MustangMadness7

Hey guys, i was wondering how a manual valve body works, the process of installation, and a ballpark installaton cost. Also, if you could go into detail about what they do thatd be great. I know they allow you to hold your shifts, but isnt that bad for the trans, to shift manualy with the auto? Thanks in advance for the info.

samseed101

You don't need a manual valve body to be able to hold the shifts. You can do that with a cheap shift kit if you want. A manual valve body will essentially be a clutchless standard (to oversimplify it.) You shift it to the gear you want. If you have an AODE, then you can simply drop in a shift kit and be ableto shift 1-2-D with no problems, and you can shut OD off. With an older AOD tranny, you may have problems and would be forced to do the 1-D-1 shuffle, which is bad for the tranny. In that case, you would want a new valve body that will allow you to electronically delete the OD by hitting a switch. But even then it doesnt have to be a full manual valve body.

MustangMadness7

OK, thanks for your help. That answers how it works and what it does. Anyone know how hard it is to install and a rough estimate of install prices? And which would you recommend, shift kit or valve body?

samseed101

A valve body is fairly easy to install and with some basic instructions, you could most likely do it yourself. Just need to be able to get under the car. However, if you're not comfortable with it, you should be able to find a shop to do the work for between $200 and $300. Doesn't take very long either.

If you have a choice between a valve body and a shift kit, get the valve body. If you want a good valvebody at a decent price, go with the Lentech AOD Street Cruiser (part number 7A100-AOD-CRS.) They run about $260 and are well worth it. It will also give you the electronic OD delete, which lets you shift like you had an AODE (1-2-D) instead of 1-D-1. And when you want OD back, all you do is flip the switch and it goes back to the old style.

92hatchLX

I've always wondered where they route the wires for the OD switch coming out of the transmission. Anyone know?

samseed101

I can only speak for the AODE there... never checked it out in an AOD. But then again it's easy to find on the AODE-equipped cars. It runs to a wiring harness in the center console. I had to rewire it when I tossed in the ratchet shifter.