This post has been long coming, I've been lurking in this thread for almost a year reading post after post after I have one issue or another. I'm about to tell a long winded story about every event leading up to my current E40D and possible 460 issues, I will include all my repairs and symptoms in chronological order, up to my current steps I am taking. Just a poor Ole boy who wants nice things. Also adding this in for clarification, Ford sells the rolling chassis to the RV company the year prior to the RV company building the body on the chassis. VIN look ups are difficult for me and usually don't yield anything and best I can tell through all the parts lookups I've done the chassis matches that of a 96 F53 or sometimes people look it up as a 96 E-350 or F-350 then we visually compare the parts.

First Drive, Late June 2023
3 hour drive from Iowa where I purchased the RV to my home in Missouri. At this point I'm naive and not paying enough attention to the way the engine and transmission are acting but during 15 minute test drive "everything ran great". One thing I do notice for sure is an exhaust manifold leak on the passenger side. No cracks but clearly has a burnt out gasket around the rear. On the 3 hour drive about hour 2 when under heavy duress the engine or transmission started "cutting out". Unsure how to descibe this this symptom, not a trans slip, wasn't gradual, just instantaneous loss of all power to the wheels, enough to lurch me forward a bit in the seat but very short. Would do this cutting out several times in a row as I climbed hills. By the time I got home it was cutting out even just running at cruising speed through town on flat ground. After backing into the driveway I saw the small trail of nice burnt pink fluid. Underneath I see fluid coming out all around rubber grommet in the bottom of the bell housing.

First Self Diagnosis- Arrived here through my own knowledge and some internet consultation
No engine codes showing, front seal of the transmission has obviously been blown own, I assumed from overheating of the transmission. Now, why? I knew about that exhaust leak. Look closer and see the whole passenger side of the engines plug wires are coming completely apart due to extreme heat around them. Decide the "cutting out" I was feeling was a huge series of misfires due to these horrible wires that led to a lack of power that stressed the transmission causing the extra heat and ruining the front seal.

First Repairs
Empty transmission of fluid, definitely smells like its been hot, not as bad as i have smelled burned fluid but it had "that smell". Pull pan (had a deep pan already on it) donut magnet in the bottom definitely has caught some metal, but no huge chunks, the largest flake was smaller around than a pea and bible paper thin. Replace filter while in there, replace pan with a new gasket. Pull the transmission now that its empty, and order in a new front seal and new heavy billet TC for it. Since it was out and had definitely been hot I decided replacing the TC would be better than getting the old one flushed. Get those replaced, reinstall transmission. (BIG ROOKIE MISTAKE) I never flushed the the cooler lines any better than just blowing some compressed air through them. Now I put new plug wires on. Decide to cover the plug wires in the fancy wire protectors they sell as opposed to replacing the exhaust manifold gasket, which I had already bought. I did this because I had understood that the 460 came from the factory with no gasket between the manifold and the engine, and when that starts to leak guys add gaskets that just immediately get burnt out. I know my exhaust leak isn't fixed but now it's not burning my plug wires up. Go out on a test drive, again I am naive and not paying enough attention to how and when it's shifting and how it's running and idling and what gear and rpm at what speed. Not really watching any of it, but as far as road feel and driveablilty it's by all means fixed right up. "Running and driving great"

The Long Haul- Mid July 2023
The house in MO is sold and we load every worldy possession we didn't throw away or store into the RV and head for southern Maine! Drive for 6 hours that day stopping for food and fuel along the way, felt decent. The next day we drive for about 12 hours stopping for food and fuel along the way with 4 hours left to, up to now things are going normal. It starts "cutting out again" and I keep going until the next exit and pull off for some inspecting. The front seal has now blown out again but hasn't lost a bunch of fluid.

First Road Repairs- Day 2 of driving after about 12 hours running nearly non stop.
I added about 2 quarts back up to full, and had an extra set of plug wires on me, they didn't look bad but I replaced them as I thought that was what the "cutting out" was caused by. Hope if the trans doesn't get too hot again that it will stop losing so much fluid from the front seal.

Get out on the road and it shortly starts "cutting out" again. Get off the interstate and get to the closest vacant lot I can find near a parts store. Has only lost one quart of the 2 I put in it.

Second Road Repairs
Get a round of new fluid with some lucas stop slip, at this point I'm convinced the "cutting out" had nothing to do with my junky plug wires and had something to do with internal parts in the transmission. Fluid that comes out had clearly been hot and I've got about twice the amount of metal on my pan magnet as when I had it off the first time. In my mind, I'm gonna need a rebuild at this point sometime soon. So I fill her up with fluid and some stop slip to try and take it easy and limp it in the last 4 hours of the drive knowing I may brick my transmission in the process. I barely made it 15 minutes down the road before it started "cutting out" horribly, and a new familiar symptom started as well, a very clear slipping of the transmission when going uphill or accelerating. The slipping would be happening during the "cutting out" but the weren't really a simultaneous thing. Cutting out was at random and often, slipping only under load. Swallow my pride and have it towed 3.5 hours to my destination costing me a huge hit to my ego and pocket book.

Second Self Diagnosis
The new TC and fluid I put in in MO were enough to bandage my transmission enough that it behaved great until I tried to run it for 16 hours straight and it started eating itself up from the inside.

Repair/Replace Transmission-September 2023
Find a local shop in southern Maine that can get me a rebuilt E40D out of Boston, cannot recall the company now that the transmission came through. Take them mine and swap for the rebuilt. Before installing the rebuilt one I flushed the ZF parking brake that mounts to the tailshaft of the transmission, used 6 cans of the compressed line flush on the cooling lines which I split into 2 parts and did a flush with flow direction, flush against flow, then back with flow direction on both parts then blew out well with compressed air. At this point we were still living in the motorhome and didn't test drive that "new" transmission until we went to store it for the winter and move into a seasonal rental house. On the drive to store it, only about 15 minute drive it started "cutting out" again.

Third Self Diagnosis
No Check Engine Codes. These issues all seem to be centered around electrical issues to the transmission now in my mind because the only thing not replaced was the electronic pieces not inside the transmission. So I mulled it over all winter un able to work on it at the storage facility and unable to drive it anywhere to leave for repairs due to lack of funds and the fact I was halfway through also putting on the new roof.

Quick Repairs Before Check Out At Storage-April 2024
pull the plug that goes into solenoid pack on passenger side of transmission, and the plug for the neutral safety switch, clean the heck out of the plugs and let dry. Use the drive to the campground as a test drive.

It's still "cutting out" intermittently through the 15 minute drive mostly during uphill stretches. Realize on this drive that I'm hitting 3rd gear around 25 to 30 MPH and that's making me way under powered for the hills, shut overdrive off so it's not an issue, I'm already in too high of a gear. When I floor it it will down shift from 3rd to second, but only with a big throttle push, it almost refuses to down shift to 1st from 2nd unless I do so with my gear selector simply to keep myself moving and not strand myself in the road, all while trying to to further and damage I'm already doing to my rebuilt transmission.

Decide to go ahead and Replace the TPS and neutral safety switch after continuing to read online and Self diagnose my house on wheels. So I did so and went on a test drive again today with no destination in mind but a complete circle. This time really paying attention to the shifting of the transmission. It's shifting up from 1st by 10 mph and shifting up from 2nd by 25, and if I do not have the OD switched off it will hit OD by 35 mph. And again I'm getting that odd symptom of having to floor it to get it to down shift from OD or 3rd which it needs to do anytime it's even slightly uphill because of how low RPM I'm running at such high gears at low speeds, and again it basically refuses to downshift to first on its own unless Im under 15 mph even if it's dragging down bad. So I used the gear shifter and OD button to my advantage to get the gears I needed to drive back and keep the drive short. During this drive while paying close attention to it's shifting and babying it back to the campground it never "cut out". But I really never let it get under too much stress either. When I felt it shifting up way too early I used the gear selector to keep it in the gears it needed for power but also kept my speed low on purpose and let my momentum help take me up hills and naturally slow down on the climb.

So I currently still have 5 weeks before I have to have this Ole girl in Key West for my wife's next contract. I just put it up on Jack's and have unplugged my transmission wires and plan to untape and pull all protective covers and visually inspect every wire for damage, while simultaneously I am doing another fluid swap on this new rebuilt transmission so I can see if I've got any junk in the pan and replace the filter while in there and the primary purpose, have a threaded bit welded into my pan (already deep pan) so I can have a temperature gauge added.

I'm terrified to tear anything up doing anymore test drives so I think it best to go ahead and add this temp gauge and then I will know for certain if I'm getting in any danger of permanent transmission damage.

I plan to follow up and let everyone know what I find in my pan and what all the wires look like, but I'm on the clock to get this thing running for another 25 hour trip I want to split into 2 12 hour drives. So I decided to go ahead and post this.

How should my E40D behave as far as upshifting and downshifting? Is what I described normal behavior for an E40D? With my added temp gauge for the next test drive I will know more about whether this "cutting out" is coinciding only with the Transmission running hot. Can I hurt my transmission using the gear selector to essentially drive it like a manual and only get it to shift up when it's actually necessary? I'm curious if I just drive it and do nothing to intervene on the shifting pattern will the transmission get hot and will it start the "cutting out" symptoms again. Also what is normal for an E40D may not be best for my E40D as it is always under a fairly intense load, my RV loaded is around 30,000 lbs. Side note, when they sell these rolling chassis they do add an additional trans cooler besides the one running through the radiator.

Thank you all for the help and advice I received simply through reading other posts and their comments in this thread. I hope to have some answers to the questions I have asked as far as normal behavior for this transmission and it's situation of always being under load, and if I will hurt it driving it like its a manual. I'll be sure to come back regardless of any answers ive gotten from you all and add what I find after a test drive with a temp gauge and hopefully confirmed decent wiring. I'm just honestly not sure what exactly is wrong with it or if anything is wrong with it at all.

If you read all this thank you and I hope to hear some input, I love advice.

 

A lot of transmissions get overhauled or replaced only to find out that the engine had a bad miss under load
Never add any stop leak or "transmission in a can"
Gimmicks, all of them
In the future, if you need a trans, get a reman unit from Ford
Tons of trouble with the aftermarket trans overhauls on the E4OD's et al.
Hundreds of updated parts
The trans shops know nothing about
Have the MH tuned up with new plugs, wires, cap and rotor
Check the OBD2 codes
Good luck, Have fun

 

10-4
It has an EEC connector and is showing no codes what so ever. I am manually reading them with a jumper and my check engine light, but there's no codes to read.

As far as the stop slip. I was 4 hours away from my destination with 2 adults 2 kids 2 dogs and a cat. No hotel to hold us and my wife started her new job in 2 days. I was trying to make my transmission last for 180 more miles before a swap. I would never add any stop slip to a transmission I planned on actually keeping in my unit. I was born at night but not last night. At that point my transmission had been hot enough to burn the fluid up twice, was leaving chunks of metal in the pan, and had blown out its second front seal.

The bad miss under load was precisely what my first conclusion was. I have replaced all wires and all plugs once before my long haul. And replaced the wires a second time on my drive.

I'm thinking a new cap and rotor certainly won't hurt my situation. Its literally my home, in 3 weeks my family and I will be living in it again and in 5 weeks it'll be going to Key West. If this truly is an abhorrent miss causing my issues, any advice other than just throwing a new cap and rotor on?

This "cutting out" I'm describing that I originally decided was a bad engine miss, is that what it sound like to you?

Normal behavior for a 460 with E40D under 30k lbs load. Regardless of whether or not this cutting out is a miss I'm still unsure of whether or not its shifting pattern is normal behavior, shifting pattern is toward the end of the original post.

I'll take all the luck I can get, and I never stop having fun.

