Hey yall,

Made an account to get some help regarding a 91’ E150 I became the proud owner of.

planning to turn her into a little camper to go around in, and got her for a great price with a strong healthy engine.

only issue is what feels to be the torque converter, speeds lower than 30 its fine but going 35-60 i get the feeling as if I was tapping on the breaks lightly every few seconds, its not horrible and can drive fairly well but obviously its not supposed to be like that.

What I am trying to deduce is if I can drop the trans and swap a reman torque converter in and call it a day or if a rebuild should be a must.

Van reads 330k miles and honestly I believe the previous owner when he says that it was well cared for. Theres basically no rust, paint isnt cracked or rubbed off anywhere. Engine purs.

I come from a somewhat mechanical background, worked as a Technician for a Caterpillar dealer for a while. So im handy with tools, but it was definitely more of throw new parts at it till it works environment.

im really looking for some guidance and how to best go about testing and diagnosing if I can run this for a while longer without s rebuild (mind you I do want to do a rebuild or replace at some point, but I need to have it just be able to run ok for a at-least a few months.) I am thinking doing a full fluids change would be a best first step, to see if there is any metal anywhere and the condition of the oils. Currently I do not drive it but I would need to have it driveable by july 2nd.

Any kind of direction is greatly appreciated from this point. Im basically at the starting line and I have made no plans or decisions on how to tackle it quite yet. Hell you can call me a ******* and an idiot if you want haha.

total budget is going to be around 1k

 

I’m sure you’ve checked ATF level and it’s to spec. How does the fluid look and smell? Can you confirm it has the appropriate fluid? Maybe the filter is clogged and starving the front pump?

Does it behave the same way in lower gears?

Might there be a problem downstream of the transmission like a seized u-joint?

Sixto
07 E350 5.4 198K miles

 

I don't understand how the torque converter can do this. I think you're describing misfire.

 

you may be entirely right. When i first started researching it every time I described it google told me it was trans / torque converter.

but now that I look up misfire directly it does explicitly mentions what I am describing.

im going to go about looking up misfire testing.

 

I have a friend who runs a trans shop
I can say that a lot of transmissions get overhauled, only to find out later that the engine miss was the problem
Same for the driveline center support bearing and the u joints
I sure would coast it down a mountain highway with the engine off
Make sure it coasts nice and smooth, then reevaluate the transmission concern
Those C6's are tough and torque converter shudder is very rare (non-existent even on a C6)
300k is also a long way on a planetary gearset
I have seen worn / broken planetaries cause the issue you describe

 

agree on making sure it's not a miss fire or a locking up u joint, FIRST!!
that trans is a E4OD it has a lockup convertor which have their own issues esp.with the miles the op posted,
https://gearstar.com/common-torque-c...aining%20speed.

 

its a c6 not an e4od. Tranny Oil pan matches the C6 not the e4od. But yeah definitely ruling out misfire first today.

No mountains but I will try to get on the highway and get up to speed and then coast.




Can anyone confirm what this is? Manuals state its an AC pump, but ive never seen an AC pump with an oil reservoir like that.

Also is there something missing here? Lots of electrical wires not in use.


im gonna get fluid and filters today and completely refresh this bad boy, probably drop both pans and look for metal and other debris aswell.

 

That is the power steering pump
Quite trouble free for the most part (because it's a GM pump)
Those wires are for things your van does not have and a couple are test wires for the production line
One wire fires up the fuel pump on some models, and one fires up the ABS pump motor on some models
A paired connector runs back to the rear axle speed sensor for testing
There should be wires all over that truck unused
My van was an incomplete vehicle manufacture
They have even more power feeds and the like all over
Good luck
​​​​​​​Have fun with it