1988 E150 with 5.0 and AOD transmission.

Ok well next week I am going to completely rebuild the my 8.8 axle 3.55 ratio and install a 3.73 set of gears.
My next big project will be to rebuild the transmission. I am at a loss which direction to go here..
I do not personally know a reputable shop in my area to take it to.
There are many companies online but who to choose?
Is it a job that i might be able to do myself? I have always been intimidated by automatic transmissions but there are many good books and videos out here on how to do it. I do have the option of pulling the AOD out of my 85 E150 and try to rebuild it and see how it goes but that is allot of work if it fails and I would need to put the other transmission back in the 85 because I haven't decided to make a parts van out of it yet!

So I am trying to sort out the best way to go here. I have read that there are some parts that were upgraded on the later AOD's I think 90 to 93 perhaps and would want to see if I could upgrade the parts in mine.
Some of the online sellers advertise things like "rebuilt pump", well I found a brand new pump for an AOD for $114 so I would rather go that route then having rebuilt parts. I am not concerned about upgrading it for performance and more horse power I just want one that will as reliable as a new one for another 100k and more.

Any ideas?

 

 

Anna if you're fully intent on keeping your '88 running I'd suggest contacting Jasper Engines. Sure they're not cheap but one of my mobile mechanic friends installs their reman'd engines and transmissions daily,
speaks very, very highly of their quality. One huge advantage is all parts will be updated to whatever is latest and greatest---they do strive for reliability and most important to them NO WARRANTY ISSUES!

Rebuilding automatic transmissions does require a number of specialized tools plus a great understanding what to look for etc when. If you've not already visited FTE's Clutch, Transmission.... forum have a look sometime: FTE Transmission Forum. Tons of info there by those who have or are doing this, well worth a bit of time reading through some of the posts there.

If you were closer to Columbus, Ohio I have a friend who recently rebuilt my 4R75E I'd recommend to anyone. Mine was almost completely destroyed internally which is a bit weird because the exploded one was a Ford reman'd unit with no more than 140K miles on it.

And of course he's one of those guys who swears there's nothing to what he does.

HTH

 

I have thought about that JWA. I had checked with a shop last year and they wanted nearly 3k. After reading your post though I went to Jasper's site and found an installer at a shop I was somewhat impressed with when I went there a couple of years ago. They quoted me $2087.00. That's not much more then the two local rebuilders around here want and then the converter and any worn parts would be extra.

I'll see how it feels after I rebuild the differential next week. 1-2, 2-3 shifts are fine. 3-4 shift is not slipping but it is just not to my liking. It seems to be shifting smoother and smoother into OD as time goes by. That may just be a result of it sitting for years and it is starting to work like it should, I don't know.

Yea once I do the differential and transmission, I guess it will defiantly be a keeper.
The next project after the differential and transmission will probably be the dreaded water pump/timing chain. The one where the bolts seem to break!
After all that is done I may ind myself at a loss of what to do next mechanically on it.. I think I might start my conversion to a camper!

I haven't really kept track of what I have spent on this van but all things considered, no full coverage insurance, no interest payments, I am still not even close to what a new van would have cost... I think even if I had bought a good used newer van I would possibly have spend about the same and it too would need major repairs in the future.

I finally took your advice and got the windows professionally tinted. Would have gone a bit darker but was trying to keep within the laws of all the surrounding states.







My installer was a mobile service and Reges did a great job!

 

I tried to add a pic through edit and it wouldn't let me.. Here is Reges the guy who did the great job. It took him all day and I worked with him scrubbing the window seals and washing the glass a head of him. He has a mobile service.

 

Tint job looks superb!
About the transmission, I've rebuilt some C4 & C6's. Money tied up in bushing pullers, clutch pack compressors, etc. For a 1 shot deal it's not worth it. Heck, the Motors Pro Trade book to guide me was $125 and that was in the 1970's. I discovered I have a Jasper 4R70W in my 94 that the previous owner installed. It only has about 35K on it but it functions perfectly.
I would go the swap route. I don't think they will sell direct to you, they want an established shop to install for their warranty protection. Just bat your eyes a lot when you ask for a quote and you'll do fine.

 

That tint job does look nice!

 

Yea I think I will go the Jasper route and be done with it. At my pace it might take months for me if I tired to rebuild on myself. About 4 or 5 years ago I sold a couple of cars for scrap that had perfectly working AODs, one with only 50k since it was rebuilt!

The transmission cooler lines have some slight surface rust on them, nothing that is of any concern but I haven't found new ones yet and I cant send them off for a company to make new ones because the transmission swap will be a 1 day job.
Was thinking perhaps if its a sunny day when he does the work and I wiped a little rust converter on them, they might dry enough to spray some black primer on them before he is ready to reinstall them.
What do you guys think?
I might check the lines on my 85 and see what they look like also.. this 88 has a old NC inspection sticker on the windshield and I believe it was near the ocean.

