Since this is just an online forum I will try not to take that comment to personal. But, its not particularly polite to assume you know my experience based on how many posts I've made to this forum! I dont have as much experience as some of the other guys on here, true, but I dont discount someones opinion based on how many posts they've made. I am not an ase certified mechanic to be sure, but I've been fixing cars since I was 14 and I've suported myself for the last 5-6 years primarily doing mechanics work. I've worked on bulldozers and backhoes for a local excavation company and done repairs and maintenace on that companies fleet of 1 ton and larger trucks as well as another local building contractors fleet, and various aquatences vehicles. I've seen more than one e4od bite the dust (primarily due to abuse, but it would have happened eventually anyway). But I've also seen more than one c6 fail under similar conditions. My point is that any automatic tranny will have a certain amount of slippage durring shifts, thats how they work, and that slippage causes wear and that wear is what nescesitates a rebuild. Rarely do you actually break hard parts unless your racing or otherwise badly abusing a tranny.
Dave McGuire
Edit: torque converters can fail too, usually due to excess heat, but they should probably be considered a wear item like the clutches anyway...

 

I'm sorry but at this point I had to say something on this subject. I'm a professional transmission man by trade. I've seen E40Ds die and I've seen C6s die also. You all have good points on cost versus reliability. What I can offer is after years of working in transmission shops is E4ODs when they break they do it in a big way. 90 percent of the time the repair is over 2000 dollars. That is taking into account a good converter every time. I will not reuse a converter after an overhaul as they tend to become contaminated with metal which will eat the new trans. C6s tend to stay in one piece when they break. I have thrown away dozens of E4OD parts because they were trashed. I personally drove a C6 in my old 3/4 ton till the 351 sent a rod through the side of the block. We pulled the C6 out and put it in a friends truck. That was 5 years and about 70000 miles ago. The trans has over 200000 miles on it at this point and all it has gotten for maintenance is a fluid change every 15000 miles. In all my time as a transmission tech I have never seen an E4OD get anything close to this many miles before it needed an overhaul. My point is that yes E4ODs are a nice unit and can give you a mileage boost but they are weak. To make one half as bulletproof as a C6 you will have the cost of a properly rebuilt C6 and an overdrive combined. As to your point of converters being a wear item Guppy I agree with you if we're talking about a lock-up converter. Non luck-up have almost no wear items.

 

I am not arguing for the cost effectiveness of an e4od swap... I voted for the zf I'm well aware of how much it costs to have one rebuilt. But in your experience brimmstone, which hard parts tend to come apart. And are the trannys you've worked on dealing similar power as most of our idis put out, or are they behind powerstrokes and such. I like the c6 but my 87 dumper still needed a tranny rebuild at around 120,000 (which is better than most of the stock e4ods seem to get and cheaper) and the excavation companies 1 ton service truck w/460 and c6 needed one after similar miliage (it does go around with probably more than a ton of tools and oil at all times though).
Dave McGuire

 

I have seen planetary gears go quite often. The pumps are notorious for problems. As to the C6s you have dealt with I have a feeling they were only basic rebuilds when they were repaired. I'm not sure what hard parts update are out right now as I haven't had a chance to talk to my supplier lately.

 

All the plannetaries are now avalable in a steel carrier, with the forward and reverse avalable with 6 pinion, and the overdrive avalable in 4 pinion. Newer style higher displacement pumps are avalable, and depending on your source, you can get them with internal upgrades (boost valve, seals, ect..).


Well davE350, what do you think of the manual option? I prefer auto myself, but the 5 speed would give you a granny first gear and an overdrive top gear.

 

nonono, absolutely under no circumstances should you take what I was saying personally, it was 100percent not meant to be negative critisism towards you or your opinions in any way at all and I do want to apologize if it seemed that way. I want to let you know that I didn't look at your prior posts or how many posts you made or anything like that! all I did was read your single post on this thread, and in that post you didn't mention how many c6's you had or how many e4od's you had, it might have been wrong of me to assume you haven't been through many e4od's without truly knowing, but let's be real, how many e4od's have you been through??? That's what I'm saying, because I've seen guys on this forum and other forums that really bad mouth the e4od because they've been through 3 or 4 rebuilds already!! you didn't mention anything about ever even going through 1 e4od or ever even owning one, and that's why I was discrediting what you were saying. Like me personally I am going to value the person's opinion on the e4od who has been through more of them or has worked on more of them compared to the guy that has only been around 1 or 2 or knew someone that had one, has nothing to do w/ who's a better mechanic or who has more mechanical experience and knowledge in general, know what i'm saying? So again I do apologize if it seemed like I was critisizing you negatively or anything like that but I think I explained myself a bit better this time around.

 

Thank you for that well written comparison summary of the C6 vs E4OD.

Seb.....

 

I second Hamberger and since I own both a E4OD and a C6 it is like driving a test everyday.

 

I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or otherwise.

 

It is a compliment. Your summary matches my experiences I have had with the C6 and E4OD trannies.

I can see you point so, there is a lot of sarcasm around the E4OD. When something does not go right, usually sarcasm tends to be the way a lot of people handle having to spent $3,000 for a rebuilt.

Seb...

 

Umm, isn't that about what we said on the first page?

That you can get a bullet proof GV & C6 rebuilt, for about the same price as a good E4OD setup?

Whats the deal with the non lock up convertors? Do they still offer the OD ratio? How does it work?

 

A lock-up convertor has a clutch disc inside it that locks the internals of the convertor together. The best use a multi disc clutch which has two to three clutches and steels to provide a better hold and less slip. C6s were never offered with a lock-up option.

 

I think the locking TC is standard on the E4OD, although I guess some one cold disable it if prefered.

 

All overdrive transmissions to my knowledge come with a lock-up convertor. Myself I have two overdrive transmission right now in my suburbans and I love the Lock-up ability because it adds a 1 mile per gallon boost

 

It makes sence, there are even some three speeds that have a lockup converter. Personally I don't see much point in having an overdrive without a locking TC (especially from an OEM standpoint).

My F150 has an AOD, and I absolutely love it.