I have a '90 F250 5.8L 4x4, 250,000miles with the auto overdrive trans and BW transfer case. The truck is used in my commercial fishing operation in Alaska and only operates for 2 months every summer and is stored the rest of the year. The last two summers I have spent over 2,000.00 to have engine sensors (I drove the truck up from CA so it has all the CA smog componets) replaced due to salt water corrosion.

I'd like to get rid of the computer controlled engine (buy a rebuilt longblock? if so, what year should I target?)which leads me to my question regarding the computer operation of the trans. If I went with a carbed motor or added something like the Holley Projection system, what are my options for transmissions in this application. Can the E4OD be set up to work without the computer? Can another Ford auto trans work in its place that wouldn't need the computer input? How about mating up to the BW transfer case? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Lance

 

To go with a carb'd application, you would need a stand-alone transmission contoller, and those run in the thousands. To get one dialed in properly/to you liking, it'll still need some tuning.
Are you saying that your truck doesn't get started/moved for 10 months then? If so, that can still be a problem, with an EFI or carb'd application.

 

Thats correct, it sits for 10 months. A buddy starts it up and charges the battery every so often for me.

That however, hasn't been the problem. Its the salt water corrosion and the electrical components under the hood. We drive in the surf and no matter how slow you drive, you still get salt water splashing up under the truck. All the alum parts under the hood are corroded and it causes havoc with the elect components themselves. If I can't get a decent non computer drive train in the thing, I'll need to sell it and get an older, non computer truck.

Lance

 

Firstly, I'm scratching my head as to why on earth you'd want to go from a computer-controlled engine to a carbed engine. That choice is really up to you, though. And with a carbed application, you're going to have just as many problems as before, if you're correct in that it's corrosion that's killing all the sensors. Really, the majority of your problems are most likely caused by the fact that it sits for 10 months out of the year. Doing that is really hard on ANY sort of engine, carbed or EFI.

In my mind, though, if you're in that corrosive of an enviroment, corrosion on the sensors would be the least of the problems, I would have thought the body and frame would have fallen apart by now.

But assuming I can't talk you into staying with EFI, in regards to swapping your trans: You probably could, but wouldn't want to, for the following reasons:

1: Most of the non-computer controlled transmissions aren't OD, so your mileage, especially on the highway, will be SLAUGHTERED. And I belive most of the non-EC (electronicly controlled) transmissions tend to have taller first gears as well, which is going to result in poorer performance and towing capacity, unless you change the diff gears, which is going to wreck even more havoc with your milage.

2: You'll end up spending quite a bit on other modifications to get the new trans in. The E40D is quite large, so clearance won't be an issue, but you'll likely need to modify the shifter linkage to be reversed, and make new trans cooler lines, both of which are relitivly easy. The PITA part will be modifying or making a new crossmember, which can be subjected to a lot of torque, so you can't really slap somthing together whilly-nilly. Also, most other transmissions are way shorter then the E40D, which is going to make getting the transfer case and everything hooked up a pain. Doable, but a big headache to get it strong and reliable as it was factory.

If you really are set on putting a carbed moter in there, I'd still advise keeping the trans, and getting an aftermarket controller for it. Contrary to what the previous poster said, they're NOT that expensive. I have a Baumann stand-alone controller for my E40D, which was around $400 for the computer and a stub wiring connector that you splice into the existing harness, useing the wiriing diagrams they provide you with (for an additional $150 or so, they'll custom-make the proper harness for you). You'll need to attach a throttle position sensor to the carb, which they can provide you with as well. the Baumann units give many more options and tunability, as well as being stand-alone.

 

Stand-alone trans controllers arn't that expensive, the Baumann units are $400 if you're willing to splice into the existing harness yourself, $550 with a custom-made harness. All the tuneing you do yourself with a laptop computer while in the vehicle.

I'm with you though on the 10 month thing, I'd wager that's more of a problem then anything.