*is it a good trans?
*how many of you had problems with it?
*is it dependable ?
*why was it built?

Everyting about it

 

I really don't understand why no-one else has replied. I have owned two trucks so far with the E40D and I am well pleased. The way it was explained to me is that it is essentially a C-6 with overdrive. The 94 F-150 I had prior to my current one had a 5.0 with an E40D. I moved from Tennessee to the Seattle area. I had my truck completely filled with toolboxes and household goods. I also had the largest U-Haul trailer available completely filled behind the truck and had no problems at all. To be fair, I had a B&M transpack and an oil cooler installed, but other than that it was factory stock with 90k on it. My current truck is also a 94 with the 5.8. Again, I am pleased. It shifts smoothly, quietly and goes about its business largely unnoticed. (If you are aware of what your AT is doing all the time, you have a problem). As for why it was built, to help the full size F-series trucks meet the federal fuel economy standards.

 

This is what I belive only and won't swear to any of it in a court of law.....

Ford once built a tranny for its full size cars called the FMX. It had all the attributes of an anvil. (Despite that chevy commercial) It was cast iron, weighed a ton & was pratically indestructable.

When the age of electronics came upon the industry, some enginering group at ford dragged out the blueprints for the fmx and gave it an aluminium case, an overdrive and some electronic solinoids that take a few of the internal functions that normaly are done exclusively by the valvebody (the tranny brain). This controls those functions more precisely & in tune with whats going on with the engine, resulting in a smoother shifting engine, better mileage & lower emissions.

Ok here's where I'm really asking for it....

The E40D is really not a bad tranny... It just has a bad rap. There have been many instances where a weakness in the tranny has been magnafied by particular use & like any machine abused it'll break. But ford continued to make improvements on it and in general most of the E4s from 95 on up are pretty good boxes when called upon to do their duty & properly maintained. The earlier units can be rebuilt strong. They are NOT cheap to replace or rebuild & I would only have someone who really knows his stuff go into it on my dime. Most of the problems(Not All!) you read about here are going to be on boxes that had 100-200k miles on them before they started acting weird. And this is by far the most complex peice of machinery in your vehicle. It's mechanical complexity makes your engine look like a wind-up toy in comparison.

OK bretheren, let me have it. If I really missed on the basics of this I gladly take my licks.... enlighten me & I will stand corrected.

 

Scndsin I think you did a good job.

The E4OD, like said before, replaced the C6 in most trucks. The C6 was still availiable up through the years, but wasn't the primary transmission like before.

It came out in 1990 or 91 I believe, and had some problems up until 1995 when it got some updates, mechanically and electronically. If you have ever driven a 90 or 91-94 truck with the E4OD, you will notice that it shifts differently than a 95-97 model. The torque converters in the earlier ones locked up 100% in 2nd gear. The later models locked up after it was in 3rd. The 4R100 (newer E4OD) has a different torque converter locking setup, being able to lockup from 0-100%, but thats a different story.

My 95 had 220,000 HARD miles on it before it finally gave out. It's only a half ton truck but it was used every weekend to pull a horse trailer and hay wagons and what not.

Moral of the story, take care of it and it will take care of you. Have the system flushed every 50,000 miles. And no I don't mean drop the pan, drain the fluid, and put the pan back on. I mean drop the pan, drain the torque converter, and flush out the lines leading to the transmission cooler. If you take it somewhere to have this done it will probably cost about $100-$150 bucks. Which in all reality isn't too bad, considering I dropped $140 at once to change the oil and transmission fluid. The fluid came in around $80 or $90.

Just a question out of curiosity, you considering buying a truck with one, or just curious about it yourself?

 

I read about the E4OD about 6 years ago before I really started working my truck. I have plowed heavy snow with it for the last 6 years without a problem at all. In the summer I am typically hauling trailers around 2-3 tons and again no problems (so far , knock on wood). I considered a trans cooler for it but it never happened. The truck now has around 130000 miles on it and so far so good. Anyway I'm of firm beleif if it isn't broke don't try fo fix it.

