Loyale 2.7 Turbo

As you can read ~► Here, I've removed the transmission once, long years ago to change the Differential: Back then, I cleansed everything so deeply, that you even could eat cereal from the oil pan

In order to address and fix this, I needed to remove the automatic transmission from the Sephia; to do so, first, you need to Disconnect the plug from the wiring for this two sensors: Then, disconect the two plugs in front, from the Transmssion: Here you can see 'em from another angle: Careful, because the plastic tab in the plugs has become brittle and may break.

So, by using this Kit, it addressed and fixed all the rough behaviour of the F4A-EL Automatic Transmission and made it to behave way better than new, plus soft as silk. So problem Nº 1) was absolutely resolved. But still remains the Problem Nº 2) The Automatic Transmission loosing the Grip. That has to do with the transmission's internals; not with the valve body, so I ordered online a Toledo brand, Automatic Transmission Rebuild Kit.

I made a drawing that could explain the difference between Shifting gears' Behaviour, before and after the Kit install, so you can compare and understand easier: a picture worths more than 1,000 words.

The Behaviour of the automatic transmission changed very dramatically! Before the Kit install, the transmission's old behaviour made the car like wanting to jump when engaged a gear from neutral; also to change gear from first to second was bumpy, reverse gear even bumpier. Furthermore, the transmission's old behaviour, made first gear to be pretty short, like if the transmission was programmed to use first gear only to move the car from zero speed and throw it into second gear as soon as possible, usually around 20 mph. Second gear lasted very long on the Rpm's band until certain speed was reached; third gear behaved as short as first, and also fourth gear was short; the car stayed more in overdrive. After installing this Kit, the behavior changed so dramatically that, at first I was scared since there was no jump at all when I engaged "D" on the transmission, nor anything, and the car stayed tranquil, until I pressed the gas pedal; the car moved faster than before from zero speed to moving. I don't know how to explain the difference in behaviour, but feels like if the clutch is much more pro active now; and has an awesome balance between engaging smooth as silk and bringing out power to move earlier, to the wheels; when the gas pedal is pressed. Also, reverse engages incredibly smooth, that at first, I thought it wasn't working... until I pressed the gas pedal. Now, the car feeling is pretty different, so soft and yet so powerful that I couldn't believe it; and the automatic transmission behaves like a much modern car does, you can compare it now the behaviour of the Sorento XM automatic transmission, regarding as its way of engaging and shifting; as I've driven one of those SUV's a lot. Furthermore, the way the gears stays and last, have changed. No more "Shift to second as soon as possible" behaviour; also fourth gear stays engaged more than before, not wanting to throw overdrive unless you reach certain speeds; so, now the car really drives and feels like a five speed car, no more nor less. Finally, I tried sudden stops, emergency braking from fast speeds to zero, and the car downshifts easy and fast; in fact, it downshifts so easy and smooth, that you only hear the change on Rpm's and the soft, natural whinning sound from the transmission's turbine, when you remove your foot from the gas pedal.

That was a pretty long weekend for sure, so we sealed the oil pan back again with Mega Grey Silicone and placed back the Crossmember; then we poured fresh Valvoline's "MaxLife" ATF and checked for proper level with engine on, at normal operating temperature; finally I took off the "KiaStein" for a test ride...

Then we reassembled everything... ...and reinstalled the valves body back... inside the Automatic Transmission on the "KiaStein"

So, after all this drilling, cleansing, Springs, seals and valves' Swap; we were ready to reassemble everything; but we found something Disturbing: The thin metal sheets that serves as Gaskets between the stories of the valves body, lost their copper film. Here you can see the copper films separated from the metal sheets; copper simply slid off and was as brittle as a salty cracker... since we live in a Rural small town at a mountain top, here in Honduras; we had no hopes to find brand new metal gaskets with copper layers, nor they came with the Kit. At first we tried to use a locally obtained Copper coat Spray, but didn't worked at all: So, we ended using the bare metal sheets: ...as they are made from an inox alloy. (Stainless Steel).

Its new Spring is longer and Softer; but the one that really surprised me, was the new Spring that goes in the Front of the Automatic Transmission's housing: The original Spring almost hit my face as it jumped with great force when I removed the snap ring that locked it in; it is a thick short Spring which feels pretty hard to compress by hand. The brand new Spring that came on the kit to susbtitute it, is very, very Soft to compress by hand, despite of having more turns and being longer; it was made of thinner wire but looked of great quality. By the way, a new hole has to be drilled there, to be a pressure relief, as per the instructions.

This Kit also came with a brand new "Self Cleaning Valve" which has ribs on it: Compare it with the smooth straight old one, on the Table.

After doing that, we did some Cleaning... ...and deep Cleansing... ...everything ended uber clean

The instructions indicate that certain holes must be enlarged to prevent the ATF flow from getting clogged, using the drill bits included in the set.

There are sets of Pistons with Springs, on their sides; each one belongs to a Speed gear, first, second, third, fourth, overdrive and reverse; they had Locking pins which we removed to get each set out, one by one. The Kit came with colour coded, new Springs' sets, which needed to be changed in the place of the old original Springs. At first I thought that it only was to swap old worn springs with new ones, but I was wrong. Some of the new Springs were much longer, having more turns and being way softer than the ones which originally had from factory; while other new Springs were Stiffer and even Shorter sometimes. I admired the profesionalism of the Kit, as each new Springs' set for a gear speed Piston, came packed inside individual bags with colour code, one set in one bag with one colour for each speed, so this thing is almost fool proof.

