Vannin' Home Forums Dodge How To (Dodge) Transmission A500 adjusting the bands

I have a 1989 Dodge cargo van . 318 engine, A500 4 speed transmission. What tools do you need to adjust the bands? I need advice of how to properly do it. I’ve changed the tranny filter before. I have all that , 72 lbs inch torque then back off 4 times? I need to get advice from an experienced dodge guy.
Thank you in advance.

I have an 89 with an A500, rebuilt, 115k miles ago
I have adjusted the bands, but as far as I could tell I just returned them to where they were and was relieved I did not screw anything up.

If you are trying to solve a shifting issue, a band adjustment might or might not do what you hope.

These Tx's need to be kept out of overdrive when accelerating.

They will shift into OD at 28mph under light throttle, and will stay in OD even when they should not, when accelerating. AND when they eventually downshift it seems way too abrupt and stressful, and the OD unit is the weak link.

They do very poorly with any fluid other than ATF+4. Many shops will say their bulk 'universal' tx fluid with additive = ATF+4, but ATF+4 requires synthetic base stocks and a specific Lubrizol additive package. Any liscensed ATF+4 is basically the same as any other, super tech or castrol, no matter.

Mine, when freshly rebuilt +9k miles, but with such a universal fluid inside of it, would start shuddering horribly at 47mph, in overdrive/lockup, under light acceleration, unless it shifted out of lockup until accelerated to 62+ mph. This behavior was eliminated when I purged the bulk universal fluid and used atf+3( 2003) ATF+ 4 supercedes Atf+2 and +3.

Redline C+ is a higher quality and high $$$ exception to this rule. It uses the same lubrizol addive pack, but uses higher quality group 5 synthetic base stocks than regular ATF+4 which uses group 3 synthetic base stocks.

. Synthetic base stocks handle heat far better for longer, even if the magical additive does achieve the same friction coefficient, which I highly doubt.

The best thing you can do for these Tx's, if still relatively healthy, is prevent them from accelerating in overdrive, below ~55mph, force third via the OD off button, until around that speed unless accelerating very slowly, and keep out of overdrive if climbing grades, even when the engine has enough juice to maintain speed up them.
If you press the OD off button and keep throttle the same, yet start accellerating, you should have already been in third/ OD off mode.

Add an additional tx cooler, plumbed after the radiator cooler. Stacked plate is better than fin and tube. The rear cooler line on TX is the return line. I have K type thermocouples on my Tx lines, 90% of the time it comes out of the radiator cooler hotter than it went in, and the external cooler pulls then knocks off 25f. Without an additional cooler after the radiator cooler, the fluid is cooked when climbing grades or fighting headwinds when heavily loaded.

Add an inline filter on the cooler lines. The in pan filter is basically nothing more than a rock catcher, with poor efficiency. It can only trap particles larger than 100 microns and only about 50% of those.

I have added an external spin on filter that catches 99% of particles 20 microns in size, and peppered its can with neodymium magnets. It adds one more quart of ATF to the system as well, and mo is bettah.

Add a bung/drain plug to the transmission pan so you can easily drain and replace ~ 4.5 quarts which will drain out overnight. keeping fresh ATF+4 in these is very important to these sensitive, weak ass tranmissions. A drain plug makes pan drops and internal filter changes clean and easy in the future. Best 10$ you will spend.

The A-500 is a weak transmission, and needs to be babied, when still healthy. too little to late is already way too late.

A torque wrench is needed to adjust the bands, one which can easily read inch pounds, and the van must be lifted high enough that no universal joint is required to leverage the wrench to spec and back off the required # of turns.

The throttle rod adjustment is often a source of weird shifting behavior. There are springs and sliders and pivot points at the throttle body which can be sticky and cause alarming weirdness regarding shifting behavior.

The factory service manual refers to special tool/ adapter C-3705, yet I cant seen anything of what this special adapter is supposed to do. 47 to 50 inch lbs with it, 72in/lb without.

A band adjustment could likely be too little too late or not required, if the throttle rod is all screwed up.

My 1989 service manual is a bit obtuse as to the procedure.

Some advice i got, which I ignored, was if I was just adjusting bands as i was having the pan off anyway, with no obvious shifting issues, was to just leave the bands alone.
I'm 98% sure I adjusted them back to where they were and was relieved when it shifted no differently afterward, as I was not trying to solve any issue, just prevent one. Aint broke dont fix it and all.

If something Aint right regarding up/down shifting, I would suspect the throttle rod adjustment first.

Here’s what happened- 6 weeks ago everything was fine.then my radiator cracked at the top 6 inches on the plastic part. Time for a new radiator. After installing new radiator my transmission started slipping and running very poorly.
Here’s the part where I should have known better , I figured out there was air in the valve body . But it was slipping so bad I had to do something. I put in 3 quarts of Lucas stop slip. Air seems to be gone now and not slipping as bad .
I bought a new filter and gasket and a gallon of molar atf4.
I plan on dropping the pan replace fluid and filter that’s why I am asking how to adjust bands , do I even need to do it?
I don’t have a O/D problem. It shifts great actually. I can feel it’s not the way it was due to viscosity and I’m going to fix that asap.

Hey 89B150,

68, is definitely correct on the A500. If it works, don't fix it. Fluid recommendations too.
Coolers, trans temp gauge, all of the above.

