I just performed a E4OD to ZF 5S-42 swap into my 1995 F250 5.8L 2wd. thought id share my experience to help others wanting to perform this swap. Sorry for the length of this I thought id break it down. And im no writer so if its confusing feel free to ask questions.

Gathering Parts
<OI picked up the trans at a junk yard found it on a pallet already pulled so I’m not sure what kind of truck it came out of but it looked good i opened the PTO cover, ran it through the gears, checked input shaft bearing play and didn’t see any problems so I grabbed it. The model tag said it was a '88 model so I purchased the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing/slave cylinder and hydraulic line for a 1988 F250 5.8L

I went back to the junk yard and found a 1993 F150 4.9l 5speed and I got the pedals, cross member, the clutch switch, the plate that holds the master cylinder on the firewall the center hump cover and the harness for the reverse light and speedo. The shifter and boot was gone so I’ll have to come up with that later.<O</O

Trans Install
With the new flywheel, clutch kit, Slave cylinder and pilot bearing installed (looking back I wish I would have used a pilot bushing instead)
<Oit all bolted up fine. I did have to get longer hardware for the flywheel but Advanced auto parts had "flywheel bolts" on the shelf that worked fine. The crossmember fit fine besides one frame bracket didnt clear the exhasut so I'll have to figure that out later. the tranny mount off the automatic was good and fit fine so I reused it.The top two bolts on the bell houseing needed to be longer I found some on the shelf so I cant remember the length of them. </O


The pedals
Before you install the pedals there is a tab that holds the shift cable (for the automatic) that has to be bent out of the way. It is part of the column and looked like a pain in the a$$ to remove. The upper stop for the clutch pedal hits the tab and you won’t be able to get all the bolts lined up. I purchased a master cylinder for a 1995 F2 and it just bolts in where the block off plate is and that’s were that plate I got from the junk yard bolts in to hold the master.
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Clutch Switch <O</O
There is a harness above the clutch rod that has a cap in it (aka a jumper for the clutch switch) pull the cap out and plug it into the switch and now you have to push the clutch in to start it. Me being a “Man” wasn’t gonna hook it up but if for some reason someone else has to drive the truck I thought it would be a good safety feature <O></O>
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Wiring Harness<O</O
The harness plugs under the brake master cylinder on the plastic inner fender and you can remove the automatic one and install the Manual one. If you have a V8 there is a o2 sensor that is past the trans and in the harness for the transmission you can find a V8 harness or I pulled the automatic one down and rebuilt the manual one to hook up the o2 it’s easy to do.

The Driveshaft <O</O
It had to be lengthened by about 16". With my extended cab long bed it measured 49" from the face of the yoke to the center of the carrier bearing and I had to use a conversion joint to get down to the size of the yoke on the tranny.<O</O
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Bleeding the clutch <O</O
I fought this for about 3 days but in the end this is how I did it. Before you install the master cylinder and the line bench bleed it. Hook up the line up and install the rod to the master the put fluid in it and push the rod against the wall and pump it until the rod only moves about a ¼ inch it will be really hard to push in. this gets all the air out of the master. Then install the master plug the line into the slave and I found it only bled when I cracked the bleeder loose then pushed the pedal in and after tightening the bleeder hold the pedal down for about 20 seconds. <O</O
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Center hump<O</O
With the flooring pulled back after removing the kick panels and door sills you will have access to the center hump. 4wd models you just swap the center humps out for the one with the shifter boot hole, trim your floor covering accordingly and your good to go. On 2wd models you will see the outline in the floor I used a jig saw and cut about and 2 inches from the outline and it seemed to be enough clearance for the tranny to fit. The floor covering won’t work for the raised center hump so you can make another junk yard run or LMCtruck.com has flooring available.<O</O
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Fluid<O</O
I asked the boys at Advanced what fluid it took and he showed me on there computer it says it needs 80w90. ???? not setting right with me I didn’t buy anything and did some research and found that it required Dexron III/MERCON® XT-2 QDX or DDX equivalent<O</O
http://www.zf.com/media/media/document/corporate_2/downloads_1/usa/lcv_3/S542_Transmissions.pdf so I used the synthic version Mercon 5<O</O
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The Starter<O</O
In the install I noticed my original starter fit perfect and bolted right in but will running the truck made a horrible sound and I swore it was the junk I bought from Advanced auto parts but members ArdWrknTrk and 88n94 (thanks again guys) informed me that there is a starter for the automatic and one for the manual. So going with the theory of buying everything for the trans using the same model year I bought a starter for a ’88 F2 5.8 and it turns out I won’t fit thought the plate that’s between the motor and trans so another trip to the auto parts store and I got starter for the trucks year ’95 and it worked great.<O</O
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Post Swap <O</O
I’ve been driving it for about 2 weeks now and the only thing I lost was cruise control which must be part of the harness I took apart but Im gonna work on that. Everything else works great I made a shifter out of stainless for a custom touch still gotta get my floor cover and boot installed but all in all im glad I did the swap. <O</O
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I hope this helps anyone tryin to perform this swap im sure the M5Od is much the same feel free to ask questions I hope it wasn’t too difficult to get through.<O</O
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i'm using Synchromax in my ZF now and it sounds a lot better than regular ATF.
Although ZF spec's a wide range of fluids, going synthetic is a wise move IMHO.

You can't really go by the Ford engineering number prefix.
Your gearbox has an E8XX number, because these 5-speed ZF transmissions were first designed to be installed in 1988 year model trucks.
The s-42 variant was used until the '95 model year.

If the parts you got were from a post '92 truck, then it would have had a PMGR starter from the factory.
I don't know as much about the smaller engines as I do the 460, but my truck needed the PMGR starter when I did my ZF swap. (even though the gearbox was an'89)

Thank you for the detailed writeup.
I'm sure this will be very helpful to others.
I'd Rep you if I could...

 

im gonna try that syncomax I wanted to change it after the first 100 miles anyway like a rebreak-in fluid change.

yea the trucks a 95 so it uses a PMGR starter. Im pretty sure the 460's use the same starter cause I used one off a 460 and put it in on the 5.0 in my buggy.

 

My gearbox was full of condensation when I got it.
I changed the fluid a few times before it stopped looking like a strawberry milkshake.

Glad you got your starter issue sorted out.

 

Syncromesh fluids will also serve you well, it's amazing how well the ZF shifts compared to atf. I have used amsoil mtf, pennzoil syncromesh, and valvoline syncromesh and they all shift great even when cold. Nice swap!

 

But MAN, that Redline Synchromax stinks!

 

I changed to the Amsoil Syncomesh and wow what a diffrence it sound so much better and feels better on the shifts.

How long do yall go on a transmission service