Hi, I had posted this in the drivetrains/trannies/diffs section and got no bites so moving it here:

I have a 96 7.3 E350, Quigley 4x4 converted. Relevant details to the situation that I can think of are that I bought the van used at about 128k miles and we have about 143k on it now. Generally in pretty good shape but a steady string of mechanical problems is starting to make me ponder having sold a Toyota pickup to buy a Ford van.

In any case, we had the E40D rebuilt by a purportedly good rebuilder with more or less all of the available upgrades/better parts, and we had the rear diff gearset and half axles replaced (still a posi though I don't recall the specs/brand of the parts).

Everything has seemed bulletproof on the drivetrain, but a couple days ago, while grinding up a good, smooth, but very steep dirt road in 2H, at about 15mph in the top of 1st gear, we heard a grinding/vibrating noise that seemed to be associated with a reduction in power. The noise seemed to come from the rear of the van, I'm guessing the transfer case or the rear diff. It didn't seem to come from the transmission. Natural instinct was to let off the gas and the noise went away instantly. Troubling and a head scratcher. This repeated two more times pulling this hill - brief bursts of this grinding/vibrating noise, seemingly with power reduction, but I instantly let off the gas and it went away each time. The following day we had another good hill to go up (basically the same hill), and I put it in 4WD even though traction wasn't necessary, my thinking being that 4WD would reduce the strain on the rear half of the drivetrain. We had no problems while in 4WD, including pushing it a bit to try to reproduce.

I'm no mechanic and didn't have a mechanic along of course, and I can't imagine a bunch of internet troubleshooting will tell me what is wrong. But what would folks do in this situation? I am going to see if I can pull any transmission codes, but what else? Hope it doesn't happen again? Be prepared for a tow and a ****ty repair if something goes out in the middle of nowhere? Take a look in the rear diff, transfer case, and tranny for metal shavings? Preventatively try to open up and inspect the trans case and rear diff? Getting parts could be fun, we are in Ecuador with the vehicle. Brake discs were a reasonable challenge to find here!

Any and all thoughts are welcome, and again thank you in advance, this forum is ever a great resource for this mechanically limited van owner

Cheers,
Josh

 

Sent you a PM about finding a possible solution to your issues here Josh---hope it helps.

Most here aren't up on the Quigley conversions, could be the same in other FTE sub-forums too.

Anyway hope this isn't too spendy a repair!

 

I have a Quigley '97 FSuperduty. I called Quigley and they emailed me the build sheet for the truck. It shows every part that they changed or modified. Its an awesome resource to have if you need parts, otherwise you are just kind of shooting in the dark when it comes time to find parts due to the custom nature of these rigs. It even showed the alignment specs in it! I ordered a new transfer case and front driveline from them (due to a PO blowing both of them up) and their customer service was great! Joyce is the gal who answered the phone and was more than helpful. She has obviously been there a while because she really knew her stuff!

 

I have the build sheet, and I have called once for details on what I can replace with off the shelf parts and what I need to get from them, and I agree they were great.

Being in S America, though, makes parts acquisition for both the 7.3 and 350 series vehicles interesting!

 

Ok, just thought Id throw it out there for you. Im sure being down there makes things tough!

 

Have you figured out what the noise was? I am having the same issue I believe.

 

If all you did was change from 2wd to 4wd and the noise went away; I would guess it being in the transfer case.I don't know why you would experience a drop in power output,though. The only thing Quigley does to adapt the transfer case ,is to remove the tailshaft housing and add an adapter for the transfer case.Except for that.all parts are stock Ford with the exception of the front axle assy.Special Quigley parts consist of driveshafts and parts to locate the front axle. Also some steering parts,but they are all standard parts.I have an 02 Quigley so I am interested in what you find out.Also the greater torque of the diesel may have a bearing on your problem.

 

Hey all,

An update... after various other mechanical woes (minor but still), we have been riding around trying to figure out what is going on before chasing ghosts that we haven't diagnosed.

Problems progressed, increasingly with the transmission - delays shifting 1-2, loss of power in reverse, and the grinding noise came out once in reverse.

So we are in Guayaquil, Ecuador, as I speak, with our transmission guts spewed across a table. The disc packs for reverse and 2nd were completely burned and were metal on metal. Reverse works with 2nd on the E40D apparently, and either through reversing uphill or some other manor we completely toasted it. The good news is the other bits (which are quite new) all look like they are in great shape. One valve to replace as the rubber bit is hardened from heat, probably from the damage to reverse/second. It seems that our mystery noise was metal on metal in the disc packs, though we won't know until we get out and drive on a working transmission without repeating the noise.

The shop here said we should be more careful to use low range to reverse uphill, and it looks like we need to be more careful in general, though I do not drive hard... perhaps lots of time at the top of 1st gear as we grind up dirt roads but not sure how to avoid that. Other thoughts on how to take care of our E40D and avoid a repeat are certainly welcome.

In the meantime, I hope this helps others, we never found any problem anywhere in the transfer case, driveshaft, diffs, etc... looks like it was all in the transmission, the power loss was slipping discs, the noise was metal on metal, the delays shifting were due to slipping. That is the theory, anyways, having seen the guts look nearly new all around except for those two toasted disc packs.

Of course the proof will be in the transmission pudding tomorrow or the day after when it is back in....

Apologies for incorrect terminology above - I have learned what I know about automatic transmissions mostly in Spanish and mostly recently, so I'm just translating the Latin Spanish terminology that gets thrown around here...

Cheers from Guayaquil!

 

If there's an upside here it's you've been able to find competent mechanics so far from home----good on ya for that bit of great luck!

While not much help now it does seem 4WD vehicles weak point in the drive train is almost always the transmission. In your case not sure what if anything you could have done to prevent the damage but I'm wondering the rebuild wasn't partially at fault? That's not bashing them but could something have been overlooked, a step left out for budget concerns? Just questions mind you----not hurling accusations etc.

Earlier on I PM'd you a link about 4WD vans---if you'll be looking for a "better" transmission once back home that would be a great resource for those knowledgeable about that transmission in your particular use. Quigley might also be helpful.

At any rate glad you're about to be mobile once again, hope the rest of your trip is trouble free and maximum fun too!

 

If the van holds together (it should) but we end up facing further transmission problems in the future, I think I will look into converting to a manual.

I loved the CVT in my Prius, and I don't mind automatic transmissions in really lightweight vehicles for city driving, but having a 4spd automatic in a 4200kg vehicle in the Andes is not to my liking, nor apparently to the transmission's!

Cheers again,
Josh