Mothra Metamorphosis

[GrantRobertson]

OK, I got it registered today. Turns out, I spent all day yesterday fighting with the new contractor's web site. Anyway, I think I got into the registration office just in time. While I was waiting there were only a few people waiting with me. As I left, there were maybe a hundred people packing the seats.

Then, I got the last of the huge rain-pour-in holes covered. I just used some more of that bathroom panel and "glued" it on with cheap caulk. Held the vertical piece in place temporarily with clear Gorilla Tape. That stuff is awesome.

Tomorrow, I will see if I can get it to the transmission shop for a free diagnostic. I'm taking it to a place in Austin that a friend recommended, called Eagle Transmission. She said they don't BS you to get you to spend more money.

I thought about what someone said about switching for the transmission without the overdrive. However, I won't be driving it a whole lot, and when I do drive it, it will be on the highway most of the time. So I've decided to stick with the overdrive, even if it isn't as durable.

Question, when I am towing something heavy, if I turn overdrive off, will that put less wear on the overdrive gears? Or is the overdrive version just less durable overall?

 

[highdesertranger]

yes and yes. yes turn your OD off when towing, going up mountains, and around town. and yes your overdrive trans is less durable then the same model without OD. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

OD use is fine for use on flatroads at steady speed, and downhill.  Uphill, well depends on the hill and one's speed.

Add an additional transmission cooler, and if the tranny pan does not have a drain plug, add one.

The correct fresh ATfluid, kept cool will extend the life of the transmission. 

I have a magnefine filter inline on my ATF cooling circuit, but will be putting in a larger remote filter at some point.

 

[BradKW]

More info on fibertite please....

Fibertite is a thermoplastic roofing membrane where seams are welded together with a special heat gun. Other brands use chemical welding. I work for a general contractor and this is the brand we use, but there are many types and flavors. Check out http://www.askthebuilder.com/membrane-roofing-types/ for a decent overview.

We generally use a perimeter termination method which leaves the middle unattached, like a floating floor system. If used on an rv I'd think a full glue down would be appropriate. Depending on your local, your best bet might be to find a contractor who works with the system you're interested in and seeing if they're willing to sell the material from stock or leftovers...

 

[29chico]

I proposed considering a swap to a C6.  But only if your trans is failing.  The reasons behind my thinking are below:

First:  You might be surprised how expensive it is to do a standard rebuild on an E4OD.  The cost of doing a premium rebuild and upgrade to an E4OD so that it can hold a small pathetic candle to an average C6 build in the reliability department is staggering.  

Second: You might be able to buy a rebuilt C6 outright for less than half the cost of a standard rebuild on the E4OD that you now have.  I had a full rebuild done on my C6 in my diesel 4x4 F250 three years ago for less that $1200 all in.  A standard E4OD rebuild would probably cost 2.5 times that.  So it might be possible to get a full C6 swap done for about the same price as rebuilding an E4OD.  

Third:  Often on vehicles with large amounts of frontal area that are equipped with OD trannys get the same, or sometimes better, fuel economy in third gear (direct 1:1 ratio) at 55 mph or below.  Are you planning to drive your rig at over 55?

Fourth: A direct drive (top "gear" in a C6, third "gear" in an E4OD) is always more mechanically efficient than an overdrive gearset.  More durable also as there are actually no gears involved.

Fifth: The E4OD is a first gen electronically controlled transmission.  That is in part why it suffers in the reliability department.  The C6 is not electronically controlled. 

Yes, you may have to junkyard source a Ford EEC IV engine computer from a manual transmission equipped F250 or F350 pickup that has a 460 engine engine in it to put the polishing touch on a C6 swap. This is not as big a deal as it might sound.

Here is to hoping that the trans in your rig is given a clean bill of health!  If so, I'd suggest that you refrain from having the trans serviced there and then.  An older trans that has not been serviced regularly can fail right after a full fluid change.  I have a fairly simple method that you can do yourself that can help prevent this.

 

[GrantRobertson]

An older trans that has not been serviced regularly can fail right after a full fluid change.  I have a fairly simple method that you can do yourself that can help prevent this.

That is exactly what happened to my 1978 T-Bird in 1985.

 

[GrantRobertson]

I proposed considering a swap to a C6.  But only if your trans is failing.  The reasons behind my thinking are below:

...

 An older trans that has not been serviced regularly can fail right after a full fluid change.  I have a fairly simple method that you can do yourself that can help prevent this.

Alrighty, you have convinced me to swap out IF the trans is bad. Could you please enlighten us on the method you use to avoid ruining a transmission when doing a full fluid change after a long period of no maintenance? Or do you just not do a full change, and change it in phases?

Right now the transmission is doing hard shifts and (only every once in a while, when cold) slips badly. Once it gets warmed up, the slipping stops but the hard shifting continues. I am guessing it could just be low on fluid. I will check that in the morning before taking it over to the transmission shop. I have already purchased some fluid and some Lucas additive. Though I have yet to add any. I only have a few hours each day to work on the thing and I have to prioritize day by day.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Fibertite ...

Depending on your local, your best bet might be to find a contractor who works with the system you're interested in and seeing if they're willing to sell the material from stock or leftovers...

That is a great idea. The roof of my RV is tiny compared to the sizes of roofs these contractors are doing. I'm sure Austin has a lot of these dealers/contractors because there is a lot of construction going on here and everyone wants to save energy with white roofs. Someone should have some remnants or expect to have some soon.

