Hi-
I'm going to service my E4OD today. The 8/04 guide Mark wrote doesn't mention warming the transmission but I've seen another post that says in CAPS to warm it up.


I dropped the pan and filter last night as I wanted to find a suitable spot for a drain plug and get a jump on it. So if I'm pumping fluid through it do I need to do it warm? Does it open necessary valves or just drain better?


Also is any attention required for the cooler or will it flush with the trans?


thanks-
C-dad

 

Warming it up doesn't add anything. That is why my procedure doesn't tell you to warm it up.

If you follow my procedure it will flush the cooler, too.

 

Thanks Mark.
It didn't go exactly as planned today. I was wondering when I would start pumping fresh fluid out so I pumped into a clear gallon water bottle. It looked pretty clean in the tube but once in the bottle I could see it was darker so I kept at it. Hint: just drill a 1/2" hole in the cap and a smaller relief hole and with 10' of tube you can do the whole thing from the drivers seat.


Long story short- I took 18 quarts out and put 16 back. I thought I was over filled before I began because my dipstick was always covered. A little history- a mechanic broke my stock stick, his welded 'fix' was about impossible to insert so a trans shop made me another (obsolete part number- I've been looking for 2 years). So I bought a stick on Ebay last week for a '97 E350 with a E4OD. Mine's a '94. It was 5" longer than the one the trans shop made. So I shortened it by bending it. It's the wire kind with the white plastic tip.


I test drove the vehicle and when I made a U-turn it momentarily acted like I missed a shift. Drove it home and it stalled at my gate. I've had this RV for 8 years and it never stalled- ever. Got it in the driveway and was running it thru the gears while stopped and it stalled again. So I'm thinking I'm low on fluid. Keep it running in park and check it and the stick it drenched. Wipe it, check again and it reads over full. That stick is so long at 52" I'm thinking it's picking up fluid off the tube. I'll go through the motions again tomorrow but it must be low.


Good news is my infrared thermometer says its running a cool 162 after my 15 minute 8 mile test run. Ideas? One more thing- I installed a drain plug so future services won't be so messy. There's a good spot right behind the magnet.

 

If it is low on fluid the torque converter clutch will drift on and cause stalls.

 

Thanks again Mark.


Your instructions say the E4OD holds 20 quarts but step 6 says repeat step 5 until I've added 19 quarts. That must be because one can never get all the fluid out?


I know all the instructions say to check warm in park and slowly run through the gears but can it be check cold?

 

I think it says you need 20, but it holds about 17. To get it all changed you use a bit more than the capacity.

You cannot check it cold. That is why it says check it warmed up idling in park.

 

All seems to be well after I added about another 1 1/2 quarts. So 18 out, 17 in. I wish there was a better dipstick system. I'm headed off for a short trip tomorrow so I'll carry a couple of quarts with me.


Just wondering- what would the symptoms of overfill be? I hear it tends to foam the fluid but how would the trans respond?


thanks for all the help-
C-dad

 

The trans might not miss a beat, or it might become very erratic. Overfilling causes mixed symptoms. Sometimes the only symptom is the vehicle catches on fire and burns to the ground.

 

Mark,

I always enjoy reading all your comments about transmission flushes. I thought you would love this one. I called Aamco this morning because I am too lazy to flush the transmission on my Honda. He said that they never flush or change transmission fluid because it can cause serious damage to the transmission due to the heavy amount of detergents in the fluid that will ruin the clutches.

I baited the guy into some false information. I asked about my 98 Ford van. He said that he would change the fluid for me with a waiver!

Where do these dopes get all this false info? Is there any truth?

I want to change the fluid in my 98 van. How do I get to the return line? It seems like it's buried and impossible to get to.

 

There is a tiny bit of truth to it.

Many (most?) people ignore the trans and never service it. Then something goes wrong and they read the manual and see that they should have changed the fluid a few times already. So they get the fluid changed. Remember where I said something has already gone wrong? The new fluid didn't fix the years of neglect and the trans failed. Now the new fluid is the culprit, not the years of neglect.

On the passenger's side of the trans at the rear is the return line. It's been years since I've been under a van, but I remember that it isn't that hard to get to.

 

I changed the fluid in mine last winter, ended up over filling it, but even after several months including midway through the trip to Colorado this summer, nothing bad happened other than it pushing some fluid out the front seal. I drained a couple quarts out up in Leadville Co. Sure wish Ford had used a better dipstick design on these transmissions. I installed a drain plug in the pan while the pan was off. That sure came in handy when I needed to drop that couple quarts of fluid. Based on that fuid coming out the front seal, I'd say running it too long will put pressure on the crankshaft, eventually wearing though the thrust bearing. I've seen this in a 302 I took apart a few years ago. The van the motor came from was rolled before the engine gave way.