Has anyone had any trouble with their tranny? I have a 05 F150 S/crew FX4 5.4 and the overdrive is gone!!!
Went on family vacation and 450 miles from home the tranny loses overdrive, turned OD off and limped home in tow mode.
Local shops want around $2,000 to rebuild tranny to factory specs.
Has anyone installed a shift kit in these? One of the local shops said he could install a shift kit while he was rebuilting trans and update computer which would make trans shift a little firmer and increase the performance of the tranny. Has anyone done this? And would it be a good or bad move?
Before anyone says it, I tow everything with my OD off.

 

Surely someone has had to deal with this issue before.
Is a shift kit a good or bad investment?
Should I keep it stock?

 

do a quick test...


take her out on the road, get it up to about 50-60 mph in drive. let off the gas, and drop it into second gear.


if you have manual braking, your OD band is working, and your loss of overdrive is not likely terminal. very possibly just a solenoid or something.


do that test, and post here: Ford Transmission Forum


tremendous help @ that site.



good luck, hopefully a $30.00 part!

as for shift kits, do a google search for "j-mod & 4r70w"

 

It depends on what he means by a shift kit. Does he mean a valve body swap, accumulator swap, drilling out or swapping the plate, etc? Few people really know the 4R75E transmissions and unfortunately they build it like they would a 4R70E. I know this because in my quest for more power I've had to do a lot of digging to educate myself about the 4R75E and ask shops a lot of detailed questions. You'd be surprised how many don't even know that the 2004-2008 F150 actually uses a different tranny, they assume its a 4R70E! Find out exactly what he means by a shift kit, who makes the kit, etc. then post the info here.

Stay away from computer upgrades from them, he's probably just going slap a tuner on it to do it. Buy a tuner yourself with a custom tune for the same price and have more control.

The above post illustrates some of the misinformation about the 4R75E (no offense intended, its just that the 4R75E is a different beast). Don't do a 4R70e/w jmod on the 4R75E. Even building a 4R75E/W for a Marauder is a lot different for the F150. The F150 is a lot heavier and there are many considerations to be made because it.

 

I don't know a whole lot about these transmissions. I would suggest that you talk to Allen from DirtyDogPerformance.com. He builds these trans. and knows them well. This would be the only suggestion that I would have. I am sure that there are others alot smarter in this department than I am.

 

Ken,


I do know these and all AOD/AODE/4R70W/4R75W/E inside and out. (literally!) the 4r70 and 4r75 are soooo damned close inside, only a few parts are even specific between them. the 4r75e is a 4r70w with a turbine speed sensor. hell, even the clutch plates are the same from 98+ and all of em...

regarding building for a truck, you are correct, if you build a trans for a 3000lb stang, and drop it in a 5800 lb f150, your going to have issues.
the j mod i referred to has multiple steps that you can choose to do, or not do, from the guy who designed this transmission.
there is NO better source for how to improve shifts on any of the series, and NEVER use a tuner to increase your eps pressure and therefore increase the shift firmness, it is not how it is done. (note i did not refer to shift points, mess with em all ya want electronically) this tranny is in no way similar to a 5R110W that you CAN increase firmness and points with, without wearing the pump out prematurely (and everything else inside from pump shavings)

again, before i let anyone steal 2k from me for what MIGHT be a simple at home fix, do yourself a favor and test the engine braking ability in manual second.
you cannot JUST lose OD in ANY of the transmissions i listed due to mechanical failure. you can however lose only OD due to very few other reasons.


if you would like some insight into how these trannies work (they are very simple) visit TCCoA Transmission Article - Index and start reading.

fwiw, the aod in my 89 stang uses a 2006 4r75 direct clutch, sun gear and shell, reverse drum, forward drum, and planetary.

 

They certainly can do the jmod for these trucks but they may not like the results. How many jmod'd trannys have you built for hi-horsepower late model F150s? I've talked directly with the man who designed the jmod, as he sat in my truck trying like hell to program around the problems it caused. Even he couldn't. It created a pressure slope that's well, not optimal with the weight of these trucks. Its hard to describe but just imagine a Mustang towing a boat behind it doing a full throttle launch with the j-mod. It just doesn't give the best shift characteristic in these late model F150s (my opinion). Great for a stang and a Maruader though.

The j-mod is why my tranny is coming out in 2 weeks. Its one thing to build a bullet proof 4R70 for a Mustang... add a couple thousand pounds of weight and its quite another. I'm not saying I'm an expect (not even close) or trying to get into a pissing match but I've seen too many examples of those with lots of experience with earlier model F150s or Mustangs trying their hand at building a boosted late model F150 tranny using the same tricks and not having them last or the shift is harsh. Granted, I will qualify that statement by saying my information gathering has been centered around supercharged late model F150s, not N/A engines.

One thing I wish was easy (as it is in the older models), swapping a 4R100 into these late model trucks...

 

How would I find out what trans I have?
If its a 4r70e or a 4r75e.

 

All automatics on 2004+ and newer F150s have 4r75e.

 

i thought the newer 4.6's had the 4r70e

 

Sorry, I was referring to the 5.4 referenced in the first post. Should have been clearer.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. Did the drive test and there is no manual braking when shifted to 2nd gear so, I guess the OD is gone.

 

that would definately point to the overdrive band.
kinda sucks, the od band is easily replaced once the trans is out. pull the pump, the intermediate clutch pack, valve body and overdrive servo and you can wiggle it out...but, at that point the trans is out....and partially disassembled. might as well go all the way.


sorry to hear it. make sure you find someone who knows WTF they are doing. they are not hard to build, nor very expensive...2k seems like a whole lot to me!
the kit for them is under 300, so 1700 in labor, when they have no idea if any hard parts are even required... wow.

 

I am having a loss of overdrive in my 2007 f150 I opened the pan and took out the valve body. one of the check ***** was broken and blocking one of the valves overdrive band is intact and the servo wasnt damaged. I cleaned everything and all seemed to be working correctly but after i filled it up it wont even shift into third unless the overdrive is turned off. before it would shift into third and as it was shifting into fourth it would neutral out. fluid looked good old but not milky or full of shreds. really dont want to do a rebuild abd was hoping someone could help me.

 

Did you make sure the spring to ball to valve order was correct? If my memory isn't failing me, I think all of the ports are the same order except one which puts the spring before the ball. I think.im old but I might be just quoting a dream or a movie.i saw as a young lad.