 

[GrantRobertson]

OD use is fine for use on flatroads at steady speed, and downhill.  Uphill, well depends on the hill and one's speed.

Add an additional transmission cooler, and if the tranny pan does not have a drain plug, add one.

The correct fresh ATfluid, kept cool will extend the life of the transmission. 

I have a magnefine filter inline on my ATF cooling circuit, but will be putting in a larger remote filter at some point.

Considering that poorly maintained transmissions tend to go bad right after a full flush, would you still recommend adding these modifications? It seems that adding them would require changing the fluid. I am going on the assumption that my transmission has not been maintained properly.

 

[SternWake]

Well you won't necessarily  lose much ATF  while plumbing an additional cooler or an external filter.


Dropping the tranny pan gets half or less of the total ATF capacity. 

I know nothing about your specific transmission and only a little about transmissions in general,  but you got 29chico, who obviously does, so I'd take his advice.

 

[Gary68]

whats the mileage ?

 

[29chico]

Alrighty, you have convinced me to swap out IF the trans is bad. Could you please enlighten us on the method you use to avoid ruining a transmission when doing a full fluid change after a long period of no maintenance? Or do you just not do a full change, and change it in phases?

Right now the transmission is doing hard shifts and (only every once in a while, when cold) slips badly. Once it gets warmed up, the slipping stops but the hard shifting continues. I am guessing it could just be low on fluid. I will check that in the morning before taking it over to the transmission shop. I have already purchased some fluid and some Lucas additive. Though I have yet to add any. I only have a few hours each day to work on the thing and I have to prioritize day by day.

Yes, changing the fluid in small amounts is the trick that can save a neglected transmission.  No point in going into the details about doing so now. 

The highest probability of causing the hard shifting is a vacuum modulator with a failed diaphragm.  When this happens the ATF gets sucked up into the intake manifold by engine vacuum, the tranny shifts hard and the ATF level in the trans drops. Easy to tell if this has happened, just pull the vac line off the vac modulator.  If you have ATF in the vac line, the modulator has a failed diaphragm. 

I would check for a failed vac modulator before starting your rig again. 

A vac modulator is cheap and easy to replace.  There should be a steel vac line from the vac modulator to the intake manifold with short rubber lines connecting it to the vac mod and vac fitting on the back of the intake manifold.  Clean out the steel line with some kind of solvent, I prefer denatured alcohol as it is a somewhat safer than the alternatives, then blow out the steel line with compressed air.  Replace the short sections of vac line with new.  That or buy a long chunk of vac line and ignore the steel line for now.  Then get the ATF fluid up to a safe level and test drive. 

There may be no need to go to the trans shop just yet.

How many miles on your rig?  I'm asking because if it has over about 120k miles the trans would have a high probability of having been rebuilt and important updates would have been done.

 

[GrantRobertson]

whats the mileage ?

Well the odometer says 68,000 but the Speedo is wonky and the PO said he doesn't trust it. Yup, and I bought it anyway.

 

[GrantRobertson]

The highest probability of causing the hard shifting is a vacuum modulator with a failed diaphragm.

I've got the Chilton manual for 1989-1996 Ford cargo vans. It only talks about vacuum modulators for the C6 transmission. I found a thread online that says the E40D does not have a vacuum modulator because it is electronically controlled. Because I definitely DO have overdrive, I assume that means I cannot have a C6 transmission.

I think I am gonna take it into the shop just to see what they say. I will at least learn for sure what transmission is in the thing.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Checked the transmission fluid. It looks to be a bit overfull for a cold engine. The "stick" had a white plastic tip on the end that had the range marked for hot on one side and cold on the other. The fluid is pinkish, with tints of brown and actually has a less intense color, compared to other transmission fluids I have seen.

 

[SaltySeaWitch]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you but it's very exciting. Wish I had my bus :-(

 

[29chico]

I've got the Chilton manual for 1989-1996 Ford cargo vans. It only talks about vacuum modulators for the C6 transmission. I found a thread online that says the E40D does not have a vacuum modulator because it is electronically controlled. Because I definitely DO have overdrive, I assume that means I cannot have a C6 transmission.

I think I am gonna take it into the shop just to see what they say. I will at least learn for sure what transmission is in the thing.

You are correct, no vac modulator on E4OD.  That is what I get for posting in the mid of night.

 

[29chico]

Checked the transmission fluid. It looks to be a bit overfull for a cold engine. The "stick" had a white plastic tip on the end that had the range marked for hot on one side and cold on the other. The fluid is pinkish, with tints of brown and actually has a less intense color,  compared to other transmission fluids I have seen.

Did you check the fluid level in park with the engine running after shifting it thru all of the gear positions?

Hmm,  ATF with tints of brown is a bad sign.  Did it have a burnt smell?

 

[GrantRobertson]

Did you check the fluid level in park with the engine running after shifting it thru all of the gear positions?

Hmm,  ATF with tints of brown is a bad sign.  Did it have a burnt smell?

No, I checked it cold. According to Chilton, when you check it cold, you don't do all that. Though, I imagine there is value in doing both.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Dropped it off at the transmission shop. The transmission repair person who drove me home said he loves the E40D transmissions. He said, once they put their standard modifications on it, it was one of the most reliable transmissions on the road. They'll be calling me later this afternoon.