 

So, your 97 F53 still has OBD1 emissions
That jumper wire or paper clip method should still flash out a prove out code
It should flash twice then pause and flash once, then pause and flash twice
Your Vip STI connector might be dead in the water.
Tells me to check the fuses and maybe run through the no codes outputted flow chart in the PCED
The light is not on when you drive it?
Those older ones, the light means little as far as killing you out on the road
It is old enough however, that you should look inside your processor and check for leaking capacitors and check the condition of the circuit board
I am concerned about the trans fluid you had to clean out of the E4OD solenoid pack harness
You should have someone who can read those trans codes, read them, or figure out forscan to do it yourself
You spent a ton of money on the rig, I'd advise you to buy a NGS so you can do it all yourself
There are guys on the Mustang sites willing to sell theirs cheap as they have moved on (2004 / 2005 Blackwood onwward the NGS is useless)
Have fun with it

 

I am going for some wrenching today, I will double check again and see if I get that prove out code with my jumper. I have no check engine light on while driving.

If I don't get that prove out code then I will start running down leads from your last post with the assumption that that EEC connector (i call it this as the plug says EEC right on top of its cover) isnt getting proper connection. Is that the same as an OBD1? It may be a 97 RV but Ford actually sold this chassis to Fleetwood in 96 maybe even 95. The chassis is a 96 but the vehicle wasn't completed until 97 and shows as a 97 when doing a VIN lookup. The companies buy the chassis in bulk from whatever Ford has at the end of the model year and build the RV on them the following year.

And I'm confused, I never said cleaned any trans fluid out of the solenoid pack? I did unplug the wires there, clean the crap out of them, then plug back in. But there wasnt any tranmission fluid in or around the plug.

"You've spent a ton of money on the rig" darn straight.
As far as buying the NGS I never committed and only manually read check engine codes because it isn't showing any light, so I assumed there were no codes and was checking as a double check. Can i have tranmission codes coming up that can be read with an NGS that wont show up when I manually jumper and write down the codes from the light flashes?

 

Right, they call that OBD1 self test connector the VIP STI and STO are other terms
The NGS will enable you to read trans codes that will not necessarily illuminate the check engine (emissions) light
When it comes to the speedometer or any of that testing, it sure is nice to be able to run the PID
Your 97 with OBD1 will have PIDS capability, that is a big enough help over the years to justify the expense
Heat kills those transmissions (any automatic trans) Converters turn blue at about 300-350 degrees f
I would have a trans temp gauge on it for the next trip and 2nd or 3rd cooler possibly
They want that trans temp around 200 for the trans to live

 

There is a cooler one way bypass valve pipe thing on the side of the trans
That needs to be replaced on a rebuild
Watch a few videos that Precision Transmission puts out on YouTube about the E4OD
He calls them the E forty D for sheets and grinns
We could all learn a thing or two from him, I know I have

 

One thing a proper scan tool gains you is the ability to see at least some of what the computer sees. If the throttle position sensor won't read more than halfway (for example) then the computer and transmission will behave as if that's where your foot is. No matter that you have it buried into the floor. The computer can't "see" your foot, it only has the (faulty) TPS reading to go by and is behaving as best it can tell it is supposed to. This sample scenario is an example of how one small part can lead you to believe you need an entire transmission. Another scenario I have seen is where the speedometer reads off the rear axle but the computer reads the vehicle speed off the rear of the transmission. That sensor fails. You know you are screaming down the road at 40 mph, but the computer thinks you are sitting still and thus never shifts the transmission out of first gear. Both scenarios can set no error codes because the 1990's computers don't have the ability to check their input data. The ability to read that data gives you the ability to see that the inputs the computer is using and do that error check yourself.
So obtaining a scan tool of some sort (and a helper) to read this data while you are driving is most likely a good investment. I'm not really up on the latest ODB I tooling. I bought an Chinese one that read GM and old Chrysler products fine but wouldn't rear my Fords, so that was a waste. I replaced with a very outdated but functional Snap On scanner I ran across in a pawn shop. I keep it in the RV's toolbox area. (Mine's a 1993 F53.)

As far as shifting, no, that doesn't sound right. Mine holds 1st until about 15 mph on level ground and goes into 4th when I let up on the throttle at about 50 mph. Third holds up to 60-65 mph if I am still on the throttle, like merging onto an interstate. I don't recall where 2nd shifts right off.