I have been lurking here for some time and have been happy that I have had to do little with my pick up. The other day it was not working right and when I pulled the pan off to replace a solenoid that needed to be replaced it was painful to look at all the metal shards in the bottom of the pan.

Problem is there is no money for bringing it to a shop.

I am handy and can do nearly all the work on my vehicles but I have never rebuilt a transmission before and I am a little hesitant.

What would my best way of going about this. I see there are manuals for rebuilding and such. I have a rebuild kit in mind to order but not sure about what else I need to order? Any suggestions would be great. As I pull apart the tranny I plan to take lots of pics to reference back to. From what I understand I should get a new torque converter and flush out all of the lines. I want to do it the right way the first time so I do not need to redo it.

Thanks Aaron

99 f150 4X4 5.4L

 

Okay, questions

what was not working right, describe the issue the tranny was having. I have had trannys, that where acting very weird and shifting horribly and simply needed new fluid.

I would like more information and detail before i would recommend building a new tranny.

And at that i would recommend replacing with one from a junk yard with fewer miles before rebuilding one at that.

 

Last year I changed the fluid and filter when I changed a shifting for the o/d solenoid. I checked the fluid level and it was good and still looked new except for the metal inside it. Only about 8,000 miles since the fluid change.

As far as driving when I was going along on the highway when I let off the gas the engine would rev and the truck would slow down very fast like in a manual transmission when you downshift. There is 104,000 miles on my pickup.

 

Man that 4r70w transmission is a weak tranny. The best advice I can give you if you are going to stay with slushboxes (aka automatic trannys) I would say find a 4r100 that is in good shape to go in your truck. There is a reason that SVT put the 4r100 in the Lightnings, and not the 4r70.

 

there is nothing wrong with a 4R70W transmission. I have 200k miles on mine. THey can take a lot of HP, thats why they are used behind many 5.4 motors. The 100 CAN be a stronger transmission, but not necessarily. I wasn thinking you needed a flush also, but after your description, it does sound like you have an internal problem.

 

I never said they would hold up. They are not as stronge as the 4r100. If the 4r100 was not a stronger tranny why did SVT use them when they could have used the 4r70? The thing is what are you going to use your truck for more like a car or more like a truck? If one is using the truck more like a car you can use the 4r70, but if one is using the truck more like a truck (offroading, pulling heavy loads) the 4r100 will be the best fit. I would reather have a tranny that I know would handle what I plan to do with the truck than 1 I have a little uncertianty about.

 

I may be wrong here, but if a truck started out with the 4R70W, than in order to switch over to the 4R100, you will need a computer from a 4R100 also...Maybe some else can chime in if thats not correct.
Rich

 

that is what I have been informed of. You would need a new computer.

 

You would need a different computer and the wiring harness from the truck that came with the 4r100. I also believe you would need a new driveshaft because the 4r100 is longer.

If you plan on doing it yourself, find a lower mileage unit from a junk yard and save yourself the hassle of a rebuild.

 

I would be plenty happy with the transmission rebuilt over making lots of changes. I use my pickup to go fishing, work on my house, and general driving. I do not really abuse it much and think the 4r70w is just fine for me. Lucky for me my Mother has an extra vehicle and so I have something to drive until I can fix the pickup. so Chevy Tracker here I come Just happy I have wheels.

 

That is what I am starting to think. thanks

 

i have 2 of these trucks a 99 4.6 and an 02 5.4. both have the 4r70w and i cant kill either one of them. the 99 has 206000 miles and the 03 has 160000 miles. both have 35x12.50 mud tires on them and i give them hell. i havent had a problem from the tranny besides changing fluid.

 

The 4R70W will do just fine. There are some ignorant people out there that have the broken mentality that if it's not the "biggest",then it's a weak piece of junk. You can get any 4R70W from a '99-'02 . F150's would be the easiest change-but you can get one from a crown vic, Econoline van,mustang,etc. You've just gotta worry about the manual lever mating to the shift cable,and fixing that is pretty easy. Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market will help you find one local.
JL

 

then you also have ignorant people dont think about what one be using their truck for or how the truck is set up as far as power, tires, and so on. weak truck not towing heavy loads = 4r70, big power, heavy towing = a better tranny than the 4r70. Now in your statement "if it is not the biggest, then it is a weak piece of junk" I have not heard anyone saying something like using the tranny out of a diesel. In some diesels they did use the 4r100 but they were a beefed up version, and Ford also uses a 5r110 witch was even stronger.

 

I own and drive vehicles with each of those transmissions-so believe me-you're not educating me on anything about Ford transmissions. I've also had each version apart and know the internal differences and the inherent weaknesses of each of them.
JL