After doing that, we did some Cleaning...

...and deep Cleansing...

...everything ended uber clean

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.

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.

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).

Then we reassembled everything...

 

...and reinstalled the valves body back...

 

inside the Automatic Transmission on the "KiaStein"

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...

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.

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.

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.

56 minutes ago, Loyale 2.7 Turbo said:

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.

 

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.

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
to center the images :)

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 

 

So, I had to remove the F4A-EL Automatic Transmission out from the "KiaStein" once again...

 

 

...in order to change the worn internal parts, using the Toledo brand, trans rebuild kit.

The process was pretty straightforward and easy, the worst part is, in my own humble opinion, to remove the transmission from the car and then to reinstal it in; we followed the instructions from the Kit and changed everything that was worn with brand new parts, of good quality.

 

(a trans-less engine bay)

 

 

 

 

The kit included a couple of parts for the valve body, which I don't used because I've already serviced the valve body with another, special kit; so I have repeated parts which I saved. This Toledo Kit, came with a brand new ATF filter, which comes in a metallic box of inox material, as you can see in the Pictures; here the parts next to the "KiaStein"

 

Once again, I cleansed everything so deeply, that you even could eat cereal from the oil pan.  

Then, I Sealed the transmission with Mega Grey silicone and poured fresh synthetic ATF fluid:

Valvoline's "MaxLife" for high mileage transmissions.

Everything I wrote here, regarding the Automatic Transmission, happened during the 2018 year.

I didn't wrote it before because I was demotivated, due to many reasons, among them is the Photobucket Fiasco which lead me to find another online photo hosting server, and several personal problems which I had to face, plus the fact that I feel like if no one cares about what I write here anymore, it feels like a pathetic monologue; however I really wish that these photos and ideas might be Helpful for some people, somehow, someway, someday...

Finally, let me tell you that this two different procedures, completely fixed all the problems with the automatic transmission on the Sephia; they completely worth the effort; the "KiaStein" already has two years since I did all this and still is running and changing Flawlessly; it feels like a much modern car with new transmission.

Kind Regards.

Edited December 6, 20205 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
To add a web link with further details in the underlined words.

Jes,

Thanks for sharing these photos and story!  I had a transgo kit installed in my Legacy back 2002 when it was automatic.  It did help the shifting issues similar to what you described but maybe not as pronounced.

Very interesting, thank you!  Your write ups are very informative and complete..very easy to follow and understand.  Many of us here have at least some knowledge of how cars (and components) operate, and your explanations make simple a job that I, for one, would never attempt.  Transmissions,  especially.  Particularly automatics!  I've done a few clutch jobs, but have never worked on transmissions specifically..they are too complicated for me!    

Congratulations on successfully solving both problems with your car! 

wow, I dunno if I'd have half the self confidence to attempt that.

hat off to you Sir!

Hey friends! ...  ... Thank you all for writing!!!

The thread suddenly felt more familiar  I really appreciate that. 

 

I found the enthusiasm and the guts to dare to do this repair, in my Father.

He was alive then and encouraged me to do so, saying that the transmission could never get any Worse... also said that if I fail, he would buy an used automatic transmission from a junk yard, for me; that was my  "plan B"  just in case...

He taught me how to repair things (not only cars), he said that it was a great Challenge for me, that I will learn lots of things from such experience, and he was right.

I lost my Father on november 2019... somehow he liked this li'l sedan to do errands and used to borrow it from me, sometimes.

Greetings from Honduras.

JesZeK

Jes,

Sorry to hear about your father, but glad to hear he instilled you with the enthusiasm and guts to do this job! :)

I'm also sorry to hear about your father. Mine is getting up there too and has fallen off of 2 ladders that have changed my Dad in ways only a son can understand. 

Please don't think what you write about fixing or what you have found out and put on the site is pointless. When looking how to do something, I look for your threads first. I like how thorough you are and with the pics too. It helps out a lot and please please don't stop the great work.

Your Subie Brother across the globe,

Naked Buell, aka Joe

 

PS, I'm looking for the little plastic push on fasteners for the interior trim around your head, its in a 85 Brat. Not the common size, the little ones that slide onto the trim itself and then you just pop the interior piece on. Any ideas to find them? Amazon has the normal ones but I can't seem to find the little ones. 

Thank you all for your kind words,

which I really appreciate, more than I could ever tell.

__________________________________________________

regarding the plastic fastener, I answered ~► here.

__________________________________________________

Kind Regards.

 

Hey thx. I did find what I was looking for at Napa. 

As I keep getting blackmailed from photobucket, now it seems that they will mercilessly delete most of my photos from their servers.

This situation discourages me to continue sharing information online, but thank God, I managed to save offline readable versions of my main Subaru articles, regarding retrofittings and modifications, whose links are on my "BumbleBeast" thread.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Regarding the "KiaStein" very little need of attention has it needed; somehow with the retrofittings that I've done, it became a pretty Reliable car that starts at the very first try and keeps accumulating many Miles and Miles effortlessly; needing only regular Oil & Filter changes, you know, the basics.

Update: it is incredible how soft and great is the Automatic Transmission keeps working after the Overhaul I did on it in year 2018, now in 2022 stays exactly as it should without any issue, so Soon I'll be changing its ATF, but that's it.

So, our Kia Stein attracted the attenton from other persons and slowly we saw that the mini town where we live, suddenly has more and more Sephias Buzzing around. With time, some of the owners came to me to ask questions about their Sephias. Of course I ended helping a bunch of people with other Sephias, to the Point that I teached how to Retrofit rear Disc Brakes and now there's another Sephia with Rear Discs around.

 

During this Pandemic Times I helped even to Paint other cars, including yet Another Kia Sephia from another local guy:

 

Kind Regards.

Edited January 5, 20224 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo