Well, after almost two years, it's time to resurrect the Excursion. She's sat in the sun & snow, only being able to go in reverse. Today, I found a donor... 2001 Illinois truck that found it's way to Maine - with half the mileage of my Excursion. Good driving truck, just suffering from lots of rot. So, we're gonna be doing a transmission swap. And maybe transfer case. Has new power steering pump, new Warn hubs, good front and rear axles - spares, lol.

 

Nice!! Get your Ex back on the road!!

 

Any pictures of the Excursion?

 

Just these right now.

 

Nice! Changing the trans and transfer case as one unit would be ideal, but depending on how many miles are on it, you may want to open up that transfer case and check the chain out. Been a rash of them blowing up lately...

 

F-250 has 130k on it. I've been able to test 4wd today, since bipolar mother nature decided to drop 8" of snow last night. No noise, nice smooth transition to 4WH. But yeah, I probably will open it up just to check on things before doing all that work. My Ex has 250k, and the transfer case was a little noisy.

The irony here is, I might need another transmission. I'm giving serious consideration to resurrecting the F-250. Frame is solid, only real rot is cab corners, rockers and bed. Pretty sure I can get all the repair panels for under a grand. Only paid $1k for the parts truck...

 

The rust you can see is only about 1/3 of what's really there. Check it over carefully. It would be nice to save both trucks though!

 

Likely from the wrong fluid.

 

Yeah, I'm keeping that in mind.

Just going over it without disassembly, here's what I see so far:

1. The bed rot appears to be the wheel arches only. The front an rear panels on both sides are solid. Arches are toast.
2. The bed floor panel - whole other story. It's worse than Swiss cheese. I'm sure I'll need the front and rear cross sills as well.
3. Both crew doors will need lower skins and door bottoms.
4. The rocker panels are solid from the crew doors to the front of the truck. The rear rocker panels, I can push my finger thru the rot. Planning on replacing the entire rocker on both sides.
5. Cab corners - will definitely need the corners with extensions.
6. Don't know about the floor pans yet, but probably.

Right now, looking at around $1700 for parts, shipped. Plus a trans later when the body work is done...

Would seem to me that, roughly $4,400 (includes price of the truck) for a solid F-250 isn't hateful + having the Ex back on the road as well.

 

Heck yeah, sure cheaper than a new truck!

 

Quick update...

When I parked the Excursion almost two years ago, I added fuel stabilizer and Seafoam into what was a quarter tank of gas. Continued to start it every few weeks, even thru the winter. Last year, the battery died, and I didn't do anything to it after - yes, I know...

Fast forward to yesterday, I added a half can of Seafoam and let it sit until this afternoon. Took the battery from the F-250 and put in the Excursion, and added some fresh gas. Engine fired up quickly and idles smooth as silk.Let it run for about a half hour and put it in reverse to move it up closer to the garage. I'm pretty sure at least the rear brakes are locked up as it will NOT move. At all. Tries to, but I'm not going to push it too hard. I wanted to move it closer to the garage, not THRU the garage...

 

Well, I've shifted gears on this. Yes, I'm still going to get the Ex back on the road. However, I'm going to rebuild her transmission instead of a swap. I've done a couple of C4's in the past, but the 4R100 is a much bigger and more complicated beast.

In addition to several other tear down and rebuild videos, I've watched the following video series from the Transmission Bench several times:


I've also got the ATSG manual on the 4R100 (and by accident the E4OD). Checking the build date on my trans, it falls into the range where the mechanical diode was being used - 12/01/2000 - if it hasn't been rebuilt before I bought it, I know the direct drum will need to be replaced with the proper sprag unit. Based on the symptoms (reverse is fine, forward is out of the question) and learning all I have, I'm suspecting one of the three fluid bolts loosened up or just old age. I'm still a bit unsure as to which rebuild kit I'll use; once I get it torn apart and inspected, I'll make that decision. If those bolts did loosen up, I'm expecting to have to replace the center support, also.

Several questions:

I rarely tow (it's not out of the question) let alone tow heavy: Superior Shift Correction kit or Tugger 2? Or both as installed in the Transmission Bench series? Maybe Mark K. or others with experience with these upgrades will chime in here with a bit of wisdom.

I'm planning to buy a new TC. And a new solenoid pack, though I see a lot of conflicting info on this?

Replace or flush the fluid lines? How about the cooler bypass - replace or reuse?

I'm in tool collection mode right now. Picked up a clutch spring compressor and am building a pump removal tool as described in the Transmission Bench videos. Went to Harbor Freight for a transmission jack... only one they had was the 800lbs model. This was disappointing as the 2,000lbs model has a bigger saddle, and is, well, just more sturdy. Getting the jack put together, it didn't take long to realize I had serious concerns of how well this jack was going to work with the oddly shaped 4R100 pan. My solution was to build a box using 3/4" x 5" yellow pine, with a 1/2" PT plywood base. The box is roughly 12" x 18" inside; the pan will sit inside the box, the transmission pan bolts will rest on the yellow pine. Using a ratchet strap, this should contains the transmission much better than the arms that shipped with the jack. Several areas of the plywood base have ribs going across for added strength. I doubt its needed, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Skid plate is out. Starter is coming out today, and going to start on the TC to flexplate bolts (could they have made that inspection cover ANY smaller?). As far as getting the trans out of the Ex, I don't see anything unexpected. I'm soaking the exhaust bolts in PBB right now. I've disconnected all of the electrical connections (MPLS, both speed, transfer case, solenoid pack), and moved them out of the way. I do have to cut one exhaust pipe. I'll be taking the transfer case out first, then the trans.

That about covers it for now. Next couple days will be interesting...

 

Always the Tugger HD2 kit, follow @Mueckster and his thread on how to build a 4R100.

The tugger HD2 kit corrects a lot of the issues with the 4R100. A 6.0 Trans cooler and upgraded torque converter will fix the rest.

The lines are hard to find these days but it is possible. You can flush them out but also check to make sure they're not worn anywhere. (ask me how I know...)

 

Thanks @Toreador_Diesel , I'll ping @mueckster when I have a bit more than just suspicion as to what happened and what I need.

Has anyone used the Lube Guard Kooler Kleen? I'll end up going with the 6.0 cooler, but used lines are all I can find locally, unless I make my own. Aside from a little oxidation, mine do not appear to be worn at all, so I'll probably just use them if I have to clean a set of used lines anyway.

 

Green can? Works really well if it's the stuff I'm thinking of.