E4OD hard shift...

NotMatt · Nov 13, 2007

Details: 1990 ford F-350, 460, E4OD.

I get a really hard shift when going from 1st to 2nd, especially when going up hills. If I predict when it will shift, and let out of the throttle a bit it seems to shift much easier.

I just finished tuning up the motor and it runs great now, no codes in the PCM, and after researching it, I don't believe it's a high line pressure problem, because the overdrive light never blinks to indicate a code in the TCM and a switch to high pressure. Other than this rough shift, the transmission shifts fine and doesn't slip and behaves pretty normally.

A co-worker who used to have a '92 with the E4OD was saying that he had this problem and there was a "Transmission assist" fuse that was blown... I looked and have no such fuse, and no fuses blown anyway.

After some googling, it's been suggested that it could either be a solenoid problem, or a problem with the gear positioning sensor on the side of the tranny? Still others suggest a fluid and filter change as the solution to the problem.

Anyone have any experience with this? I think I will start by changing the fluid and filter, since it probably needs to be done anyway. Any other ideas if that doesn't fix it?

Roccrawler · Nov 13, 2007

my motorhomes the same way, I let off just before shift

NotMatt · Nov 13, 2007

Roccrawler said:
my motorhomes the same way, I let off just before shift

Yeah, it's really not too bad... it just annoys me, so I want to see if there's a simple fix. It's a $750 dollar truck, so if it's going to cost me over about 100 bucks to fix, then I'll just live with it.

I actually used to drive a '99 super duty powerstroke for work that had this same problem, except it shifted REALLY hard, like if you didn't let up, you might think you broke the rear driveline when it shifted kind of bad.

TreeClimber · Nov 13, 2007

The E4OD is a garbage transmission. 1990 was the first year this tranny was used behind the diesel and the 460. I know from personal experience. Mine lasted 150k, and started acting really bad. When I took it to the tranny specialist at Parr Ford, it was the first one he'd ever seen that had lasted over 100k without a rebuild. I attributed that to regular tranny services (every 60k) and an auxilary tranny cooler installed when I first got the truck. There were a massive amount of updates to the internals of that tranny over the years to make them sorta reliable, and when rebuilt, are pretty darn good. I just didn't want to fork up the money.

I had a couple of early tranny 'oddities'. One was when the Throttle Positon Sensor went bad. It felt like the tranny was slipping, or acting up. New TPS, and all was good again. Also, Ford is adamant about NOT towing in OD. I very seldom did that.

darius · Nov 13, 2007

TreeClimber said:
The E4OD is a garbage transmission. 1990 was the first year this tranny was used behind the diesel and the 460. I know from personal experience. Mine lasted 150k, and started acting really bad. When I took it to the tranny specialist at Parr Ford, it was the first one he'd ever seen that had lasted over 100k without a rebuild. I attributed that to regular tranny services (every 60k) and an auxilary tranny cooler installed when I first got the truck. There were a massive amount of updates to the internals of that tranny over the years to make them sorta reliable, and when rebuilt, are pretty darn good. I just didn't want to fork up the money.

I had a couple of early tranny 'oddities'. One was when the Throttle Positon Sensor went bad. It felt like the tranny was slipping, or acting up. New TPS, and all was good again. Also, Ford is adamant about NOT towing in OD. I very seldom did that.

I know mine got a lot of upgraded parts when I had it rebuilt last year, my guy said 100k no problem, that's longer than I'll have the truck. I had to send mine in due to only having reverse when I bought it. Mine seem's to shift fine, kinda seem's to shift early during light acceleration, but I have no complaints.

Freeride · Nov 13, 2007

darius said:
I know mine got a lot of upgraded parts when I had it rebuilt last year, my guy said 100k no problem, that's longer than I'll have the truck. I had to send mine in due to only having reverse when I bought it. Mine seem's to shift fine, kinda seem's to shift early during light acceleration, but I have no complaints.

Where'd you go for your E4OD and what'd you pay? I need a new one for the '92 I picked up a month ago.

darius · Nov 13, 2007

Freeride said:
Where'd you go for your E4OD and what'd you pay? I need a new one for the '92 I picked up a month ago.

I went to Lee Myles in marysville, since we have probably 100 tranny's built per year through there I paid about half.

NotMatt · Nov 13, 2007

TreeClimber said:
The E4OD is a garbage transmission. 1990 was the first year this tranny was used behind the diesel and the 460. I know from personal experience. Mine lasted 150k, and started acting really bad. When I took it to the tranny specialist at Parr Ford, it was the first one he'd ever seen that had lasted over 100k without a rebuild. I attributed that to regular tranny services (every 60k) and an auxilary tranny cooler installed when I first got the truck. There were a massive amount of updates to the internals of that tranny over the years to make them sorta reliable, and when rebuilt, are pretty darn good. I just didn't want to fork up the money.

I had a couple of early tranny 'oddities'. One was when the Throttle Positon Sensor went bad. It felt like the tranny was slipping, or acting up. New TPS, and all was good again. Also, Ford is adamant about NOT towing in OD. I very seldom did that.

I'm assuming that this transmission has either been rebuilt or replaced along the way, given that the miles on the truck are probably 230k (only has a 5 digit odometer with the 1/10 mile last digit... I misread it when I got it, and thought it had 300k). Anyway, hopefully if that's the case, it has been updated with some of the newer internals, but who knows. The PO did tow with it, but he said the same thing about towing in OD... never never never were his words.

darius said:
I know mine got a lot of upgraded parts when I had it rebuilt last year, my guy said 100k no problem, that's longer than I'll have the truck. I had to send mine in due to only having reverse when I bought it. Mine seem's to shift fine, kinda seem's to shift early during light acceleration, but I have no complaints.

Mine seems like it shifts a little early sometimes too with light accel, probably just how they set it up to help with fuel mileage a small amount... with a 460 or even a 351, every bit helps.

darius · Nov 13, 2007

NotMatt said:
Mine seems like it shifts a little early sometimes too with light accel, probably just how they set it up to help with fuel mileage a small amount... with a 460 or even a 351, every bit helps.

I swear the tranny think's it's behind a diesel. I asked the tranny guy about it, and he said it can feel that way since lockup is at 28mph.

NotMatt · Nov 14, 2007

darius said:
I swear the tranny think's it's behind a diesel. I asked the tranny guy about it, and he said it can feel that way since lockup is at 28mph.

Yep, that's kind of what I was thinking about it too... sometimes the lockup annoys the **** out of me... but all it takes is to let up on the throttle a slight amount and get back into it, and it will unlock.

I'm going to go get my wiring schematics and see if there's a way to put a switch on the lockup so it can be turned off easily, as it can get annoying around town with a tired old 460.

This weekend I'll do a new filter and a fluid change and see if the hard shift goes away.

NotMatt · Nov 14, 2007

Here's a page I came across while searching for E4OD stuff... complete detailed rebuild, might be useful some day so I'm adding it to my bookmarks and posting it here so I can find it later.

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/projects/e4od/index.htm