The transmission options for these trucks are sorry

[Franklin2]

I am finding out if you want overdrive, you are out of luck if you are looking for a reliable cheap unit. Option 1. E4OD. Troublesome from the factory, reliable rebuilds are not cheap, and it needs a computer and a bunch of sensors to work, more to go wrong when you are 1000 miles away from home. Option 2. ZF 5 speed. I said to myself this is the way to go. A manual tranny has no electronics and is simple. If your starter goes out, you can still roll or pull start it. Now that I have bought a wrecked truck with only 128,000 miles, I am finding out this option is not what it's cracked up to be. The flywheel is the main problem. The engineers came up with a "better idea" and it's a two piece job. That's ok I say to myself, before I took it apart and did some research. This thing is complicated, with springs, friction clutches, and believe it or not, little plastic pieces inside. You know they can't build anything without using plastic now. And they recommend when the clutch is changed, you change the flywheel out too. These things are not cheap. Cheapest I have seen is almost $700, up to $1200. I can see why it would need to be changed, the way it works back and forth during every revolution of the engine. Well my donor flywheel had a lot of play in it. I took it apart and two of the plastic spring pieces were gone. I got some nylon at work and carved some new ones out on the milling machine, and am crossing my fingers. I got a deal on a new clutch set for $140.00. One solution to the flywheel problem is the one piece conversion. The parts houses really push these things. They are not cheap either, and if you have to put a clutch "kit" in it later, they are about $500. That's not so bad, since the clutch should last a long time, but the kicker is people have problems with these conversion kits. They don't drive like the stock clutch, and they make the tranny and drivetrain noisy. These diesel engines really pound on the drivetrain, and pounding on a manual tranny with a aluminum housing 4 times per revolution is not a good idea. So it looks like the only trannies that really seem to live behind these engines are the c6 and the t19 4speed. The best solution seems to be a t19 with a overdrive unit added. But of course they are not cheap and installation takes some fab work. I notice now I have taken the donor truck apart, there is an adapter on the rear of the engine. If this adapter is taken off, does anyone know what the manual tranny options are? With the adapter off, are you left with some sort of "SAE" pattern and a large truck tranny system will install behind this engine? Possibly a 5 speed with overdrive? I wonder if these can be found in school buses and or u-haul units?

[FORDF250HDXLT]

well,at least your not dealing with PS parts lol.priced that stuff lately? man.i think i'l wait a few more yrs lol.
i think (and really hope im correct) that some people just run the E40D stock,and don't understand their limitations.
there are some less expressive things you can do.
1.install a shift kit.-this is a must imho,as it cuts down on slippage.slippage causes heat.heats the biggest enemy(well,it might be contaminants actually) of a trans.
2.install a cooler.this is a must.period.
3.now,your E40D can shift and keep her cool like it should have been setup like from ford imho.-at least in trucks.
4.temp gauge.(i still need this myself)
5.fluid flushes every 50k miles.filter,tc drain/or flush out method with new filter.
then,you just have to understand,that reverse does not pump fluid through the cooler!!!
if your hauling heavy loads,and need to back up,you NEED to just wait a couple mins,watch your temp,let her cool down a little first.-it sucks yeah,time is $.im not going to be crazy about this myself.but a couple mins resting to cool down,before reversing can mean keeping your E40D for years or only months in some cases.
I'v really been grinding the net on E40D's the last couple weeks.
treat them right.they should treat you right as well.

now watch mine blowup when i put her to work and swap in a knee knocker hahaha.man i hope not! im so SICK of shifting.
every truck iv had was a manual.changing clutches just sucks too.
pro's and con's either way you go i suppose.
my E40D feels very strong.
even engages into reverse within the second too-from what iv been reading,this is rare.

[David85]

Franklin, welcome to the club! LOL

Yes, if you want overdrive in these trucks its not an easy proposition.

You can rebuild the DMF (duall mass flywheel) if you know where to get the springs and uh...plastic retainers.

Ford doesn't recommend resurfacing the DMFs but I hear may do and are able to get away with it.

I converted a powerstroke over to a SMF and it wasn't too bad. The gear clatter and roll over noise was only noticable below 1500 RPM. If you like to lug the engine, then it will sound like a bunch of loose bolts rolling around in the oilpan. Above 1500, completely silent. SMFs have less rotating mass but can still be resurfaced (clutch disks are more expensive though).

The cheapest option I found to date is to literally bolt the two halfs of the flywheel together. Also the riskiest, but from what I heard they are still working several years later.

Oh, and your prices are bang on. Those are the going rates for those parts. Chances are you won't find a much better deal.

