Greetings! @FORDF250HDXLT sent me here. He's been helping me in the diesel sub-forums thus far. I recently removed my E4OD and replaced the torque converter b/c the clutch inside the converter was TOAST. (1st video below). Truck is a 94F350 7.3 IDI Turbo. Then... I removed the pump and a few of the outer-most drums/pieces of the tranny behind the pump. (other videos below). I'm wanting to know if I should rebuild the entire tranny or stop, re-assemble with new pump, and send it. The friction discs I've removed thus far appear to be in great shape and the transmisison shifts/worked great before this (except for the TCC slipping). Do these videos show enough for you to form an opinion? It's about a $700 decision for me whether I rebuild or just re-assemble and send it.

Thanks in advance for any and all input/advice/observations/coaching etc. This is my first time inside a tranny. Cheers!

 

To add;
169k miles (a quote I pulled from the IDI section) with discs so new, the writing can still be seen. Was this trans reman without a new pump (it's a pre '95 high volume; 89-94 unit) ; it's heavily scared where the pump gears spin and his bushing is all loose/ walked forward and converter; he had converter shutter and no lockup - He split converter in half and found lockup discs all disintegrated, material was loaded in pan. Nothing shiny in pan or on magnet. Claims trans shifted great when he replaced the converter. We didn't see the bushing walked when I advised him to just replace the seal, because evidently when he showed his first videos; the bushing was in it's correct place. Unfortunately, it was loose, walked forward and she puked. He added fluid and drove it in garage.

I did the same to an E4OD once; replaced a worn converter and pump, only to then have the trans slip in gear and just ware out shortly after. However, I highly doubt had I torn into mine, would I have seen discs looking like new, like that! Does he dive deeper to inspect some more discs? I mean, there can't be good reason for replacing new discs with other new discs, if they're all looking like that.

 

If I was in it that deep, I would go through it. At a minimum, it would be new seals. Maybe bushings too.

There are plenty of opinions, but the decision is yours. Don't discount someone opinion because it does not match up to yours. There is no right or wrong.

 

If I were that far into it, I's definitely overhaul it. With clutches that nice at 169,000 miles, it appears that someone else did a partial job to it already. What did they swap? What did they leave? What caliber of parts did they use? Make all these questions go away by doing the whole thing now.

 

It definitely appears that someone has been in this dude fairly recently based on the clutches and the "transtec" valve-body gasket in this video. There is no turning back now. The ONLY question/decision at this point is whether to use new frictions and steels or just throw these back in it. I will definitely use the "tugger" kit, a new pump, and possibly the "shift improvement kit" that comes with the transmission bench kit. Just not sure if I'll buy it from them/him or seperately. Would love to finish this today but not gonna have the parts or the time. Here's where I stopped last night. Worked on it for about 45 minutes after work.

 

I had a boss once ask me, Why do we have enough time to do it right the second time, but not the first time?

I don't have a problem with automatic transmission work, but they seem to be the item that I take out the most to do it right the second time. Not so much now, because I have been around the block a few times, but question everything you are doing, have no doubts.

Do an air check before the sub-components are installed and before you put on the valve body. If you do that and have absolutely no doubts, if there is a problem, you know the transmission will probably not have to come out. More than likely it will be a valve body issue. Assuming you have a problem when you are done.

 

 

Nice. I see your clutch spring compressor there on the bench. Where's that from? You likely wont be using anything from the superior kit, since you're installing the tugger. Don't mix/max stuff.

 

bought the spring compressor from Amazon for $40-ish.

anger as the tugger and/or superior, I was just following the “transmission bench” videos and he uses both. I haven’t installed any parts from the superior kit yet but I did remove every 3rd return spring on the rear-most/bottom spring return cage per the instructions in the superior kit. Do I need to tear it back down to that point and re-installs those springs if I’m not using the superior kit? I thought the two kits addressed two different aspects of improvements….. ?? Please teach me!! Thank you!

 

When a company makes a shift kit, they design it around replacing the factory stuff. By using two different kits, they may not work well together. I would agree, use one or the other.

When I build my E4OD, I used several kits and performed many modifications. When I got it running, it worked, but the shifts were much harder than I wanted. Even with a tuner, I was not able to reduce the shifts any softer. I had the accumulator out several times, but it was not until I put the stock pressure regulator spring back in, that is shifted the way I wanted it too. I had the transmission out 3-4 times to get it where I wanted. I'm happy with the results, Just not happy how I got there.

So, my experience is, the kits are designed for factory components. Mixing and matching, adding clutches, changing clutch materials, etc to increase the capacity/firmness of the shift is changing their recipe and you just don't know what you are going to get. Certainly not what the shift kit manufacturer intended.

 

Thank you for the explanation. Very helpful and likely going to save me money. Should I re-install the low/reverse return springs that I removed per the superior kit instructions (every 3rd spring).

Also - My center support does *not* have a bearing in it. Am I okay to re-install and finish the build without a bearing in that location?

Cheers!

-- jason

 

When I did mine, I added a lot more reverse clutches. Mine was for a 5.8l so it is understandable that I could do that. Since yours is for a diesel, you may not have room for them. The Tugger kit also addresses the delay reverse so I am not certain I would remove the return springs. Researching what others have done is what I would do. If I recall, there was a belleville disc that softens the reverse application. I took that one out and that allowed me another disc. I ended up with 7 friction discs and the reverse is not harsh or delayed with just the Tugger.

As for the center bearing, My core was a 95 and it had it. Ford made them for many years without this bearing so the original way did work. If you are going to work this transmission, I would covert it over. I was able to source most of my used parts from eBay.

If you have not done bushings, I would think about it. If you don't have the tools to replace them, you need to think about that first. I think the term rebuild is used too often when someone goes through their engine/transmission at home. I NEVER use that term with my clients. I tell them I am fixing their trans/engine/transfer case/etc because it's really what I am doing. I feel comfortable saying I rebuilt my E4OD. There was no wear part that was not replaced.

 

If you decide to update the center support, you have to read the E4OD update PDF I linked too, in this post, where in part it reads:

How To Reman The E4OD/4R100 - Complete Video Walkthrough

 

I can only imagine that none of those parts are available but until you check, you don't know. I purchased an upgraded component that was used for the heavy duty transmissions and I found that part on eBay.

 

Moving forward w/o upgrading the center support. This is going in an IDI, not a high-performance build. Onward.... I am/was pretty proud of my red-neck brain for overcoming the need for another specialty tool. This video is pretty rough but it worked. Here is how I compressed the spring for the OD piston. :-) If all goes well, I'll finish the build today and MAYBE re-install today. Stay tuned and wish me luck.