Sunday morning I was heading out early and as I turned onto the highway, doing maybe 30-40mph with normal acceleration, I heard a pretty loud but muffled bang and I lost all transmission. I coasted to the side of the road and tried all my gears but nothing. The only thing that worked is Park which locked the tranny. I flatbed'd the truck home and it's sitting there with me pondering my next steps.

So-
-Any troubleshooting I can do or do I just assume the tranny is shot?
-What are my costs for a solid replacement? I don't mod my truck for power/HP performance but don't mind bullet-proofing as I plan to keep her a long time.

I know there is another recent post about blowing the tranny but I was just plain driving, not playing around in the mud or racing so not sure why/what happened. Just standard highway driving with maybe pulling a small boat every now and then.

 

The way I see it you have a few options based on your desire to keep it long term.

1. Rebuilt the transmission yourself
2. have somebody rebuild it for you.
3. Buy a used transmission
3. Buy a remanufactured transmission

 

Ford reman per my quote last week. 2800 for tanny, 800 labor, plus misc cost. 100k mile warranty from Ford. I walked but my tranny seems to be working so far without a load. Mine was leaking fluid from overheating for some unknown reason.

 

Are you saying you don't know why it leaks when it over heats or why it over heats in the first place ? Considering that for every 20* over 200 you run the trans it cuts its service life by a factor of 2 you may want to nail down why it overheats.

 

As you have an 01'there is a good chance you have the correct vintage that came with the infamous one way "diode" clutch which was problematic. You are most likely looking at a new/rebuilt trans. John Woods or BTS come highly recommended. Pricey but those that run them seem to be very happy. Depending on your location; JW on the left coast or BTS on the right. I believe BTS in in Ark.

 

Can you please explain where you derived those numbers from?

Stewart

 

That's a completely made up "fact." It has no basis in truth.

 

I had hoped to plan for my transmission failure and replace it with a BTS but alas, it didn't work out like that. At 242k, the transfer case ripped itself in half on the highway, causing a crack in the transmission housing and since it all had to come apart to go into a new housing anyway, it just made sense to rebuild it while it was apart. I ended up spending 6K on all the repairs, only about $2500 of which was the transmission, but because it was unexpected, it made a BTS out of the question budget wise.

If you can swing the $5k to do a BTS, I would go that route.

If not, have it rebuilt (or do it yourself if you know how) but install a transgo shift kit and a low stall billet torque converter as part of your rebuild. We upgraded/hardened some other parts that I can't remember as part of the rebuild and it's been a solid transmission for the 30k I've put on it since then but I don't think it's as strong as a BTS would be.

 

Thanks for the info so far. I was more asking about pricing options since a BTW and John Woods drop-in is a more than what I need (or willing to spend right now).

To further Pirate's suggestions, I was hoping for an expected price on his options:
1. Rebuilt the transmission yourself
2. have somebody rebuild it for you.
3. Buy a used transmission
3. Buy a remanufactured transmission

 

It isn't a fact it is a anecdotal cautionary tale often told by the purveyors of auto transmissions that drives home the point that overheating your tranny has a cumulative effect. if your have test data to share showing how the service life of the 4r100 operating at elevated temps is affected I will reference that from now on instead.

My own real world experience with autos is probably more to the point, tow heavy stuff and overheat your tranny and it is going to puke out the front seal.

 

Lots of variables to cost but to get you started you can look at this link to get and idea of parts cost if you are DIY capable.
https://www.suncoastconverters.com/shop/category/ford/

I would guess a shop would charge $500 or so to R@R your trans and maybe $750 in labor to do the rebuilt. Obviously that is a guess at labor not parts.

Used, we lost an auto on a cross country road trip and slammed in a used one in a parking lot that we found on CL for $200. Total crap shoot on that option though. But it worked out for us that time. Oh wait, we did the same in Mexico on one of our chase trucks and got lucky with that one also. ( not a 4r100 but it was an auto )

Remaned prices.... Unknown... Get on the Google machine or pick up a phone and call around for that

I haven't looked at the specs on the ford HD but I did put a ford remained into one of my trucks and it was going strong 150k later. I went with the ford unit on that truck simply because I was driving all over the country for work at the time liked the tow it to ford and get warranty done over the slam in a CL dreamer in the parking lot on our way to a race method.

 

HS auto shop in 1982 is my earlier recollection of the stat. A quick visit to Google shows it to be a well used anecdotal reference.

Some random samples:

Extending the life of your automatic transmission: 12 tips explaining how

Transmission Temperature Failure Chart

 

I'll go with Mark K.

 

Hmm,


Gotta chime in on this one.


I have recent experience if you search posts.


Mine took a crap as yours did. I asked around a lot and got handed off to a reputable, clean, shop and they quoted me 1798.99 exactly. That was with what they refer to as a tugger kit and a tugger torque converter as I am in farm land in Northern Michigan and they do them like Mcdonalds does burgers on Strokes. I looked at the shop and talked to the tech and opted in. It was exactly what they quoted with a 2 year warranty and free towing from ANYWHERE in writing. Happy as a clam and it hauls the mail.


I thought the price was more than reasonable and I didn't have to pull anything out of my toolbox except a check. I would say, don't lean toward doing it yourself. There are drywall guys, painters, rear axle and drivetrain techs............and there are also experts at transmissions that do it every day and know what's fat and what backstraps are. Do some homework and get to a trusted shop and sleep well.


Kinda weird statement from one of our crew:


"I would guess a shop would charge $500 or so to R@R your trans and maybe $750 in labor to do the rebuilt. Obviously that is a guess at labor not parts"


In what world?? I don't think the tinman does em anymore.


First order of business is to have the scan done and see if it set Trans codes that only a good shop can read. It might be simpler and cheaper than you think. If you had no symptoms of death, it could be a smile maker. I might have missed it but where are you located and did it give ANY indication of slippage or hard to gear prior to the complete failure.


Mark, you crack me up!!


Denny

 

Have you considered Monster Transmission? 4R100 Transmissions, Ford 4R100 Transmissions, Truck 4R100 Transmissions, Rebuilt 4R100 Transmissions sold here with Free Shipping


They can build what you want.