We disassembled everything carefully on a big table, with eyes wide open... ...each level looked like a Labyrinth and there were five tiny plastic balls in certain openings which had tinier holes under them; said balls acted like check valves, permitting the ATF to circulate flowing in only one direction.

The valves body is somehow a... ..three story building, stacked together, with metal sheets as gaskets between each story.

Here you can see the valves body and the ATF filter removed, over the oil pan... ...next to the crossmember bolts.

I must confess that I was really afraid to attempt this, because Automatic Transmissions are way more complicated than anything on a car, including engines and I am a self-taught man; but if I didn't success, I had a plan B: Swap the transmission with a used one from a junk yard in case of fail; but first I had to try to service the original transmission. So I obtained the help of a gentle local friend mechanic who has a repair shop but none experience in automatic transmissions; who let me use his shop and gave me a helping hand. Firstly, prior to start everything, I spent an afternoon reading and understanding the instructions attached in paper sheets, inside the Kit. We lifted the "KiaStein" to drain the old ATF, remove the transmission's oil pan and gain access to the Valves Body inside. You don't need to remove the whole transmission from the car to gain access to the valves body, only the crossmember thanks to God. Here you can see the emptied trasmission bottom

First, I had to source the Valves Body Kit, which improves the Automatic Transmission's Behaviour, fixes rough shifting and hard downshifts among other problems. I found it online at Rock Auto: Here is it, upon arrival: Next to the "KiaStein" ready to start working on it.

2) The lost of grip inside the Transmission is another different problem, directly related to the normal wear of the transmission internals, due to age + mileage; more than 250 K miles and almost twenty years had the car when the loose grip started in mid 2018, but the car was still driveable... So, we decided to continue using it, meanwhile I gather all the needed parts to do an automatic transmission overhaul.

Their "KIA AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PROGRAM" found the culprit on the Valves Body and they were swapping automatic transmissions and sending the old ones (known as cores) to get their valve bodies serviced, for being used as future swaps. Furthermore, I found that, despite of the fact that these Sephias are out of warranty, no dealer will fix the one on our Sephia and even worse being in Honduras... the valves body repair Kit, used by Kia, is still available and sold to service this transmissions, on repair shops with certified technicians. This Transmission repair Kit, fixes everything related with the rough behaviour of the transmission, addresing some design flaws on the valves body. That's it, period.

...until mid 2018 when my Wife and I, noticed that the "KiaStein" lost the grip inside the Automatic Transmission, while climbing on steep hills, and Honduras is the most mountaineous country of Central America; so we're plenty of steep hills on our roads and offroads... so the "KiaStein" felt just like revving up the engine while loosing speed; like a manual trans with a slipping clutch; somehow. Anyhow, we continued driving it trying to not force much the car; meanwhile I started to reasearch regarding the situation, preparing myself for a major rebuild, or a transmission swap, in case of a fail. What I found was two (2) pretty interesting things: 1) Kia Motors was completely aware of the situation of the rough shiftings and everything, just exactly as I described in my post above; they even emitted three TSB (technical service bulletins) only about these automatic transmissions, the newer superseeded the older TSB's. Here I attach a copy of the last one: ~► https://www.kia-forums.com/attachments/tsb-003r4-pdf.116637/

Automatic Transmission Blues. Our Kia Sephia was built in mid 1999 and sold as a 2000 model. Already has 21 years old, nearing 300,000 miles on its original automatic transmission and the sedan is running like new; however the worse part from these Sephias are their weak electrical system, needing new Relays installed outside the relay & fuse Box to properly function; and the dashboard rubber, it just plain Sucks... bending backward to the passengers; besides that it is an awesome small car with strong long lasting suspension, engine and rigid unibody with great performance. However, their Automatic Transmissions, as they comes from factory, has bumpy shifts between first and second gear, they almost Jump backwards when engaging the reverse gear, and usually, the transmission feels slow to downshift; mainly noticeable during sudden emergency braking: the car almost stalls due to remaining in second / third gear while stopped and takes some seconds to get back to neutral, shaking the engine meanwhile due to the gear. Despite that, their Automatic Transmissions are designed by Jatco (Japan Automatic Transmissions Company) one of the best auto trans makers, worldwide, and performs nice, making a great use of the engine's powerband rpms and helping this cars to feel fast and peppy; featuring an awesome overdrive which you can turn off / on by the simple press of a secondary button on the shifter, which changes the overall behaviour of the car. We accustomed ourselves to live with the occasional rough changing transmission and its sudden bumps for no reason from time to time; because the thing never failed in our daily drives nor long trips, and the bumps were not constant; sometimes it shifted smooth as silk. This transmission even survived the abuse from the previous owner of the car and her racing / bad driving habits. I've changed the Differential long years ago... ...also I found a broken teeth on a gear in same time... so I also changed that; but the Behaviour of the Transmission never changed...

Welcome to this awesome community! I'm the owner of the yellow one in my avatar (and my profile) since 1985 Kind Regards.

I only lifted 2" mine, but you might find some useful info, Here: ~► https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/106807-improved-shock-absorbers-and-spring-coils-on-loyales/?tab=comments#comment-1302391 Kind Regards.

Welcome!!! Subarus are Awesome, also the community here. You might ask questions regarding the Crosstrek, in this sub forum, Here: ~► https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forum/75-crosstrek-xv/ Kind Regards.