would put a impact socket or wrech on.

So my question is this. With a ford tranny with worn clutches, can one remove the pan, valve body, and tighten it up a bit to make it do the slaming of the gears at all shift points im feeling unless floored? Can an adjustment been done to the TV cable to make the presure go up so high to make it shift like it is, cold and warm? Again, im new with the older Ford stuff so Im not sure what tricks of the trade can be done to the trans to make it shift again without actually removing it if I didnt fully wear the clutches out completly considering I didnt really drive it all that far. Any insight to this would be great before I take it back to him and tell him to fix it.

He mentioned to me that because of the metal shavings I may have ruined the valve body and thats why it shifts hard and the delay in cold shift and would cost me more. I almost bought into it untill I saw that it didnt look as though the bolts were touched leaving me to believe there is a trick to making a worn out Ford trans work for a short period till its out of the warranty and then tell me Im SOL pony up another $550 and then actually rebuild it.

Sorry for the long post just wanted to be precise in my desciption and get my point across.

Cliffs:
Ford tranny TV bushing broke and drove car 15 miles
Can anything be done to a Weak ford AOD tranny to make it still shift without removing it.
Shift delay when cold going into second, and have to rev high to go into 3rd till warm.
After warm shifts VERY HARD going into all gears unless floored
Was told it was rebuilt but none of the bolts show signs they have been removed on trans, trans cross memeber, or drive shaft at diff.
Any tricks to make a worn out Ford AOD still shift till its finnly had it?

[Towncar]

I don't know much about those trannies either..
Several guys over >> here << are familiar with them though.

[gbic1]

If you drove it 15 miles with tv rod off it will be smoked and there are no adjustment that can be made. For 550 you did not pay for a clean up job. It sounds like he has the adjustment off and the pressure is to high. That will cause both problems.

[flaco57]

I had the same problem with my '91 town car. The bushing broke on the OD cable and I blew the OD. I paid $1800 for a rebuilt tranny and the tranny works fine. It shifts slightly harder than the original tranny but everyone tells me it will never be the same as the original. I can't imagine what you got for $550 but I don't think it was a rebuilt tranny. I've had it for three months now with no problems.