well 259k miles have taken a toll on my old tranny. shes slow to take off and clunks when downshifting. so here are my questions:

whats the toughest tranny they make for these trucks?
how can i tell what tranny i have?
are the trannys different in the 150s or 250lds?

 

as far as i know, there are two auto trannys that you could get the 4r70w and the 4r100. most all 4.6s got the 4r70w. (it is the weaker of the two) both the 5.4 and 4.6 have the same bolt pattern for the bell housing so it should be possible to use a 4r100 on the 4.6.but the computers in these trucks are tranny specific i believe so you would have to swap that to get a 4r100. it would do you good to read a set of 5.4 swap notes. you will most likely find that putting a 4.6 torque converter on a 5.4 produces somethin like 750 ft lbs of torque (rough number) too much for the 4r70w. so if you could do a bada$$ swap.. put a 5.4 with a 4r100 with the torque converter for a 4.6..... just a thought though... i am by no means an expert here, this is just what i have picked up from the message boards...

 

hmm....that would be bada$$! my trucks gonna be one badass rig when im done with it!

 

Your truck (if you are talking about the 97 4.6 in your signature) should have the 4r70w. In 97&98 if you had the 5.4 you got the e40d which is a much stronger trans than the 4r70w. The e40d also came in all 250ld no matter what engine. The 4r70w pan is pretty square with slight tapered edges on the engine side and has no drain plug on the pan. The e40d is a more rectangular pan with a drain plug.

To change tranny types would take a lot of re wiring, probably changing tranny mounts, or cross members, and changing driveshaft length. It is not just an easy swap.

 

i plan on finding a 250ld(might already have one) to swap a buncha parts onto my 150 including all the computers and wiring.

so the 250ld came with a e40d? is that the best trans i can put into the truck? is there anyway i could make it stonger?

 

what was the 4r100 in? i know that i have heard that thrown around before.

 

The 4R100 is the "new" name for the E4OD name/design change was in '99 IIRC. I don't know of much different between the two but I am sure there is something.

 

The 4R70W can be built to take anything a 4.6 could do to it.
I'd go that route, it would be far less hassle than all the PCM/wiring changes you'd have to do to get the E4OD/4R100 to work.

Unless you were looking to do a 5.4 swap at the same time.....

 

I plan on doing a semi-built 5.4, built tranny, front and rear suspension and driveline from a 250ld w/4.10 lockers front and rear, and a full stainless exhaust(headers, true duals, high flow cats, borla muffler and texas style tips) and maybe all on a shortened 250 frame....

As for the wiring, I plan on findin a truck with the engine/trans I want in it and just swap all the computers and wiring in.

 

Regardless, there are internal upgrades for either type of tranny, and I think you could get great results by upgrading your old one as opposed to swapping a trans. Upgrading a toasted tranny just becomes an extension of a rebuild, you are replacing worn parts with much stronger parts. No wiring swaps with this route either.

 

The 4r70w will hold up to a 5.4l with the 4.6l converter installed. And now it doesnt produce 750 ftlb of tq. LOL.

Just lets the engine spin a little faster before it engages. Which is good for burn outs, but im starting to believe that it takes away from towing. As the 5.4l has a lot of bottome end and im missing out on some of it due to stall speed.

 

4.6 to 5.4 Swap Notes<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
<HR style="COLOR: #ffffff; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message --><!-- google_ad_section_start -->Notes for 4.6 to 5.4 swap Part 1 Revised 4 May 2009

Exhaust: The collectors on the exhaust manifolds are set at different angles and locations. The 4.6 exhaust might not bolt up to 5.4 manifold. You may need to have a muffler shop modify your 4.6 exhaust to match up.

Ignition: All 5.4 engines use Cop ignition. . 2000 and later 4.6 use COP ignition. 1997-99 4.6 engines use coil packs. It is easier to wire your 5.4 using the harness from the 4.6 and use the 4.6 ignition coil packs if applicable. If you use the 4.6 Coil pack ignition you will have to fab a bracket for the driver side coil pack.

Engine harness: To use a 4.6 PCM to run a 5.4 engine: The IAC harness must be relocated to the rear of the throttle body elbow. The oil sender wire on the 4.6 may be too short so measure or test fit the harness to see if it must be extended. All 97-00 and some 2001 4.6 engines use some sort of intake manifold runner control valve. Remove it from the 4.6 and plug it into the 4.6 harness and bolt it to the engine some where out of the way. Note; you can get a tune to remove its function and eliminate it all together.
All 97-98 4.6 engines use an Engine Coolant Temp sensor (ECT) and an Engine Coolant Temp sender. By the 99 Model year the ECT was dropped in both the 4.6 and 5.4 harness as the Cylinder Head Temperature sensor (CHT) was used for the PCM to monitor coolant temps. None of the 00+ 5.4s use ECT sensor or sender. Some of the 99 5.4s still use the sender to feed info to the instrument cluster. You will have to tap the intake manifold crossover pipe to fit the sensor(s) if your 4.6 has them and the 5.4 doesn’t.

Transmissions: the 4.6 and 5.4 have the same bellhousing bolt pattern. That means that all the transmissions will bolt up. All the 5.4 engines have 8 bolt crankshafts. Some 4.6 engines (ROMEO ENGINE) have 6 bolt cranks. You will need the flex plate from the 5.4.
Manual transmissions: If you don’t have an 8 bolt flywheel a flywheel from a 1997-8 4.6 Windsor engine will work. As it has 8 bolts it will bolt right up to the 5.4 crank. Remove the flex plate spacer and install a pilot bearing from a 4.6.
Special note about the different automatic transmissions and their respective harnesses. You cannot run a 4R100 transmission with a PCM that had a 4R70W transmission and vice versa. The transmission harnesses are different and will not plug into the different engine bay harness. The control functions in the PCM are not compatible so the transmission will not function properly.


Torque Converters:
4R70W
ENGINE Stall Speed Multiplication
4.2 1978-2330 2.3:1
4.6 2105-2505 2.3:1
5.4 1830-2190 1.9:1

4R100
All Engines ?????? 2.2:1
If you swap a 5.4 into a 4.6 engine bay and use the 4.6 converter you will multiply the 5.4's torque at a higher rate and at a higher stall speed which will put the torque at the transmission input shaft close to the limit if not over the limit of the 4R70W. The 99+ 5.4 produces 350 ft/lbs of torque. 90% of that is available at 2000 rpm. The stall speed of the 4.6 is above the 2000 rpm range so more than 90% is available. 350 ft/lbs x 2.3(4.6 multiplier) x 90% is 724.5 ft/lbs.


dont know how true any of this is, but this is where the roughly 750ftlbs of torque came from

 

wow....makes sense to me...

 

thats what i thought, but i dont know if his initial numbers are correct or not. i would love to see a dyno sheet with that setup though.....