Back in May /June I purchased my first diesel. A 2002 F-350 4 door, 7.3 YADDAA YADDA YADDA
I have 2 very active teenagers and we travel a fair amount to games’, tournements and we always seem to have at least 1 extra kid or adult with use so plenty of room was a must
Anyways it was bone stock with the exception of an Edge programmer, lifted and on 35’s. the day after I got it, it went right down and had the windows tinted, then ordered stainless 4” MBRP exhaust for it.

I went with this truck mainly in hopes of having a forever truck. Something that would last. I knew I wanted a solid axle front so that left me with Ford or Dodge. Since I’m a Father of 2 highly active teenage boys the Dodge was out. The truck is very Clean inside and out.
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Anyways a couple of weeks ago the transmission went out on me. Drove fine into pick my son up from football practice and when I went to drive out it wouldn’t up shift unless I lifted off the pedal. It would then upshift and drive normal. I had to drive it less than a mile to wrestling practice for the boy. When I got there I checked the fluid and it was fried….stunk badly and was dark. So after practice I drove it home and began my quest to build this tranny. In my search I found ton’s and ton’s of info. Most honestly useless for my year truck. I’m one of this people that researches things before making a decision. I have been in the performance industry just about all my life. I personally have built 15-20 transmission’s without a failure. For this one I took it to my buddy that’s an engineer and build’s transmission’s on the side. I knew I wanted the Eagle Alto clutches and Koleen steel’s I have had great luck with these kit’s. I did quite a bit of searching and found one company in the same state as I am and called. Total nice guy….told me a few things that I didn’t know. Because he was so great to talk to I planed on getting a valve body, kit and other pieces from him …..untill it was time to actually buy the stuff. this guy turned on me and I’m not quit sure why. Just a total A-hole!!!….but he didn’t get my money which in the end was good for me. In quest 2.0 I found a company in Redding California. Their kit was much much better . the kit prior was friction’s, steels and gasket’s only for a hair over $520.00 the one from the guy’s in California included friction, steels, gasket’s, upgraded sprags, bushing’s, Transgo shift kit (won’t be using ), Torrington bearing kit and the Alto Powerpack kit that adds more frictions in each drum all American made stuff too. Kit with freight was $584.95.

I also found that the converter’s are junk from the factory. I made a few call and came up with TCS out of Arizona. Great guys to deal with
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I also found that the factory cooler is junk. Sooooo I dug around in the garage and I recently sold my Ultra4 car and had a pile of new parts left over. I found a couple BIG cooler’s I had for it and never used. Since this was an unexpected bill I couldn’t bring myself to buy the 6.0 cooler and I refuse to use a used unit. After removing the factory cooler I now know why these cooler’s suck. Way to small !! the cooler’s I had where originally designed for engine oil cooler’s for sprint car’s. they are a dual pass 6 row per pass 1” wide. the amount of space under the intercooler was plenty for me to be able to stack the two cooler’s.
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Since these where a deck mount style cooler I notched the bottom of the flange so that I could use the original power steering cooler bolt holes and it could rest on the factory rubber mat that is on the crossmember. On the top part I fabb’ed up a mount using ½ square tube with a couple tab’s I made. it too mounts in the factory location. I drilled and tapped the tabs so it’s a bolt on and drilled and tapped the tube too. I used ¼ - 20 Button head fasteners and loctite them into place
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Since these are two cooler’s that I am stacking I needed to add a loop to connect the two cooler’s together. the inlet on these are – 10 and I happen to have some. I also replumbed the entire tranny cooling circuit with -6 line and added an inline 25 Micron filter with a reusable stainless filter.
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I also made a cool little mount (kinda proud of it) to mount the filter. I found that on the crossmember there where two holes so I built a mount using a piece of .125 plate, 90 degree gusset that I notched for the tube and a piece of 2” exhaust tub I cut in half. Here is the finished product in place with and w/o filter
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I hate the look of hose clamp’s but hey it’s working and honestly way overkill but that’s just the kinda guy I am

To we tore into the tranny and found that one clutch pack was cooked and that the center support was hurt a bit. Replacement should be in anytime. While doing this whole thing my plan is to also get rid of the factory bypass and switch over to the DP Tuner. Ive heard and read that nothing but issues with the Edge stuff so off it goes. I’m trying to make this as bullet proof as I can while it’s apart. I didn’t see a reason to go to the 300m inputs and outputs since it seems that the only guys that break these are sled puller’s. so as of right now that’s where I’m at

 

Nice work but if my tranny ever goes out i'm headed to BTS to get my tranny.

 

**** on that, I'm towing it your place and making a couple house payments. This is the best thread I've ever read by someone that had a problem, dove in "Deep" and fixed the problem..........and made me go shopping for the cooler/coolers and plumbing. Thank you for your post. Almost 8 Thouso in transo!!! I'm generally laid off in winter. I'm interested in grabbing a scab and picking at it. (rebuilding a trans.)


Me: 3 Trans in a 200,000 k truck w/light duty. Thanx Mister!


Denny

 

I agree with the above and I dont even own an automatic

Nice work and write up. A guy should be proud when he does good.

 

Why a no on the transgo? Is it because the Edge has the line pressure bumped up enough to make the 1-2 shift so jerky? Most tend to at least mod the valve bodies to firm up the shifts a bit.

 

Nice Job and great wright up! I would get that Edge out of there and go with the DP as well.

 

SuhWeet! Great write up and pics, reps!

