I have found a company that sells complete rebuilt valve bodies. But not only that, from what I understand they have numerous internal modifications to correct some of the flaws of the originals, several new valves and honed bores, all new solenoids, and such. The most important part is that the price is very reasonable....about the same as replacing just the solenoids. This is supposed to be a superior flow pattern to the ford TSB. I have been on the phone with the company the last 2 days and am working with my local parts supplier trying to work out a deal, so thats why I am not posting the name and price. After I get it and installed I will post some more info.

Considering that in my unprofessional opinion, the valve bodies and solenoids are 80% of what causes these transmissions to fail (overheating being another 10%), this will be something that a person of average mechanical ability could do in their driveway and save all the messing around. EVEN IF you need to replace your clutches and do an internal rebuild, this would be an excellent upgrade. Most of my reading says the EPC should be replaced between 80 and 100k miles. I think often the others need it too. But the cheapest I found a full set was $250.

Will keep you all updated as I find out.

 

Just did that on an Explorer 5r55e tranny $300.00 from Central Valve Bodies and that included shipping both ways. All the upgrades, all the solenoids, tranny hasn't ever shifted this good, about 2.5 hrs to replace.

 

yeah, that is the company. I spent nearly 2 hours the last 2 days on the phone with him asking questions and working out some prices. Donnie seems to know everything! He said he has rebuilt around 500 of these 4 and 5speed VBs himself. I am going to get him to do a little writeup about what all gets done, but the price is amazing. Around the $300 mark. He will sell direct if there is not a dealer in the area that carries his products. Dacco is the company that I delt with locally, but they are a national supplier chain. Believe it or not they have his VBs sitting on the shelf. On the Central valve body website Central Valve Bodies - Remanufactured Valve Bodies they have a list of their outlets. Will be installing the VB next wed, but so far am very impressed with the service and knowledge. He was able to answer some questions about the solenoids that I had not been able to get answered or posted anywhere else.

Will post some pics and the rest of the info later.

 

Definitely keep us posted.

 

Definitely will Joe, I have not seen much mentioned about this company else ware on the net. This could be the easy fix for many of us with auto trans problems because it covers 90% of what could be wrong with the trans and is in the range of most of us driveway mechanics.

 

this thread has most of the info on the fix for these trannies https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...ighlight=5r55e

 

there is a lot of info on that thread, read it all and have read through the half dozen other pages on other forums (those 30 page threads) and there is still some info that was not real clear or not presented. These full valve bodies have only been mentioned a few places and seemed like the service was pretty much glossed over.

I asked donnie to provide a list of modifications, upgrades, and new items that come with each valve body. This is what he sent me:


Rebuilt 4R55E,4R44E,5R55E,5R44E valve bodies - Each solenoid is individually
tested and flushed. All (4) shift solenoids get new o-rings. This valve
body is updated with the following Sonnax updates on every rebuild: large
ratio boost valve, 7 piece end plug kit with o-rings, TCC regulator sleeve
and elevated pressure regulator spring. Other updates and modifications are
made to the valve body as needed. The pressure relief TSB from Ford is
installed in the valve body to prevent hard part damage from excessive line
pressure. The separator plate is also modified to enhance shift
performance, provide adequate lube and address lock-up problems.
Modification of the separator plate prevents the use of a bonded plate. The
upper and lower valve body gaskets are replaced with new. Each valve body
is tested on a computerized tested machine to simulate driving conditions.
A 12 month unlimited mile warranty comes with the valve body.
-Remanufactured by Central Valve Bodies- Contact
donny@centralvalvebodies.com

Thank you,

Donny Lester
Central Valve Bodies
15551 S HWY 66
Claremore, OK 74017
(918) 341-0266 phone
(877) 341-0266 WATS
(866) 826-1847 fax
donny@centralvalvebodies.com

 

ALso they are shipped wet in a sealed plastic bag I had no issues with gasket alignment of the seperator plate to trans body gasket. Make sure you keep track of which bolts go where (I made a template) there are four different lenghts. And use a good inch pound torque wrench and follow the tightening sequence shown in the shop manuals.

 

done this all before! Have r/r mine about 6 times so far! I have a piece of cardboard that I have the outline and the bolts numbered that I use. (its over on the right in this picture), I even wrote on it the solenoids, tq specs, install sequence and tq sequence.




Yeah, its REALLY well wrapped. Wrapped in plastic sheeting, like 10 layers and then in a heavy plastic sealed bag. The gaskets are soaked, so they stay put pretty well. I specifically asked donnie about the bonded vs non-bonded gaskets and he said he had never had one come back or had a report of a blown out gasket. Maybe that after 100k miles the gaskets get weak or that the gaskets he is using are a little different and survive better.

 

Central valve bodies doesn't use the bonded gasket because they are peening shut one hole in the separator plate so they cannot use the new plate. My conversation with Donnie indicated that the Different Tsb's on these trannies dealt mainly with fluid leakage and pressure regulation problems which is addressed by his rebuilt valve bodies.

 

I was meaning when I found that he didnt use the bonded gaskets for his rebuild due to the changes in the flow patterns that it would not allow, I asked about if they had heard of any problems with the nonbonded gaskets and he said no.

 

I got my valve body install and the tranny works great. I will post a picture of the packaging but there is no real point in posting a pic of the valve body because it looks like well...every other valve body. Only thing was the separator plate around the reverse servo was bent, not bad enough to notice until I put it up on the tranny, just a little off. I straightened it out and was not worried about it because the cover acts like a girdle for the separator plate in that area, it could have happened in my trunk, at the distributor or at the factory. For under three hundred it was by far money well spent in both improved longevity, increased performance, and correcting problems.

 

Good feedback, glad to hear it's working out.