1994 F-450 Super Duty 2WD Mason dump
7.3idi no turbo 73,000mi
E4OD supposedly a reman installed last year.

This truck grosses at close to 14 tons towing my mini excavator. I go slow and easy! I need this truck for maybe 3 more moves. Hopefully, I'll have another tranny in my Mack by then.

I bought the truck from my friend who said he paid $1600 for the trans installed.
I had borrowed the truck a couple of times before I bought it. It ran horrible and shifted all wrong.
I replaced the injectors, fixed the glow plugs and timed and turned up the pump. I also eyeballed the TPS.
I had the truck running and shifting but it banged every shift and locked the TC from second gear ~20mph and up.
It started dropping gears on trips over 20 miles which got worse until I stopped driving it last September. At that point, I could go a half a mile before the TC would unlock and the OD light would flash. When I fired it up last week, the OD light flashed continuously and the TC no longer locks at all. After the tranny warms up, it won't shift automatically. I have 2nd 3rd and OD.
When it cools off, it shifts normally again but hard and no TC lock up. It doesn't slip....yet!
I dropped the pan last week and changed the filter. The fluid was a little bit candy-apple and there was a couple of filings stuck to the magnet. Not nearly as bad as I thought.
The tranny had been leaking ridiculously bad. I found that who ever installed the tranny couldn't find the right dipstick tube so they took a bench grinder to a hydraulic fitting until it fit, kind of, in the tranny, brazed it to the bottom tube and jammed it in the hole. As a result of that, I had been running the fluid probably 4-5 quarts high (the tube was made 2 1/2" longer effectively defeating the dipstick). I didn't put more then 500 miles on the truck last year and my friend said he hadn't put 500 mi on it since the unit went in. I put some Indian Head on the tube to stop it from leaking, stuck it back in and guessed at the fluid level.


After reading and then clearing the EEC today, I took a 4 mile drive.
Codes:
56 (over temp!) 4 miles! It didn't get past 80° I bet.
91 (S1)
92 (S2)
93 (Yup!...S3)
94 (TCC Circuit/sol.)
99 (EPC Fail....Epic fail!)

What are the chances my solenoid pack is causing all of this? That and some broken wires probably...right?
I have an Ebay reman ready to swap in. I also have a big tranny cooler to install. I still need a dipstick tube.

 

The installer may have fubared the quick connect to the solenoid pack. Its not hard to do if you don't know how to unhook it. You can get a replacement connector if its damaged. Not that its a high priority, but you might want to find out who put the transmission in. That way you can stay as far away from them as possible.

Could also be a bad solenoid pack was put in at the time of the rebuild. I had one out of florida (Ebay) that had an internal short in one of the shift solenoids. Wasn't happy but since it took 2 weeks to get it, I made one work between the two.

Not that I've heard of anyone running one with this much extra fluid, but in general, you will end up with foaming and that can cause pressure drop. Not sure if that would cause the failed TC lockup along with the other issues but it wouldn't help either.

 

I just ate way too much lunch and don't feel like digging any more. Too bouncy and loud. I think I'm going to call it a day and mosey on out to my truck in an hour or so. I'll post my findings after.

 

Site outages?
I replaced the sol. Pack and filled with tractor fluid. It shifts normally and my truck pulls like a freight train.
Problem solved.

 

Great news, and thanks for letting us know what happened.