E4OD Down and Out

BDCarrillo · Oct 29, 2014

So I'm driving along normally and hit a small bump in the highway, and I lose all gears. No forward, no reverse. Linkage is good, no abnormal codes on KOEO, no communication on KOER. Fluid is full, looks brand new, no burned smell. Small smears of clutch material in the pan. No grinding, slipping, noises, etc. Just a completely unexpected failure without warning.

Going to see if the pump puts anything out tonight then prep for transmission removal. Supposedly it's a rebuilt transmission, no details on mileage, builder, etc.

Found a pump for $65 here: http://www.fordtransmissions.net/prod.itml/icOid/87
Still searching for a source on economical torque converters. No towing or heavy hauling.

Anything else I should suspect right off the bat besides converter or pump?

Diesile · Oct 29, 2014

Electrical problems.

BDCarrillo · Oct 29, 2014

An E4OD without any electrical power can still go in reverse and second. Since I have neither, it's a pump, converter, or deeper issue.

david85 · Oct 29, 2014

I don't suppose you were accelerating at the time, where you?

BDCarrillo · Oct 30, 2014

Yep, gently up to cruise speed of 65. Incident happened about 40-50 mph.

I'm strongly suspecting the converter. Transmission looks pristine on the interior. Converter is painted blue but has rust spots. No evidence of ballooning or overheating.

trackspeeder · Oct 30, 2014

Check the filter before you go crazy. Look for cracks in the pick up tube.

BDCarrillo · Oct 30, 2014

trackspeeder said:
Check the filter before you go crazy. Look for cracks in the pick up tube.

Filter is out, will check tonight. First thought was it may have been shaken a little loose, but seemed like it was tight on the grommet.

Will try a new filter and top up the fluid to test pump output (if any). If it doesn't help I'll recover the fluid for my Mustang and keep the new filter for use after repairs.

-----Update

Old filter tube checked out ok. Opened up the filter and found small shavings of metal.

snicklas · Oct 31, 2014

dwayne,

Actually for this question, you are in the incorrect section. Since you had a 300CI I6 Gas Engine, your post should be in the Gas Engine section of the forum.

I will move your post there....

BDCarrillo · Nov 6, 2014

Well I hit a derp moment. Crossmember is completely unbolted including the side brackets, tc unbolted, all connectors/hoses removed. Tranny jack in place for the tilt and bellhousing bolt removal.

How do I get the darn crossmember out?? Not enough room to jack up the tail of the tranny for the mount studs to clear without hitting the floor pan.

This was a lot easier on the mustangs lol... 2 bolts and crossmember dropped straight down.

david85 · Nov 7, 2014

Does it look like this?

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If so, you should be able to just unbolt everything and the side with the 90 degree vertical bend should drop out first.

If it looks looks like the C6 cross member 2nd from the bottom here:

You must be registered for see images attach

...you should be able to rotate the cross member slightly to get one end out of the frame channel. Then the whole cross member would fall out (provided the upper brackets have also been unbolted).

Could also remove the mount from the transmission. There are two bolts that thread up into the extension housing on either end. Take those out and the mount should fall off allowing you to slide the cross member free and clear.

BDCarrillo · Nov 7, 2014

Mine is more like the c6 mount (2wd truck). Will try the lift and rotate tonight.

BDCarrillo · Nov 7, 2014

Lift, rotate, cuss, kick and it's out.

Torque converter is gone. Input shaft spins freely, can hear the splines barely grabbing. It was a Dacco unit for gassers.

Anyone have an OD for the inner input shaft so I can check for wear? No obvious signs.

Also taking recommendations for torque converters. Zero towing (ever), just a pavement princess.

trackspeeder · Nov 8, 2014

BDCarrillo said:
Lift, rotate, cuss, kick and it's out.

Torque converter is gone. Input shaft spins freely, can hear the splines barely grabbing. It was a Dacco unit for gassers.

Anyone have an OD for the inner input shaft so I can check for wear? No obvious signs.

Also taking recommendations for torque converters. Zero towing (ever), just a pavement princess.

If you don't see any damage to the splines (tranny side) it will be fine.

I wouldn't go to cheap on a converter. It doesn't matter if you tow or not. Your IDI puts enough low end torque to beat up a stock spec converter.

I would stick to a billet cover multi disk converter.

Be sure to clean all the metal debris out of the tranny and cooler lines before you install your new parts. Contamination is the number one killer of replacement parts.

BDCarrillo · Nov 8, 2014

I do plan on flushing out everything before reinstall with an electric pump on the cooler lines.

I just have a hard time spending ~$600 (racerx) on a torque converter. That's more than half of what I paid for the truck and it's simply a WMO burning daily driver.

For that price I can pick up two transmissions or three IDI engines locally.

Labor for removal/reinstall isn't an issue. If I get 20k miles out of a cheapo converter I'd be happy.

david85 · Nov 8, 2014

The only problem is, you don't know how much shrapnel has already been pumped through the rest of the transmission. It doesn't take much to start jamming up valves or chipping gear teeth after a torque converter explodes.

Unless you plan to turbocharge at any time in the future, a mild converter should be fine. Billet is nice but not really mandatory for a lightly used unit. Most converters you buy today will have the minimum improvements to keep it from exploding like that again. The OEM converters back in the day were crimped together internally and that's why they can fatigue and fall apart like that. New replacements today are usually brazed or at least spot welded. Ask the seller about it before buying.

E4OD Down and Out

BDCarrillo

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Diesile

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trackspeeder

Stone crusher.

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