Transaxle Disassembly

Remove torque converter. Attach transaxle to appropriate holding fixture. Remove park/neutral switch, kickdown solenoid and vacuum modulator with rod. Remove oil dipstick and tube. Remove speedometer driven gear retaining bolt and lift out gear assembly. Remove oil pump drive shaft and turbine shaft.
Remove oil pan. Remove valve body. DO NOT lose check ball and spring. Position transaxle with oil pump facing downward. With flat-blade screwdriver inserted in wide slot between front clutch drum and sun shell, pry down on front clutch drum. Do this several times as you rotate assembly 2 complete revolutions.
Using a feeler gauge, measure front clutch drum end play. See Fig 1 . Check clearance of small slot between front clutch drum tabs and sun shell slots. Record measurement for reassembly reference. End play should be .020-.031" (.5-8 mm).

Fig 1: Measuring Front Drum End Play
Courtesy of FORD MOTOR CO.
Remove oil pump. If oil pump is difficult to remove, tighten band adjusting stop bolt 106-133 INCH lbs. (12-15 N.m) and then remove oil pump. Remove brake band adjustment stop bolt, lock nut, band strut and band. See Fig 2 . Store band partially closed with a piece of wire.
Remove front clutch assembly. Remove rear clutch needle bearing and rear clutch drum. Remove front ring gear. Remove needle bearing and rear clutch hub assembly. Remove thrust bearing and sun gear spacer from front planetary gear. Remove planetary gear carrier.

Fig 2: Exploded View Of Transaxle Housing & Primary Components
Courtesy of FORD MOTOR CO.
Remove the sun gear, spacer and connecting sun shell. See Fig 2 . Using "C" clamp and socket, compress servo piston with and remove snap ring. Release the "C" clamp and remove the servo piston. See Figure . Remove governor cover and pull governor from transaxle case. Remove transaxle case-to-torque converter housing bolts. Separate case halves.
Remove differential assembly. Remove oil pipes and parking pawl assembly. Remove drum hub assembly. Remove one-way clutch inner race assembly. See Fig 2 . Remove rear planetary carrier with needle bearing and thrust washer. Before disassembling one-way clutch, measure and record clearance between one-way clutch and low-reverse brake retaining plate. Clearance should .032-.041" (.8-1.05 mm).
Remove snap ring, one-way clutch and low-reverse brake retaining plate. Remove low-reverse brake plates. Compress low-reverse brake piston with appropriate compressor. See Fig 3 . Remove snap ring with screwdriver and remove low-reverse brake hub and springs. Apply air pressure to low-reverse oil passage to remove piston. See Fig 4 .
Remove output bearing and idler support assembly by lightly tapping on idler shaft with a soft-faced hammer. Drive out idler gear roll pin and remove idler gear from output bearing and idler support. See Fig 5 . Remove output gear assembly, press out bearing race from output bearing and idler support and save adjusting shim for reassembly.

Fig 3: Removing Snap Ring & Low-Reverse Brake

Courtesy of FORD MOTOR CO.

Fig 4: Identifying Transaxle Oil Passages

Courtesy of FORD MOTOR CO.

Fig 5: Torque Converter Housing Components

Courtesy of FORD MOTOR CO.