In the end I went with an E4OD and went all out to beef it up. So far so good, but its not cheap. It pays off eventually, but you really need to rack up some highway miles on your truck to pay off such an investment in a reasonable amount of time.

The ZF swap often seems like a great quick fix to get overdrive, but its not really a very strong transmission. Torque limit is something like 480 ft/lbs for the heavier version. A turbo 7.3 IDI can pass that with ease if tuned right.

Sorry, I have no idea about the bell housing, but I do know some bolted old allison transmissions to them.

[Franklin2]

I have been doing more research, and on some other sites I ran across the modification were you take the guts out of the dual mass flywheel and bolt it together after you drill some holes. It seems some of the dual mass clutch kits come with sprung clutch discs, and some don't. I just went out and checked my new kit, and the disc does not have any springs. But I ran across another post on another site, and they found the correct disc at autozone, part number CP31103A. It's around $80.00, but I am seriously considering doing this. I just don't trust the flywheel I have. And if the tranny is too noisy, I may try the 30w motor oil trick in it and overfill it a little bit to see if it goes away.

I am starting to feel a little better about the whole situation, and $80 plus some bolts is not too bad to fix it.

[Dave Sponaugle]

If you install a single mass flywheel, or convert your dual mass to a bolted single mass, you need a clutch disc with springs.

You have to have something to absorb the power pules of the engine at lower RPM's.

Dual mass flywheel service limit is 5/8" rotational free travel.

Remember the national speed limits when most of the IDI engines were marketed?
55 MPH did not require overdrive.

[mechelement]

I've been lurking in this forum during my search for a decent 6.9L IDI and have been reading about the transmission options for them.

Is it possible to bolt up a NV4500 if you use advanced adapters to do so? Does advanced adapters make kits for the 6.9L? How about the newer 6-speed manual transmission like the one in my '00 PSD?

[99SevenPoint3]

i just installed a new smf luk clutch kit with a new flywheel for $500-550 bucks ...before i purchased the truck someone had already converted to a smf from valeo but the tranny was noise in idle... so when i did the new clutch i went ahead n drained the tranny n added 2qrts of the lucas automatic transmision stuff along with another 2qrts of regular tranny fluid i think someone told me it was something like 3.5 quarts but i added the extra for good measure and now the truck sounds 100 times better

[Mat J]

Originally Posted by 99SevenPoint3

i just installed a new smf luk clutch kit with a new flywheel for $500-550 bucks ...before i purchased the truck someone had already converted to a smf from valeo but the tranny was noise in idle... so when i did the new clutch i went ahead n drained the tranny n added 2qrts of the lucas automatic transmision stuff along with another 2qrts of regular tranny fluid i think someone told me it was something like 3.5 quarts but i added the extra for good measure and now the truck sounds 100 times better

where did you get your clutch kit for that price with the flywheel?

[Dave Sponaugle]

mechelement,
Advance Adapters can probably fix you up with an adapter to mount about anything you want.
What the price will be, may be more than you want to hear though.

The ZF 6 from behind a 7.3 should bolt up, but with the input shaft size sometimes finding a clutch that will work can be a bit hard.

Also be aware that by 99, all of the speedos were driven off the rear axle, so thereis no provision to drive a speedo off the trnasmission.
Also if you are a 4x4, you have to use the transfer case that was behind the ZF 6, the tranny output shaft is also larger, so the one you have now will not work, and again there is no provision to drive a speedo from the transfer case.

[mechelement]

Oh yeah that's right, I replaced my VSS on the '00. Then there's the whole passenger or driver's side drop front axle issue. My '00 is a driver's side drop. Are the IDI's driver's side drop too?

[morimoto_87]

AT545!!! I've been looking into these and they seem like a good trans.

[Dave Sponaugle]

The front axle is the same, drivers side punkin.

[99SevenPoint3]

Originally Posted by Mat J

where did you get your clutch kit for that price with the flywheel?

got the luk clutch kit from Autozone and that was just under $400 bucks...and i got the (Perfection brand)solid flywheel from Advance Auto parts for about $130.

[yotee]

Originally Posted by 99SevenPoint3

got the luk clutch kit from Autozone and that was just under $400 bucks...and i got the (Perfection brand)solid flywheel from Advance Auto parts for about $130.

do you happen to have part numbers??

[M.L.S.C.]

IIRC the engine block bolt pattern is SAE 3. Madium-duty International trucks used the same engines we do, only without the big adapter plate, and a 5-speed Clarke manual trans was often bolted to them. Now whether the Clarke is an OD trans, I dunno...