My '88 B250, has145K now. It had a cold shift into drive reluctance to initially start moving. But even now, it likes to be warm in the winter to initially shift.
This may be linkage related, as 68 says, The shift indicator is not right on, I have worn shift linkage bushings, and a bad motor mount on the low side. Check all your engine, trans mounts, linkages.

You can limit travel on the high, (Rev lift) side. LOL I've got Priors...

I serviced both it, and my '94 B350 A518. I did not adjust the bands. The A500 had a Matterhorn of friction material, no magnet.
No metal of any significance was noted in either. I added a magnet to the A500 pan.

They both shift good. I trust the 5.9/A518. It was rebuilt, (Aamco,) It will tow my boat. But I have a trans cooler, an aux cooling fan, and a trans temp gauge. And I pull over when on a steep grade when towing if it starts to get too warm.

The A500? At 145K? Not so much. It will need a rebuild eventually. I would not tow heavy with it. LOL It's dependable around town hauler, I use it a lot. Shifts are firm, smooth. I didn't break it. Yet...

Good Wrenching! Welcome!

If such a high dose of thick gooey Lucas stopped the slipping, and it shifts fine now, i think your time is better spent working to afford rebuilding it.

The thicker viscosity with 3 quarts of lucas snot added, has likely simply bought you some time.
Before the rebuild cant be put off any longer.

Just an opinion...

I replaced the fluid and filter didn’t adjust the bands , runs perfectly through the gears. I replace 8 quarts with mopar atf4

Excellent news!

If longevity is a concern i would consider increasing the cooling capacity, and filtering ability.

At first I had a Magnefine inline filter on the cooler lines, but had not realized i plumbed it backwards. if it clogged up the internal bypass would not have worked properly, and perhaps grenaded the TX.

The cooler line entering TX furthest from the radiator cooler is the return line. I'd made an incorrect assumptions regarding plumbing the Magnefine, and thankfully it did not bite my buttocks

I now have a Derale filter mount with large spin on filter peppered with Neodyium magnets.


I have no intention of dropping the pan anytime soon. I got a drain plug on my pan, the in pan filter is just a rock catcher compared to the spin on filter.

I feel like I need to explain myself, I know better than to put anything but Mopar ATF 4 in the transmission.
When I replaced the radiator, I had to disconnect transmission cooling lines. Somehow air got into the valve body. Causing all kinds of problems. Would not shift correctly. I didn’t know it was air at the time. Kinda like vapor lock but in the valve body.
During this time of diagnosis about two weeks. A buddy suggested stop slip , it didn’t do anything so we added 2 then 3 still nothing. I realize I’m contradicting previous comment. It shifted better. Not perfect. That’s when I realized we screwed up. The original problem was air , 2nd problem was stop slip that problem I created.
So I posted how to adjust bands because I was going to replace all the fluid. Filter change.
So now I would like to ask how did you install a drain in tranny pan?
Second question have you ever heard of transmission problems after replacing radiator?
Thank you for your time.

Hey 89,

Nobody's bagging on you, no xsplanation needed Brother, 68 just knows a metric ton about anything he talks about, especially his 1989 B250 Dodge Van. Dependable is an understatement. I am so jealous. LOL. His TBI EFI doesn't suck, and he knows electrical very, very well. I seriously have to read all that stuff at least twice. Good Dude.

As for the drain plug? I'd think pull the pan, drill a proper size hole and install drain plug fitting. First thing I did on to my VW crankcase. LOL. They even made the plates with the drain plugs fitted!

I learned long ago I could not earn a living turning wrenches. These words are not mechanical advice, just personal observations based upon making a lot of mistakes. An automatic transmission is a mechanical device that I don't want to break. For sure.

I have R&R'd both of the radiators on both of my Dodge Vans. Both the exact same same mechanicals as yours, and 68's B250. I've not experienced the air lock on either.

I've put coolers on pretty much anything I've owned for quite a while now, and opened up those lines without any issues. I once had a transmission cooling line fitting fail at the transmission on the B350, and fortunately it sprayed directly onto the exhaust, so I noticed it in the rear view pretty quickly. That was quite exciting!!

Not fully drained of fluid, but, no problems as you describe, upon refill. IDK if the A518 has that same fitting as the A500's on our B250's, but I found that pretty alarming, with a Campervan full of Kids on an outing, so glad I was close to town, had AAA, got to ride home and work on the Van! So get a spare one if it is.
That could've really sucked.

Showing my age, LOL, I also once ran a powerglide dry to the point of slippage, after the fan belt broke and took out a rubber cooler line. Pretty empty. Still, filler up, no problem. Only 2 speeds though! Ha! Slip and Slide Powerglide!

My bad, musta did that rubber line pulling the blown 283, and installing the 250 I-6.
Don't do that. (Upon teardown when the pistons came out the rings fell off in pieces!)
Don't do that either!

The 283 went into an Econorail that ran at Carlsbad Raceway. That was OK. PG too!

Good Wrenching!

P.S.
No way was I going to mess with the bands after reading the procedure, assessing my tools, including the sad, sad, little Harbor Freight Inch pound torque wrench.
Deciding that, Indeed, Discretion, is the better part of Valor.
I wrench like I build stuff out of wood. i can do it. It works, but it isn't pretty...

So. Good Wrenching! Dominate!