I have a 96 F-150 4WD Super Cab with 5.0 and manual trans. I would like to convert this truck to EAOD trans and have been looking to buy a complete running and driving donor truck. Is any 92-96 with 5.0 and EAOD a good candidate or, some better than others? Any other special considerations for the donor truck and other insight would be appreciated !

 

There is no EAOD transmission. In this vintage F150 it would have an E4OD or 4R70W. Since your truck is the first year with OBD-II powertrain computer system the only viable candidate will also be a 1996 F150 or Bronco. You would then use the donor transmission, computer and wiring harness for the transmission. Same for other hard components.

The most common combination in a 1996 F150 w/5.0L engine is the 4R70W transmission. Although there are a few on this forum that have verified they have the 5.0/E4OD engine & transmission. Broncos came with only the E4OD.

On the other side of the coin you could source an earlier model truck with the mechanical AOD that has no computer controlled operation. Those were used from ~1986 to 1993ish. This would require no computer swapping since your 1996 has a manual transmission.

 

Where are you located?
Is your truck a supercab 4x4?

 

one who seeks to swap from manual to automagic cannot be helped.






id let an available donor dictate which trans you get. if it were mine, god forbid, I'd find a clean truck, swap trans so they both run good, sell off the one I didn't want. free trans.

 

^^ good advice.

I didn't know there were ODB-II V8 trucks with a manual trans. Down the road I'm planning to ZF-5 swap my 96' F-150 (5.8L), but have been wondering about the best course of action for the PCM...

 

If you don't have an engine light on right now, then after the swap pull the check engine bulb, wait a week and then write down the fault codes from the computer. Next time you need to read codes, ignore the ones you wrote down that are due to a missing auto trans.

That's what I plan to do and I even I do this right now with my auto trans still installed. I have a few codes for various things but I know what they are and just ignore them because they're all non-critical.

 

I have a HEGO code for the heater in the post cat O2 sensor, but it's been there for nearly 10 years..she still goes closed loop so I'm not worried. New sensor didn't take care of it, so I just let it go. Those little ELM327 bluetooth code readers and a smartphone are handy on the OBD-II trucks. My CEL bulb burned out years ago though, haha

 

How do you know it's going into closed loop?

 

The downstream O2 only monitors secondary cat converter efficiency and does not affect engine operation, possible causes of a heater circuit fault is a blown fuse, bad sensor, or a wiring issue.

 

+1.. that would be the easiest way to get an auto by far.

 

Oh I visualized that wrong...yea the pointless o2.

 

Previous reply: Those little ELM327 bluetooth code readers and a smartphone are handy on the OBD-II trucks.

Very handy devices. They will tell you loads of info about an OBD-II vehicle operation

 

rla2005, thank you and the others who have offered advice on this subject. Can I reuse my existing manual transfer case or, are the transfer cases used with automatic trans different? If I opt to go with an earlier trans that is not electronically controlled, what do you suggest in terms of steering column vintage that will connect to the 96 column wiring yet work properly with early trans?

 

The transfer case is the same for manual vs. auto. The column may be a different story. I am not sure if the 4R70W shares the same shift pattern as the earlier AOD steering column. If it is then you can use a 1992 to 1996 steering column from a vehicle with an AOD or 4R70W. If not then you are limited to the 1992 to 1993 columns. Also be aware the 1992 and 1993 columns do not have an airbag so something else to consider here.

 

Great info, thanks again ! All things considered, using 92-93 donor seems to be the way to go to me.