Couple thoughts; I also ditched the bypass, but after learning more I wish I still had it on there. Yes if the pressure bleed fails you will have a problem, but in the more likely scenario of blocked flow the pressure bypass will still allow oil back into the trans. Without the bypass the trans is Done in minutes before indication of trouble on the trans gauge. With the bypass the temps soar but it still gets lube and you have time to think of Plan B. The dash trans gauge is not useful btw, get a real one. Plus EGT and fuel pressure gauges. 170* trans temp is optimum, 220* top sustained limit. Stock clutch material anyway.

With all that cooling capacity you also get some pressure drop. The braided lines should help but... I have seen designs for a thermostat and return system to allow flow to the coolers only when warm, could help in that regard. IIRC it was a Derale item.

I have a Factory Tech valve body from Dieselsite, but I don't think they are available any more. Valve body is a common upgrade but I suppose there are many ways to skin that cat.

If you find a post by Mark K (ovalski) he is The Ford Factory Guru on the 4R100 trans. Roland (Mueckster) is also Pro Bowl.

x2 on DP, I have the F5 but the F6 allows updates via internet instead of pulling the chip and sending it back. I'm completely satisfied with my selection of tunes, but plenty of support here for TS style chips and tuners like Matt at Gearhead, PHP, Tony Wildman. Part of that decision is your intended use, if you plan to tow, etc. Take your time and pick yer poison.

Thanks for the post, good stuff!

 

Is that Pyramid Lake? It's got to be the first pullout after the lake is visible...

 

Not sure who your'e asking but if its about the lake in my avatar, it's Silver Lake (my member name). On the June Lake Loop off the 395 in CA

 

The lake you are correct but we where actually fishing to the right of your pic down near Hobo


nice Nova. ive been looking for one to put a health LS engine I built into. things are way high priced

 

thank you sir for your input. the way I plumbed the cooler lines to be able to run an inline bypass from Derale. I have heard of them failing before but not seen one first hand.


for the programmer I have been enlightened on pros and con's and now I am looking into the turner from Wildman.


I also ordered the John Woods valve body last night and hope to have it this week.


I do wish I had the money to just buy a transmission but i'll be in this one less than half of what these guy's charge for a rebuilt including the converter

 

Now that I'm getting closer and closer to having this thing done. I made a phone call to one of my Buddies at Maxima oil to order up enough oil to do my truck from bumper to bumper. while talking to Chris he quizzed me on what all I was doing and shipped off the oils. when it came in I noticed that the Tranny fluid was a 30 wt. this sparked a lot of interest for me. I did my normal thing in researching before I looked dumb and made a phone call. after two wasted day's.....not full time only when I had time.....and talking to racer's here at work not one talked about the different weights at all and didn't know this was even available. so now that I'm neck deep in now having to obtain this knowledge I wanted to know what the standard weight of tranny fluid was.. this was an easy one it's 5w-20 pretty thin...ok now I'm forced to make a call.


now just a short back history I am very jaded. being in the performance world I see things the average guy doesn't and oil is a big one for me. I have seen oil's fail what are supposed to be the best and honestly there are oil's out you couldn't pay me enough to run.....ok enough of that back to the task at hand.






I call up Chris again and ask him why different fluid rating's for ATF. he quickly informs me it's for heat. they recommend a higher viscosity oil in high temp enviroments mainly because the viscosity lower's with higher heat...ok now I am educated.....kinda I'm sure this was broken down into a language I could understand and not just make my head explode and now we all know.


Here is Maxima's description from here www.maximausa.com/product/syn-atf/

Product Description

MAXIMA SYNTHETIC RACING ATF is specifically formulated to perform in automatic racing transmissions under high-torque, high-horsepower conditions. SYNTHETIC RACING ATF is a full synthetic formula with technologically advanced anti-wear and extreme pressure additives, protecting the transmission in high-stress environments. Advanced anti-foam agents minimize air entrapment in the oil and protect critical transmission components at higher speeds seen in racing conditions.
MAXIMA SYNTHETIC RACING ATF exhibits excellent wetting properties enabling increased heat transfer and lowering overall operating temperatures. Superior additive package is oxidative and thermally stable – inhibiting the formation of lacquer, varnish and harmful deposits – ensuring clean, trouble-free operation.
No slip formula offers positive shift engagement and reduces clutch drag. Special additives help to minimize clutch burn-in time, aiding in the overall reduction of operating temperatures. Ideal frictional properties help to eliminate wear, while providing smooth, positive shifts in high-stress, high-load environments.
Regenerative, synthetic polymers resits shearing, mechanical breakdown and viscosity loss of the oil. High viscosity index (VI)formula offers consistent film thickness and performance over greater operating temperatures.

 

just an FYI for the guy's that want to do the same thing as me on the plumbing. the fitting's in the radiator are a 5/8 inverted flare. this is the same as on the transmission side too. the thread into the transmission case itself is an odd one. the front is a normal 1/4 npsm but the rear return is a proprietory thread to Ford only LAME. I was hoping to rid myself of the length of the Banjo bolts from the Bypass but I got Bit. so now back to the 5/8 Inverted flare to -6 AN and off I'm running

 

OK


My tranny guy text me a pic of the Center support that is junk





I read that the newer one's never fail. come to find out that the Torrington bearing that rides on here seized and fried the center support

 

Nothing wrong with Tony's tunes. He's a good guy and free reburns are nice too. I can tell you from experience, you'll enjoy his tunes more than you will the Edge programmer.

As for the John Woods valve body, if your transmission parts came with a Transgo kit, check to see if you don't have the parts to go ahead and mod the valve body yourself.

I could be wrong, but I believe JW uses the Sonnax parts in his valve bodies. I did a transgo kit for the valve bodies in the wife's truck and a sonnax in the daughters. Both do about the same thing but the Sonnax is less expensive to buy and requires no drilling.

If the Transgo is already on the shelf and paid for, I'd go that route before I paid someone else to do the valve body for me.