Hello Ford Enthusasist! My name is Sam, I just purchased a 1992 Ford F-150 5.0 4x4 with the E40D Transmission. Engine has 140,552 miles on it. Supposedly the transmission was rebuilt two years ago. It felt real sluggish when in D so when driving home which was about 35 miles, I had to drop it in 2nd or 1st to get it going. I figured it was in "Safe Mode" because the overdrive button wasn't working. Bought one for $8.00 online and replaced it and it comes on and off. no blinking or anything, Check engine light is on but haven't checked it due to no knowledge on how to check them on this vehicle. Just did a oil change and the oil was of course dark dark Brown. So put new oil and some Lucas oil stabilizer and the meter still seems to be not near the middle. Any ideas why is so sluggish in Drive only? I can put my pedal to the floor and it won't go anywhere. Gotta drop it and manually shift it.

 

Hi Sam, and welcome!

I've moved your thread to a more appropriate forum where it'll hopefully get you some answers. You need to sort out that Check Engine Light, your truck is OBD-I so it's pretty easy to check. You can buy a code reader such as this one:


It's a useful tool to have anyway and hard to beat for 25 bucks or so. You can also pull the codes manually without a reader using the blink method, as explained here:

Ford OBDI

But it also sounds like you have some sort of transmission problems. I'm not much into automatics, but are you sure it's an E4OD and not an AOD? Here's a little light reading on the subject:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ifference.html

If it's an AOD, then it could be the TV cable needs to be adjusted:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...djustment.html

If it is in fact an E4OD it's electronically controlled and there's no TV cable. Here's another thread to check, but it could indeed be related to the CEL:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...wn-switch.html

 

It saids transmission type E. Also has 20 bolts on the pan, I think it should be the E4OD. Doesn't the AOD have 14 bolts on the pan? I will definitely have to check the check engine light. It doesn't come on until I start driving the truck. I also noticed that my vacumm canister (reservoir) has some holes in it. Would that affect it? Also I heard the oil gauge is a dummy pretty much? Is there a oil switch somewhere I can check? Mine should be at half and isn't. Thank you sir for your answer and helping me out.

 

I think the AOD also doesn't have the overdrive switch / light at the end of the shift lever so it sounds like it's an E4OD alright. Since that's controlled by the same computer as the engine, pulling the codes is the first thing to do to figure out the trans issues as well.

A lot of the engine controls do use vacuum, so holes in the reservoir as well as the inevitable broken plastic vacuum lines will lead to codes being set. You'll need to deal with that.

I'm not sure what year Ford started making an idiot light that looks like an oil pressure gage, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's what your '92 has. If so it'll always read the same thing as long as the pressure is high enough to "turn the light off." If the oil pressure is below that threshold it'll read zero. If you're content to use the factory gage I wouldn't worry about where it reads when it has oil pressure, just as long as it's not at zero. If you don't want to live with that you can add an aftermarket gage or there are threads on here about what you need to change to make your gage actually read oil pressure. The aftermarket route is probably easier, and might result in a more accurate reading, but the conversion to an older factory gage is cleaner and is pretty accurate too.

 

'92 for sure has the "idiot light" gauge. Ford started that in about 1989 IIRC. I know my 90 and 91 trucks had them.

 

Do they also have a oil Switch? Mine shouldn't be at almost L after putting new oil and lucas oil stabilizer after I seen the needle not move. I'm pretty sure though that it has a lot of oil pressure. Thank you all so far for the tips/advice/opinions. I'm going to go test the check engine light by counting the flashes and see what comes up and I'll post it here.

 

I did the Check Engine Light test and got these codes:

Engine off/key on:
637,621,622,629,626,624
-------------------------------
Engine On:
636,311

Which codes do I diagnose? I feel like these were stored in memory gonna do another test and disconnect negative battery first for a few minutes.

 

I'm not sure if obd1 is the same as obd2 or not but when you reset the computer by disconnecting the battery you need to drive 100 miles before everything is reset 100% I could be wrong on it being the same for obd1

 

Could the transmission temperature sensor or transmission oil temperature sensor make the shift solenoid 1&2 to act up and make the electronic pressure control solenoid to mess up? Also the torque converter as well? That's what these codes are After looking them up. Shift solenoid 1&2 circuit fault, torque converter fault, EPC solenoid fault, transmission Coast Clutch fault, Transmission Oil Temperature (TOT) out of range. Could it just be that TOT sensor just making everything out of whack and pulling codes?? should I just replace the Solenoid Pack??

 

It sounds like you have no power to your transmission. Start by checking all your fuses. The TOT sensor probably uses a regulated 5V supply from the EEC or something but it can't hurt to check fuses first.

Your oil pressure gauge is FAKE. It ain't set up to read actual pressure at all! Yes it does have an oil switch, that is what the gauge is connected to by way of a current-limiting resistor. When the switch closes it drives the gauge "somewhere" into the NORMAL band, and when the switch opens the gauge takes a dive into the red. That is ALL it does the way the factory has it set up. Basically an idiot light made to look like a gauge face.

If you want you can bypass the resistor and replace the switch with an actual pressure sensor (use one for an 85 Mustang GT 302), which would make the gauge work like a real gauge.

Here's one of several threads on the conversion: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...tructions.html

 

Check tranny fluid too

 

Would replacing the Solenoid Pack in the transmission make those codes disappear?! Except the torque converter one obviously. I found one for $205 bucks brand new. I posted the codes up top and what they were. Do you think that the TOT sensor is making all those codes pop up? I know it's the E4OD transmission so it would be on the solenoid pack.

 

Before spending any money check the connector on the solenoid pack. As previously noted it appears you have no power to the solenoid block. The early style connectors were known to be susceptible to moisture, grease, and other forms of contamination.

 

I checked the connector and wiped it down and pushed it back on. Still the same problem. Also checked the fuses and there all ok as well. Any other ideas I can try? I found a solenoid for $205 online. But I don't wanna have to buy something if that's not the actual problem. I won't get up to speed in drive but it will in 2nd & 1st. Thank you all so far for the help. It's easier to show the problem than it is to explain it. Haha

 

Get a meter and verify power is at the connector. No sense spending money on something you do not need.

FWIW...there are different version solenoid packs. 1994 and earlier are different from the 1995 and later versions. The protection diodes are on the solenoid pack for the early version versus in the PCM for the 1995 and later. They are not backward compatible.

This may help:

courtesy of Steve83