I am in the middle of a frame up restoration of my 1986 F250 with a 6.9 idi, currently it has the c6 automatic and 4.11 gears. I would really like to upgrade to an e4od trans to gain a little bit more top end ( right now 60-65 is the top end). I am hoping to find an 89 donor truck. Has anyone done this before? if so any advice would be appreciated. I know i need the controller and harness, and a throttle position sensor, but what else might i need?

 

Any reason you don't want a five speed manual?

 

a couple of reasons, truck is a factory automatic, and don't want to have to retrofit clutch pedals etc., and honestly just not a fan of manuals. I know that they are preferred by a lot of guys, but just not my thing, and my wife wants to be able to drive it and she has trouble with manuals

 

The fail-prone e4OD really isn't an upgrade. In fact when mine failed I considered upgrading to a C6, ended up getting rid of the truck.

Why not just put 3.55s in your rear end?

 

Pretty sure the flex plate is different, and you'll need a rear end that supports the VSS (vehicle speed sensor). Of, if you're lucky, you can get a transmission that has it instead of the axle. The E4 is also longer than a C6, so driveshaft work is in order. And the transmission mount will have to move.

 

You can keep your flex flywheel. You will need a tach signal (tach sensor) and a VSS to make this work. Pre 92 units use a VSS driven with the speedometer cable. You can keep you stock speedometer.

Spend a couple of bucks and go with an aftermarket controller. This will make wiring easy. No need for the factory harness or TCM.

 

I've heard good things about the Baumann controller. A little spendy but worth it. It doesn't need readings from everything in the system like the stock controller does.

 

Thanks for the help, will look into the aftermarket controllers, driveshaft, and mount changes don't really bother me. I had always had really great luck in the power strokes we had on the farm with this transmission and wanted to be able to keep the 4.11 gears for the low end power

 

define hoping to find a '89 donor truck? meaning you've got a strong lead on one already? that was the worst year for this trans.your better off to skip that year and source at least a '90.

David85's 1986 F250 C6 to E4OD swap........Complete!

 

no definite line, looking more and more like a reman or junkyard 90-91 model trans and aftermarket controller at this point, wasn't sure at the time i first posted about which ears to look for, Thanks for the heads up

 

90-94 diesel for a direct bolt up without changing anything (minus what it takes to put one into an idi truck that didn't leave the factory with one i mean.)
you could source a 95-97 psd diesel e40d if your going with an aftermarket controller,but you'd need to source a 4 stud (idi diesel) torque converter.you could run one of these trans if your running an ecm and harness from idi truck,but you'd need to swap to the 89-94 solenoid pack.
you could swap in an e40d from a 99-03 7.3l psd trans too (renamed to the 4r100 by then) but you'd need to swap solenoid packs for older idi setup(if using idi ecm harness)change the shift lever mechanism to earlier style,and swap the front pump to the earlier style.
they even make aftermarket controllers to run the more efficient variable rate front pump now,but pricey no doubt.

each version was upgraded '89 worse yr.90-94 not ideal.most basic remans spec to at least '95 model year.by '95 the e40d received a crap load of internal hard part upgrades.then by the time they renamed the trans to the 4r100 it was built to last and those held up well for 200-300k miles behind the 3rd generation 7.3l diesels.for a performance/commercial use build up,a trans shop can build to 4r100 style spec (keeping proper s pack,front pump and converter) and address their weaknesses.these remans run 3k+ though.some guys need to run the 4-5k+ build up's behind built up psd and cummins builds with billet shafts,a great more deal of upgraded aftermarket parts,and even stuff in extra disc's etc.that would be total overkill for a stock/mild idi build though.as would it for a stock 3rd gen psd even,as like stated,4r100 builds held up to a quarter million miles or more anyway.so point is,it's very possible to go overboard and beyond what a idi requires lol.
the E40D didn't have a good start and came out swinging strikes.today they are well known for being very strong when built up properly to your needs.

 

89-91 use a different manual lever. This would be compatible with the old c6 shift linkage.

Any E4OD can be ran with aftermarket technology. It's actually a better way to retrofit a later electronic tranny into an earlier truck. Why deal with the factory TCM and other crap that gives the E4 a bad name. Another advantage is no solenoid pack swaps.

99-03 are 4R100's PWM and 2 sensors make them different from the 89-98 E4OD

 

haha perfect for him! i didn't know this.

 

id like to go from 4r100 to c6