Since I had a surprise Monday off due to Presidents Day (THANK YOU Abe Lincoln & George Washington!! ), I decided to tackle my tranny today. I was going to wait for the spring, but I had nothing better to do today and the weather was perfect (around 60 all day) after a really crappy weekend.

Anyway, I went and bought 18 quarts of Mobil1 Syn ATF (which now says Mercon V on the label, BTW) and a new filter (more about that later) from OReilly Auto Parts. I had almost two full quarts left over from when I flushed my PS pump, so I didn't need all 20 that the procedure calls for. I drained the pan and pulled it down. Everything actually looked pretty good. When I cleaned the pan and the magnet, there wasn't a whole lot of scuzz on there. Filter was dark but not that bad. So I pulled the main valve body down and did the mods for it. Went well -- just as the somewhat intimidating instructions explained. I reinstalled it and took down the accumulator valve body and mod'ed that one, too. Other than some valves & end caps that were a little stubborn to get out, it went well too. Last part was the solenoid pack. I couldn't get it off for the life of me. I guess I should've pulled it down when I had the main VB off, but surely you don't have to pull that to get it down... I tried prying it gently with a screwdriver, but I didn't want to break it. Besides, there is a 50/50 chance that I wouldn't have to do anything after pulling if off. I guess I'll never know for sure...

I also didn't drop the main plate and screw with all those blasted check *****. From what I could tell, there wasn't much to change anyway. One more small spring and a needle valve. The other part that the Tugger kit modifies is the pump and the TC lock-up, but you have to pull the tranny to do it. If I ever end up having to pull it, I'll do it then. In reality, I did not much more than what would've been included in the "standard" shift-kit package.

In the end, the shifts are definitely shorter and firmer, but I would've preferred them a bit more firm. All this is on the non-shift kit DP Tunes. I'm not sure if Jody can tweak these for better shifts or not, but I'm generally happy with it. If I were to do it again, I'd probably get just the regular shift kit or the VB from BTS. Less trouble, but I did save about $125 going the accumulator VB only route. Plus, it was kind of nice getting into it to see how the valve bodies work.

Oh, and I started to get pics, but I thought I'd run short on time, and I didn't want to keep cleaning up my hands so my digi-camera wouldn't get covered in ATF. The only snafus I had was I must've overfilled at the end between pumping out the pan & TC, because it was all going well until the last time when a bunch of ATF ended up on the driveway. Thank God for that old bag of kitty litter I've been saving for just this occasion!! I also had to make a second trip to the parts store because my tranny has the longer pick-up on the filter. OReillys sold me the short one, which they said was for the 2WD. Mine takes the 4x4 filter. Also, I ended up not using all 20 quarts -- I used just under 17. The fluid coming out the last time was nice & pretty red, so I'm sure I got pretty much all of it.

So my advice to someone else thinking of doing this would be to either do it all (pull the tranny), or get the standard kit or just the modified BTS (or John Wood, etc.) accumulator VB. Glad I finally got to this, though. I've had the kit since August.

 

Cool glad to hear it went well. I bet your trans is happier now. With that low-azz 2wd, do you have to jack it up to get under it?

 

Yeah, I think it is. I only lifted it a little so my massive chest would fit under the step-bars.

 

congrats Joe...i cant wait for my VB to get back..i am so sik of the hard shifts...

 

Thanks Ron. Definitely not hard, but I was hoping for a little more firmness. Now that I'm remembering the VB deal we were talking about, I guess I'll drop that other guy a PM. This really was a last minute thing that I only thought about doing Sunday night. But now I'm caught up on everything, so now I can start planning some more stuff...

 

Good job Joe, I'm glad I went with the BTS. I sure wouldn't take my trans down for this. I'm sure it does shift better than stock.


And yes it sure is a mess pulling the VBs.

 

Joe,

On the flush and re-fill were you following the write-up by Mark Kovalsky and if so were there any surprises?

 

Other than the surprise of ATF all over the driveway, no. I think I wasn't pumping enough out before refilling. Problem is I was seeing bubbles in the flow, so I stopped the truck. Other than that, I can't explain why so much blew out the open port on the side. Unless maybe the bypass valve started working because it was pretty cool by the time I got to filling it?? I was getting good flow out of the return, at least up until that point. And I checked under the truck several times to make sure that exact thing wasn't happening. I was also a little paranoid about pumping too much out and not having enough to fill it. All good now, though!!

Here is the procedure I used -- I guess it's the one you're referring to (ignore the comment about Mercon V now, obviously):
https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...nsmission.html

 

i'm planning on putting in a BTS VB really soon. i just had a new tranny installed (ford 4R100HD - needed immediately and couldn't wait or afford the BTS, but oh well) will i need to flush anything. since the fluid only has about 13k miles on it, can i just dump the pan/drain, and top off?

 

Thanks for the response Joe. Much appreciated. And Yes, that is the procedure I was talking about.

 

Yep -- it's that simple. Should take about 8 quarts or so to refill. Be prepared for the deluge of fluid when you brake the VB loose...

EDIT: And you're welcome Robin -- that's why I wrote it up!!

 

Joe Thanks for the info - Did you ever get your air filter ss pipe put in ?

 

Actually, no. I was going to do it yesterday, but I ran a lot later with the extra trip to the parts store and cleanup I had to do. It's still sitting right here waiting on me. Thanks again!!!

 

How much fluid comes out of the valve body -Probably seems like 10 qts. Did you have to wear a shower cap? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nah, not 10 qts, but a surprising amount. Probably less than a pint, but more than a cup. Fortunately, I was ready for it. What I wasn't ready for was the mess after. I had almost all of it on the plastic to that point...