1990 E4OD hard shifting
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Joined: Mar 2004
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1990 E4OD hard shifting
Gentlemen (and Ladies), I have a small problem you might can provide some advice on. I recently bought a 1990 F150 4WD with the 300 six and an E4OD. The transmission has a very harsh 1-2 shift even under light acceleration, also bangs a little when going into reverse.
No blinking OD light (OD cancel button works fine), no speedometer problems. The truck has 78,000 miles (original - not 178,000) on it and the fluid is a little brown, but no burnt smell.
I planned on doing a complete fluid change (TC drain) but have encountered 2 opinions from various people on this. #1 - anytime you do a fluid and filter change it's a benefit.
#2 - if the tranny has went a long time without a fluid change, it's best not to do it.
Any advice? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Bryan
No blinking OD light (OD cancel button works fine), no speedometer problems. The truck has 78,000 miles (original - not 178,000) on it and the fluid is a little brown, but no burnt smell.
I planned on doing a complete fluid change (TC drain) but have encountered 2 opinions from various people on this. #1 - anytime you do a fluid and filter change it's a benefit.
#2 - if the tranny has went a long time without a fluid change, it's best not to do it.
Any advice? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Bryan
Tuned
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 489
Likes: 1
Change the fluid and don't forget to drain the torque converter. It may very well restore smoother shifting. If the fluid is brown it is either burnt from heavy towing or something...either way it isn't maintaining its properties and won't protect your tranny like it should.
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,968
Likes: 3
From: So Cal
This is one of the symptoms of a tranny starting to go. Then again could just be dirty fluid.
YOur E4OD is from the years when they had a weakness in the tranny, mostly a weak torque converter. What would happen is that first you would get torque shudder, kind of a rumbling on gentle acceleration at about 50mph. This was the converter slipping which caused heat which made the seals brittle which cause debris in the fluid which caused intermittent harsh shifting. The debris also caused more problems that eventually escalated to the point where you needed a rebuild.
Some people have had success just changing the fluid, including the TC. While the pan is dropped, take a good look and note any metal debirs larger than say rice and too much grey silvery fuzz on the magnet or more than say a teaspoon of pepper flakes in the pan.
If you fluid has never been changed, I would think at 70K miles it would not hurt to do a change. If we were talking 100K or more then it is more of a gamble. If your fluid is burnt smelling ot brown to black, that would indicate problems brewing.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
YOur E4OD is from the years when they had a weakness in the tranny, mostly a weak torque converter. What would happen is that first you would get torque shudder, kind of a rumbling on gentle acceleration at about 50mph. This was the converter slipping which caused heat which made the seals brittle which cause debris in the fluid which caused intermittent harsh shifting. The debris also caused more problems that eventually escalated to the point where you needed a rebuild.
Some people have had success just changing the fluid, including the TC. While the pan is dropped, take a good look and note any metal debirs larger than say rice and too much grey silvery fuzz on the magnet or more than say a teaspoon of pepper flakes in the pan.
If you fluid has never been changed, I would think at 70K miles it would not hurt to do a change. If we were talking 100K or more then it is more of a gamble. If your fluid is burnt smelling ot brown to black, that would indicate problems brewing.
Good Luck,
Jim Henderson
