E40D Shifting Hard

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Jan 23, 2002 | 03:25 PM

Ari69

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E40D Shifting Hard

I have a 1993 F-250 Diesel that just recently started to shift real hard. It's never happened before and now its constant. I was driving it last night and it was acting normally in town. I then made a turn and I noticed that it shifted harder than normal. The shifting points have not changed, nor have I noticed any other problems with the transmission (other than this one). I even checked the fluid level and it seemed OK...,the color was good too. The hard shifting happens in all gears, not just one. Kinda feels like I put a shift kit in it. My truck currently has ~142,000 miles on it and has performed solid without any problems. Am I looking at some serious problem here?

thanks,

Jan 23, 2002 | 08:57 PM

71swissaqua

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From: Huntersville

E40D Shifting Hard

Not sure if it relates but I have an 88 lincoln, acted similar on road trip except in overdrive it would slip. It happened all at once.
Thought trans. was a goner. It turned out the rubber grommet that holds the trans. cable to the throttle linkage had rotted out allowing the cable to come loose. It cost .26. The Ford dealer said many transmissions have been rebuilt by disshonest shops because of this part. Hope this helps.
Clint

Jan 23, 2002 | 11:39 PM

Ari69

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E40D Shifting Hard

Here's an interesting update. Just playing around, I decided to manually shift the transmission tonight. Dropped it all the way to 1st, then 2nd, and so on... For some reason, my truck is now shifting the way it used to. I'm real confused here. I mean, why did it start working just by manually shifting it?

thanks,

Jan 24, 2002 | 10:49 AM

jim henderson

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From: So Cal

E40D Shifting Hard

Could just be a particle of dirt floating around. The dirt may have been moved when you manually shifted or it could just be coincidental that the dirt floated somewhere else. If you are lucky that is the end of the problem. If the fluid is still pretty clean and nice and red and not smokey, you are probably OK.

But, this very same symptom is fairly common if the tranny gets overheated and particles of seals or clutches start to float around. They will intermittently cause the tranny to shift hard. The problem comes and goes. The E4OD early years(yours) especially diesels had a problem with the Torque Converter which causes overheating and particles. One other symptom of this is torque shudder, a kind of shuddering or vibration under light acceleration. If yours does this, it may be time for a rebuild or at least the new spec converters. So this is something to keep an eye on.

If your problem comes and goes and especially if you get the shudder, you may have a real problem.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson