OK, im kinda curious on what yalls opinion is on the E4OD tranny? Was 93 a good year for it?

 

'89 is a non-desirable year as that's when they first came out, '90 and later is good, '96 and later is better. I love my E4OD, it shifts when I want it and how I want it all day every day. Weak points are its cooling system and also the torque converter lockup, get a nice big auxiliary cooler to address the first and wire in a manual switch for the TCC, and you'll be a happy camper. But, why are you asking about the E4OD, and particularly the '93 model year?

 

I have a 93 F250 with that tranny, and was just curious what people thought about it. Seems like someone is alwasy having a problem with it on here

 

Someone is always having issues with anything, and you do see it a lot here cause people tend to only post their issues - that's sort of the nature of the online boards really, so nothing surprising there. The E4OD seem to be really hated by the Bronco guys, but they are for a large part abusive idiots who run way oversized tires without proper regearing of the axles and thus put a lot of strain on their E4ODs and burn 'em up. With mine I've pulled stuff from small U-hauls to a big Case backhoe that would have the motor carrier cops throw the book at me if I were a commercial transport, I've also ran her pulling an 18-ft flatdeck from Detroit to New Orleans and back with very few short breaks, and lately from Detroit to NYC and back near non-stop... and that ain't nothing like what some of the OBN folks put their E4ODs through! So yah, tis a good trans, just gotta take care of it, and work within its limitations.

 

I may very well get linched for saying this, but the E4OD has more potential than the C6 for being bullet proof. Its only with the E4OD that you started to see steel carrier planetary gears and later the 6 pinion steel planetary setups. Other hard parts that had their basic design taken from the C6 went on to see real upgrades in later E4ODs.

The C6s all had 3 pinion aluminum carrier planetary gears as far as I know.

E4ODs are more complex, and the electronic system can often be the starting point of a failure so in that respect they can be more prone to breakdowns. You have to remember this was ford's first attempt at a HD overdrive transmission and ALSO their first fully PCM shifted tranny. In reality the old vacuum modulator control system on the C6 was pretty fool proof and was not affected by faulty grounds or weak electrical connections.

The smoother shifting that the E4OD was originally designed for is part of the problem with them often having a shorter service life than C6s because the clutch frictions are simply working more often. The addition of a tow/haul mode would have probably gone a long way do preventing that weakness from ever affecting the transmission's reputation.

The E4OD is also a "precision" transmission, instead of being an overdesigned tranny. So if you are spending over $1500 worth of engine upgrades to make more power, you can't expect the transmission to last as long without recalibrating the valve body. Hard part upgrades might also be needed.

If you leave the truck bone stock and drive it that way, it will probably outlive you. But if you are like most of us and want the truck to remain competative with newer trucks, then upgrades are needed. You simply can't expect a stock transmission to last behind a modified engine.

The T18/19 might be the exception to that rule..........

 

Actually, the carriers are aluminum and steel respectively, the gears are steel in both cases. Tis the carriers that often fail on the C6, seldom the planetaries.

 

The tranny in mine is slipping a little bit, but to the best of my knowledge the tranny fluid hasnt been changed in 7 years. Now I have heard some horror stories of people changing the fluid after it hadnt been for a long time and having all sorts of problems afterwards when it was fine before. The fluid in mine isnt "burnt", but i want to change it but im not sure if i should? It seems like its doing ok the way it is and i dont want to mess it up. What do yall think i should do?

 

Isn't that what I said?

Aluminum C6, Aluminum early/light duty E4OD, steel for later E4/4R100s.

Slipping is never a good thing. Where is that slippage? I wouldn't be afraid of changing the fluid. If something is really wrong in there its gonna blow no matter what fluid is in there. Fresh fluid if anything should help.

 

It is, but you said it in sorta confusing manner, and remembering a discussion at TDS where someone claimed the gears are what's aluminum, I figured I'd clarify it. Which year was the steel carrier introduced, do you know?

 

change the fluid , it wont hurt a thing
the old myth about changing the fluid did hold true 30 years ago
when seal materials and fluids were different
anything built from 80 to now you can change the fludi with no issues
if it does have an issue result it was already on its way
all E40D,s are good there were changes and upgrades as they went
biggest reason they have problems is abuse folks that try towing the queen mary in overdrive etc.
there is one big improvement you can make to any model a pump modification kit offered by superior transmission
planetaries either aluminum or steel doesnt matter
the aluminums failed due to lube circuit issues that are corrected by teh superior kit
steel planets still fail due to lack of lube
as far as wiring in a maunal tcc switch ,no way just fix whatever is wrong with the truck
wiring around an electronically operated unit is inviting more problems and failures

 

Well my only reasons for the manual TCC swithc are that when it shifts in OD it locks up immediately, and when that happens at 35mph while climbing a hill or accelerating slowly (which I always do) it makes for quite a lot of smoke till I get past 1600 rpms. The other thing is the decel, particularly engine braking - with the factory setup you have next to none, the moment you take your foot off the throttle the converter unlocks. The way I have mine wired up, it will unlock every time I hit the brakes (whether the lights in the back actually come on or not), but it will stay locked if I just let off the throttle.

 

Aluminum gears? LOL! Thats not gonna happen, at least it BETTER not!

Althout some guys like to call them aluminum gears for short, maybe thats how that myth got started.

The aluminum overdrive carriers in earlier E4ODs had problems with the hubs breaking off and splines getting stripped in rare cases. I think it was mostly a problem with diesels. Considering what I paid for my steel gears (oops, there I go again) it was cheap insurance.

 

i have a question on the e4od. the trans thats in my truck is on borrowed time, and i plan on rebuilding it in the near future. hopefully before it craps out lol. my trans is a 92 e4od and i plan on updating the hardparts to later specs. my question is,im planning to buy a second hand trans for all the upgrades to do my rebuild, what year trans can i buy that would have all the upgrades already in it? 95 to what year will work for my trans.

 

since your truck is a 92 you can use any E40D or 4R100 94 to 03
but you have to use a solenoid pack from 89-94 in it to be compatible with your truck
if you want a good donor look for a 99 or later and also upgrade the truck to 3/8 cooler lines like the 99-03 uses

 

sorry but i tend to speak as though i,m talking to others in the transmission industry
whenever we say aluminum or steel it means the carrier not the gears
and most misinterpet planetary failures as caused by the planet carrier being made of aluminum
aluminum melts at apprximately 1100 degrees F. steel just lasts longer due to the higher melting point
yes aluminum o/d planets have had hubs split from wear or excessive load
but melt due to lack of lube
oil provides two functions 1 to lubricate 2 carry heat away