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Old Apr 12, 2007 | 10:15 PM
  #1  
Munch's Avatar
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Exclamation Transmission Problems?

Im looking to trade in my '92 F150 for a 98-02 F150 and I was maybe thinking about going to a automatic transmission. I was wondering what problems these transmissions have and if the failure rate was high for them?
 
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Old Apr 12, 2007 | 10:33 PM
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The 4R70W and the 4R100 trannys are both very reliable. I recommend having the fluid flushed about every 50,000 miles or so, but they seem to last a long time. Much stronger that the manual trannys.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2007 | 08:37 AM
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'98-up 4R70W's are the better built 4R70W's.The '97's have a roller intermediate one-way clutch that's a guaranteed failure. Some of the early '98 build 4R70W's have defective Mechanical didoe intermediates that will fail over time,but after that,they're all really tough when properly maintained.
JL
 
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Old Apr 13, 2007 | 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Johnny Langton
The '97's have a roller intermediate one-way clutch that's a guaranteed failure. JL
Guaranteed to fail? Any idea when?

My 97 has that tranny and is going on 166 thousand miles. It could fail on me today but then I can't complain if it does.....due to the life it's led.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2007 | 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by ddrumman2004
Guaranteed to fail? Any idea when?

My 97 has that tranny and is going on 166 thousand miles. It could fail on me today but then I can't complain if it does.....due to the life it's led.
There are very,very few 4R70W's with the roller clutches for the intermediate that last beyond 50-60K miles. I've got a '95 trans here that's out of a Tbird of a friend,and it's got almost 300K miles on it.Never had a problem. But I've also been through dozens of them with less than 50K miles that the roller clutch is in pieces and falling apart. It's a crapshoot with them,and is very rare to find one that lasts.
JL
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 11:04 AM
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What was the problem with the 5 spd tranny, why are they more problematic then the automatic?
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Johnny Langton
There are very,very few 4R70W's with the roller clutches for the intermediate that last beyond 50-60K miles. I've got a '95 trans here that's out of a Tbird of a friend,and it's got almost 300K miles on it.Never had a problem. But I've also been through dozens of them with less than 50K miles that the roller clutch is in pieces and falling apart. It's a crapshoot with them,and is very rare to find one that lasts.
JL
Johnny you seem to know your trannys and fords, Add me to the list, My wife's 97 4.6L expedition, has over 98,000 and runs and moves like a top, It aint even ever burped with a load on it Knock on wood...Thanks for the info, I do need to service the tranny on hers and my 01 F150, do you reccomend a flush or a pan and filter and tranny fluid change???...
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 10:11 PM
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Originally Posted by liquid 1
Johnny you seem to know your trannys and fords, Add me to the list, My wife's 97 4.6L expedition, has over 98,000 and runs and moves like a top, It aint even ever burped with a load on it Knock on wood...Thanks for the info, I do need to service the tranny on hers and my 01 F150, do you reccomend a flush or a pan and filter and tranny fluid change???...
The trucks don't have anywhere near the problems the cars did with the roller one-way,Ford kept the revs down on the truck engines,and they don't spit the rollers out as bad with lower rpms. It's still a very weak component,but tends to last longer in the trucks.
I never flush any trans.If there's any kind of debris in it-you're going to circulate it through the entire system,and the filer needs to be changed and the magnet inspected at service ayway.
JL
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 10:24 PM
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Thanks, Ive always been weary of the flushing methods and have liked the old fashion way, cant go wrong with a new filter, in any hydraulic application..Do you have a trick to working and getting all the fluid outa the tranny with it still in the truck..or is a new filter and cleaning the best possible way to remove all the cataminents..
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 10:33 PM
  #10  
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From: SE Texas
Originally Posted by liquid 1
Thanks, Ive always been weary of the flushing methods and have liked the old fashion way, cant go wrong with a new filter, in any hydraulic application..Do you have a trick to working and getting all the fluid outa the tranny with it still in the truck..or is a new filter and cleaning the best possible way to remove all the cataminents..
If yours lacks the drain plug on the converter,then you can pull the feed line to the trans cooler and start the egine to discharge it to a catch can of some sort. Shut off the engine when it starts sputtering air.You'll get alot of the fluid out of the converter like that,and then drop the pan-it'll be alot less messy since most of the fluid will have been pumped out of the trans.
JL
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 10:56 PM
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cool thanks johnny, I;ll check both of them out soon..
 
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Old Apr 14, 2007 | 11:09 PM
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I have a 99 F150 4 X 4. I am on my 3rd tranny. Ford has covered all of them. 2 and 3 were rebuilt trannys. I do drive them in rough terrain with a lot of stop and go in the field, so it may be the way I drive it. I had a 97 that had 2 trannys also. No matter if it's my fault or a Ford problem I still will always drive a Ford truck.
 
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