Hey all.

I just joined the forum. Tons of info on here.

We just purchased a 2004 F-350 5.4 utility body for our fleet. It has 42,000 miles on it and seemed to be in pretty good shape.

One of the techs put it in service last week and not twenty minutes from the shop he called and said that when shifting into (4Th) OD it made a weird noise. He couldn't really tell me if it was mechanical or electronic. I took it for a drive. It runs really good. I got it to make the noise at mid throttle going up a hill. I described it as a buzz or a "Ehhhh" prior to the shift. It then proceeded to shift fine into 4th.

The Trans guy tells us that he was able to hear it and believed it to be the torque converter due to the area of the noise and the amount of metal in the pan. We had them pull it and tear it apart to determine if any other parts were damaged. He told me everything looked "really good" inside and wouldn't recommend a total rebuild. Just a new TC and a service with some updates. Even after we said we are willing to pay for a total rebuild just to be sure he said it didn't need it. That was Friday.

I told him to hold off until tomorrow to put it back together. Heres where you all come in. What do ya'll think?

 

I think the stock shift patterns stink on these trucks, regardless of engine. I'd recommend getting a shift kit for the transmission to help it. I drove my truck "stock" for only a few weeks, but even just a new valve body did a nice job with the shifting. My tuner handles shift strategies now, but with 185k on the original trans with a fair bit of towing, I think those modifications have helped the transmission last. Along with regular fluid changes!

 

bumpy bump bump