I had seen a couple people posts about this issue, but no one seemed to have ever found the solution. If you don’t want to read all that, it ended up being the main valve body.

In the shop we have had this 92 F150 5.0 E4OD. Customer brought in the transmission as a carry in (out of the truck) with “truck doesn’t move” complaint. We found carnage, ended up replacing the pump and fwd drum along with rebuilding the unit. We also installed the Trans Go 4r100 HD2 kit, and a new solenoid pack and MLPS. Customer installs the unit and gives us a call.

”My truck will only shift manually” I wasn’t sure that was possible. Sure enough when in drive the truck would start in 3rd but shift normally from 1-2-3-L/U-4 as you changed lever position. No Codes present. With all our E4OD/4r100 builds we replace the solenoid pack, and we have had some bad luck with them in the past. I suspected shift solenoid 1 wasn’t operating as it should. Replaced the solenoid pack, had the same symptoms. Solenoids were commanded properly. Double checked the valve body. No visual damage or problems. Double checked separator plate gaskets and check *****, everything was where it should be. Put everything back together, and triple checked wiring/PCM. No issues there. Since the transmission had all the gears, I knew each gear worked hydraulically. It had to be on the control side.

I ended up replacing the main valve body with a known good one from a shelf unit (after swapping the shift kit over) And that fixed it!
If you have this issue and use my post as a guide be sure to match the valve body casting to your old one. EX: RF0 (the prefix) would need to be RF0. And make absolutely sure that each valve moves freely. Sticking valves and broken springs are very common on these transmissions.

Feel free to add any points, I’m newer to the transmission field and thought I’d share what I found.

 

Thanks for sharing - I am sure this will help someone else down the line.

 

https://superiortransmission.com/pro...uperior-bb100/

I love these for when I do VBs, they just clean the bores. Nothing aggressive like a Flexhone and fully recommend them.

Unless you buy reman VBs, disregard. For some of my units I build, there are no spare VBs about.

 

Since the issue was the valve body, as you stated, I'd be interested to know exactly what in the valve body was the problem. Bad install of the HD2 kit? Broken springs? Jammed Valves? just dirty? what?

 

Isn't that what the "Optional Gear Command Feature" is?
The docs don't really explain it, and I assumed that is what it did, forced your 'auto' to become a 'manual'.

 

No. What that does is allows you to 1/2 to any rpm and force downshift into 1st any rpm, removing that safety feature. I wouldn't install that on a street truck.

 

When I looked at the “problem VB” I had checked every valve, none were sticky. Every spring was in the right place. The shift kit was installed properly. The only thing I could guess was some small crack or cross leak. Where I work I’m lucky to have a small stash of parts for various transmissions. I have never purchased or had to purchase a reman valve body so I can’t recommend one over the other. Whatever valve body you end up with it is very important to make sure valves are free. These transmissions are notorious for having valves stick.

Another thing to note. There are 2 different HD2 kits. E4OD HD2 which has the gear command feature. And 4r100 HD2 which does not. The 4r100 is not capable of having the gear command feature. There are a few different springs and a different valve (going off of memory here) but both kits work on either transmission. The 4r100 is the kit we usually buy since we see a lot more 4r100s. Regardless of which kit you choose, they still greatly improve shift feel. I recommend pulling the transmission and installing the entire kit as it includes snap rings that like to break and/or pop out of the grove.

 

This is something that is almost impossible to test for. I say almost impossible because I believe you can test for anything. I can believe it's just too darn easy to swap a part to get a quick answer. The bad thing is, you never really know what was wrong the part. The good this is, the customer is back on the road and you are back to work helping others.

 

According to TransGo, the 4R100-HD2 kit may be found on ebay and amazon as a counterfeit: Buyer beware.
https://transgo.com/products/rwd-4spd-e4od-4r100/

 

Piles of fakes abound for everything, I buy my stuff from Transtar. Warehouses all over the U.S.

 

The Installation Of Transgo's 'Tugger' Reprogramming Kit (Shift Kit For HD Hauling & Towing)

the installation of transgo's E40D-HD2-D reprogramming kit (shift kit)

 

If you want instructions, go to the manufacturers web site, and get the latest

 

Oh no worries there. Both kits come w/ instructions included. Those are helpful guidelines w/ better/colored photos, different tidbits about which baggie springs may be in, even though they be same color. They just help add lots of clarification but are not intended to replace.

Some things are worded kinda strangely in instructions, you'll notice for example how my guide is with, never against or replace what instructions state; for example:

"Page 3.Step 1.Note the slot here in the accumulator body? This means No need to drill.Drill a couple holes if you see no slot here.
It's this easy.Don't let the instructions trick you.See where it shows the row of springs and valves? That's because if you need to drill a couple holes here,you would first need to remove everything in this bore.Drill your holes.Debur and clean the bore,then you would have the instructions to show you what order the stuff went back in,that's all."

 

FYI, if you have upgraded everything in the transmission including more clutches/plates etc, you may not want to install the 'upgraded' oil pressure regulated spring in that kit. This spring raises the minimum pressure about 10-15 psi and this is like the straw that makes this transmission shift hard all the time. If the spring is the only thing you add, it might be fine, but with everything else, it's too firm. Even with tuning, it cannot get softer.

At least that is my experience. Since you can't find the stock spring and I pitched everything I did, I ended up buying a used pump to get the stock spring. My line pressure now can get to 65psi [the old one was no less than 88psi]. With tuning, I can raise it, but I could not get it lower. 65psi allows my transmission to shift firm [not hard] at light throttle.

I spent well over a year 'tuning' the accumulator springs/holes but that never helped my condition. It's not that I know everything about an E4OD, but I now know mine and I think my transmission now knows who's boss.

 

That spring and larger hole in the plug should just control lockup firmness. I'm surprised you couldn't just use the factory size hole in the cup plug to keep a factoryish feeling lockup.
That's real nice when you don't need to add more clutches to the pack, as it just firms up to converter lock to be almost as firm as a shift. Of course when you do much more modifying like adding clutches, I suppose it not surprising, you'd need to fiddle more though. I wonder if yu could have just gone with smaller shift holes to reach the same objective?