I purchased a 1996 Ford F250 from a guy who just installed a E4OD transmission from Smart Pars in Oklahoma. Date was sometime in June of this year. Transmission was dyno'd and all the pressures were on the high side of the spec, except the torque converter was in the middle. The truck wouldn't drive properly, so he dumped it on me. The issue with the trans is that it feels like it is low on fluid. It is weak in all the gears, including reverse, but when the converter locks in OD, it will hold just fine. It falls in and out of gear idling and if you accelerate slowly its weak, but kinda holds. If you get into the throttle, the engine revs while the trans struggles to grab the gear and fails misserably. My first instinct was that the torque converter was bad, but the trans came with a new one and chances are that's not the case.

I checked the manual lever position sensor and the vehicle speed sensor and they both tested fine. Speedo varies about 2mph while driving, suggesting the possible vss and the hunting suggested the mlp sensor.

I wanted to see if by some freak chance the wrong torque converter was installed and when i pulled the inspection plate, i noticed a very subtle tranny fluid leak from behind the converter. New trans, new torque converter, and new seals = no leak. What is the possibility that the installer didn't have the converter in properly and mashed the pump? I'm a fairly capable guy, but im at a loss and would appreciate any input that you could provide before i tear into this thing.

I should add that the torque converter always locks up around 300ms after grabbing OD. One time it grabbed OD, locked up, then came out of lock up and the OD indicator light on the shifter started blinking. It would not lock up again until i pressed the OD button, it jumped down a gear, i pressed it again, then it shifted and locked up again. I don't have any way of checking the code. Just curious what your thoughts were. I have scoured the ford forums and have come up empty.

 

Yes you do.. go find a paperclip and a pen and paper. Then find the EEC test connector under the hood on the drives inner fender, unfold the paperclip and insert it between the STI(Self Test In) and SIG_RTN wires in the harness, get in the drivers seat and turn the key to run, and count the flashes on the check engine light. Have a read through the link first.


Fuel Injection Technical Library » How To Run a Self-Test

P.S. No.. your truck is not OBD-2.

 

Question, Paul: How is his truck not OBDII?

 

Old body style trucks over 8500lb GVWR did not get OBD2... unless it is a California spec truck. Does it have an OBD-2 connector under the dash?

 

Didn't 1996 have two different versions of the F-250, weight wise? I'm just curious more than anything....

 

When the fugly 97-04 body style F-150 came out, there was an F-250 version which was an F-150 body and chassis with HD suspension, 8 lug axles and a few other things rated for I think 7500 GVWR, wearing F-250 badges.

Some of those 97 model-year trucks were manufactured in 96.

 

Yeah, it has the OBDII plug under the dash. With a code reader, it said there aren't any codes, but the check engine light is on. I dont get that. I guess i should have been more clear about not being able to get codes from the transmission. If i understand properly, a code reader will not read the trans just the ecm and you need a better computer to read the trans?

 

Ah, I see. Those years and body styles have always been fun to keep straight. I wasn't sure if there were two wieght versions of the OBS or not: I knew there was for the NBS. I've got it now. LOL!

Thank you, sir!

 

Did the code reader specifically say "no stored codes" or did you get no response from the PCM what so ever? Does your truck have an EEC test connector under the hood as well?

There is only 1 PCM in these trucks and it controls both engine and transmission, so if the check engine light is on you should be seeing some codes.

 

No Stored Codes, Check Engine Light ON, 0 of 8 rediness monitors ready.
I was unable to locate the eec test connectors under the hood.

 

Let me clarify, the code reader stated that the check engine light was on, but it physically wasn't. I verified that the light does work.

 

Your code reader may not be compatible.. these early OBD-2 systems are a bit unique. I have the opposite problem with a code reader I have.. it worked on my 98 but doesn't work at all on our 2004 vehicles.

 

I will tell you this, when i started the truck and ran the scan the truck died. It starts right back up, but the scanner kills the engine and when you goto clear the codes, its says its unable to do so. That would be a good explanation.

I am trying to find information on which pins on the TRS/MLPS connector goto which pins on the PCM connector. I found a schematic that someone posted, but its showing a 12 pin connector and not the 8 pin that i have.

 

I took the truck down to the best tranny in the area and he took it for a test ride and didn't know what to think. Said he would have to run a live data scan on the truck but wouldn't have time to do it for a week or so. I was on the way home and decided that i'd give the Ford dealership a shot. He ran the scan and said everything looked good on the test and was leaning towards the torque converter. I called the tranny guy back and picked up a used billet with less than 500 miles on it for a bill. Went home with the intention of changing the converter. I pulled the pan to drain the fluid and found the filter in bottom of the pan. I put the filter back in and all my issues are resolved. Thanks for your help.

 

Glad it was something simple! I bet the PO would be kicking himself right now if he knew this.

Thanks also, for reporting back with your solution.