I think there is 3 different tints on the van. 43 on the drivers doors, 25 on the sides behind the doors, and 35 or 36 on the rear doors. It may just be psychological but it seems to stay a bit cooler inside depending on the situation but it's not summer yet. JWA recommended I do it to keep the interior from fading.
The down side is that now if I am backing up at night and there is no lighting around, I have to roll down the drivers windows to see behind me.

 

 

Anna, regarding the rusty cooler, I would simply replace it with an aftermarket cooler. RA has a selection of Hayden coolers. I've used their Engine oil and x-mission coolers, excellent quality items.

 

Jeffrey, the cooler looks fine.It is the actual lines that run from the transmission to the radiator and aux cooler. I am not sure what caused the rust. The van did sit for around 15 years before I got it and I don't know if it was outside under a cover with grass growing up around it or if it was kept in a barn. The body is in great shape and underneath is not bad for a 30 year old van.. Oddly underneath certain metal parts have surface rust while other parts look almost new. For some reason the very front seems to have the most rust.
I had just bought the van in these pics and the rust you see and parts around look very dry. As I have been working on the van and driving it, it actually looks much better now. One mechanic who checked out the front end commented on how clean it looked. Of course I had that valve cover leak for about a year and had washed the van underneath several months before he saw it.

But anyway here is a couple of pics of the rust on the lines. These again were taken right after I bought the van. None of the rust looks so red now may have been the camera pic.
Notice the lines start look just fine as they pass by the oil pan and head back to the transmission. The brake line that crosses the cross member looks great. The lines connecting to the radiator, I removed the radiator and had it flushed 2 years ago and they came right loose.




Below is an example of how everything was just dry like rust and some parts not rusty at all.



Then here is a pic from behind the van, a much different story.



here is a pic when I was changing out the AC clutch. notice how rusty it is but the surrounding parts are fine.. So i dont know what is up with that unless it is just what happens when one sits for years.

 

Coleman-Taylor is an excellent transmission shop but may not be one anywhere near you.

 

A word of caution Anna---please don't make it a habit raising the entire vehicle from the differential housing only----it's possible to damage the housing that way. Your year might be able to withstand that much weight apart from it being unsafe no need to risk damage.

I do understand the convenience of that practice though---used to do it all the time through the 70's.

Be careful and work damage free too!

BTW your quoted price of $2K for the rebuilt transmission assuming that incluces them swapping it out for you and a new converter that's not a bad price at all. My final bill even with friends helping out was probably $1700. I could have shaved some cost off that if time hadn't be an issue plus weather here at the time sucked so in the end it was just money.

 

Thanks for the tips JWA.. I remember my Town Car had a label the rear air bags and not to lift it from the differential housing. I hadn't thought about that with the van and I believe they are both 8.8 axles. I have a second floor jack I haven't used in years and years. Its a snap on and I just learned you can still get rebuild seal kits for them. there is a video on rebuilding them! Having 2 jacks would make it easy to do and I could raise it near the u-bolts.

I will be rebuilding the differential Tuesday and changing from 3.55 gears to 3.73s.

Maybe you can look at this and give me your opinion... Now part of the reason I am rebuilding the differential is because I believe I have a bent axle on the drivers side and it is causing some vibration after 60mph. But back to the subject of lifting the van from the differential... If it caused any damage it would be the axle tubes bending under the weight of the van I would guess. If that happened then the top or the tires would be tilted outwards which would show up on an alignment machine as positive camber I believe...

Here are the latest alignment specs. What do you see off in this? I am not very good with alignment specs except for the toe...
But from what I see in the rear, they are both just in a tiny bit of negative camber and the left side I know is either a axle shaft or wheel. I have had the wheels rotated and balanced, new set of tires and those rotated once along with swapping out a wheel. Without actually having checked the axle run-out yet, I would bet money that the left axle shaft is bent...



Oh and I had the drive shaft balanced so the vibration is not from there and the U-joints only have about 15k on them... Also when in drive and you give it the gas and let off back and forth it feels like just a little slack from the rear end but when in OD and I do that there is a slight clunk.. No clunk when siting still and shifting from reverse to drive and back, well maybe a slight but nothing I would think would be concerning. Am thinking if the axle is just slightly bent and has been driven like that for I don't now how long, perhaps it might have worn some slack in the spider gears. We will see... If the differential rebuild don't fix the problem then the transmission better!

Yea I hate to fork out 2k but it is a one day turn around... I really wanted to find a good re-builder so I could replace some of the internal hard parts with brand new ford parts but don't know one and the ones I checked with are almost 2k. Then I checked Jasper reviews and there seems to be allot of complaints on engines but not as many on transmissions. I am trying to keep in mind that people will complain faster then they will leave a good review so it stands to reason one would find more bad reviews then god.. Another is this is a AOD, not electronic controlled so should be less to go wrong..

 

An interesting factoid I read while owning a body shop in the mid 80's: On average satisfied customers contact FOUR others about their experience. Dissatisfied customers contact SIXTEEN!