 

I personally haven't been very happy with the E4OD in my 93 F150, though it's not yet gotten bad enough that I've had to have work done on it. Since I bought it used (with 47K, it now has 99K) it's developed a poor, sometimes very abrupt 1-2 shift and the 2-3 shift has always been too soft for my taste. I tend to drive with a pretty light foot and that normally takes most of the edge off the 1-2 shift, it's definitely sensitive to throttle position. The PO told me he used the truck exclusively to pull a small 5th wheel or carry a cab-over camper, but I've rarely stressed the truck since owning it. They put this tranny behind big blocks and diesels so it should be able to stand up to anything you could throw at it in a 1/2-ton truck, after all. I got my Bronco with an M5OD in part to avoid another E4OD - haven't been too pleased with it, either, but at least it'll be cheaper to overhaul or replace when the time comes.

 

i always recommend a fluid change that includes draining convertor, new filter, new fluid and a bottle of lucas trans. fluid.

handyman knows i say this all the time but i have had zero problems with my E4od and i attribute it to preventative maintenence.

 

My trucks trans have been serviced by local trans shop. (good freind) I have never got over 120000 on one and from the shop they say thats the norm. But everything breaks. If I wanted it to last I would put old 4spd manual in it.

 

i agree with alot of the above posts its an excellent trans with a bad rap, its as good as you take care of it . that beign said. i have owned 2 trucks that have had an e4od . i had a 1991 5.8 supercab short box that upon owning the truck for a year , it had aproximatly 70k on it, the thing was hard engaging when cold and would shutter to the point it would hop . wel it ened up gettign a unit. the solinoid pack failed and took out a few clutches . my 1996 , f150 5.8 supercab short box. i have owned this truck since about 65k its now got 160k on it and has never hiccuped nothing . when it gets a little nicer out agian and after the cat is running. i will be doing a newer oil pan on it with a drain plug . i want this thing to last. justin

 

I don't think they are reliable until 95. I have a 93 that crapped out at 110K miles of not very hard use. I had it rebuilt with the 95 updates (there were a lot of them). Runs great now. It just took them a few years to get it right.

 

dont know about all that BUT mine slpis and shifts very hard at times it's now running about 95% lucus it seem to help

 

mine has 250 + miles and still going strong ( knock on wood ) dont slips shift smooth ...

 

My 90 F-250, that i had, was equiped with an E4OD. It had the normal converter shudder, but other than that, I didn't have any problems with it when towing or hauling.

My Lightning has an E4OD as well and I've been racing it hard over the last 4 years, about 60 or more passes each of those years. I have made a few upgrades to help though; Powerstroke diesel trans cooler and increased the line pressure during shift transitions, with the tuning software I use. I've been happy with the way the transmission performs, and it operates like stock under normal driving conditions.

 

135K trouble-free miles on mine.

My Expy weighs just about 6,000 lb, and I tow a 7,000 lb. boat/trailer through the desert often. I've also got a supercharger, which puts a bit more stress on the entire driveline.

Like Blurry, I've added an additional tranny cooler. I put in an Art Carr performance valve body, so shifts are a bit more firm and quick, but don't increase my line pressure electronically.

Drop the pan and drain the torque converter every two years is the only thing I do to it. She seems to take a beating quite well.

 

I welcome this post, DJdemon6696, that it fokus on the E4OD and also peoples experience of it.

I have a 96-150 5.8 E4OD 4x4 Shorbox Supercab, low mileage truck-63000 km, in very good condition, all stock. I use it mostly for driving around and very little hard work.
I won't say that it's anything wrong whith this tranny, but the way it acts in combination whith a little higher stallspeed converter, it sometimes get a bit irritating.
First of all it shifts too late, I have to "wait" for it to shift, light or fuller throttle. To compensate for this I let off the trottle just a little, to make it start shifting, and the result of this is, I think, is a little lower linepressure in the tranny that make the shift slow and soft. By disconnecting the battery a while, for some reson this makes the tranny shift a little earlier, just the way I want, but after some miles of driving it's back. I tried Suprchips tuner 1715 to cure this, but found out that the shift-option din't work on this rig.
The feeling is that you have to rev the motor and work whith the pedal more than you actually should have to, to get the tranny to do it's work.
I talked to a guy at a trannyshop about it and he recogniced my opinions whith some ambulancedrivers using vans. Some of them got the coverters replaced with the ones in dieselrigs and got better light trottle response and better overall driveability.