E4OD electronically damaged by Alternator?

[derjackistweg]

Hi,

I got an 92 E350 Quigley with an 7.3 IDI and an E4OD connected with 100t miles.

At some point the OD light appeared (no loads, no pulling just driving inside the city). 50 miles later diff gave up so I could not test anything but it seems that OD was not engaging anymore.
While in the shop getting a new diff, it appeared that the alternator burned up and killed (as it seams) the batteries. After installing a new alternator the E4OD Transmission only shifted into 1 gear.

The van was jump started and with the tranny in D, it stayed in first gear. Shifting manually through 1/2/D did not change anything. Driving in D did not shift, either under load or not. It still shifts into rear though.

Tranny oil is at optimum level.
Tranny oil is read and does not smell burned.
Filter is not checked so far, nor the oil pan.


What is to check before buying a new one? E4ODs are electronically controlled as I heard. What can be checked with having to many labor costs?

 

[sassyrel]

get a code reader,,as you may have some codes,,even tho it has stand alone computer..tho it killed the batts,,id find it hard to believe it took out the comp. but ive known murphy also..more than once.........if the comp died,,try www.car-part.com ....

 

[trackspeeder]

With new batteries and alternator, you will not have any codes.

The tranny will not shift to M1 or M2, you have mechanical issues.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

the od light appeared? meaning on half bright and steady? or blinking? in M1/M2 do both feel like 2nd gear? or does either M1 or M2 feel completely blank?
for some reason i think your relaying/wording the info wrong is all and that your teca fuse or relay crapped the bed......check it,wherever it may be on the van.it costs nothing.

 

[derjackistweg]

the od light appeared? meaning on half bright and steady? or blinking? in M1/M2 do both feel like 2nd gear? or does either M1 or M2 feel completely blank?
for some reason i think your relaying/wording the info wrong is all and that your teca fuse or relay crapped the bed......check it,wherever it may be on the van.it costs nothing.

After the OD light appeared I drove only 3 times, roughly 20miles. The light came after some minutes and was steady. I think full bright but sure.

In M1 and M2 both feel like 1rst gear, as RPM went very high (4.10) and I was still not faster than maybe 20 mi/h. When shifting you can only feel it once jerking. Normally once in 1rst, then into 2nd, then in 3rd.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

yeah with a steady light on (when the teca relay or fuse goes on on the 92-94 teca's the od light will remain on dim.about half bright) this means the trans lost power.whenever D doesn't work and it feels like manual shifted 1 or 2 are the same gear (it's actually 2nd) so i think you just have a minor issue.just the trans has lost power is all.

the alternator failure killing the batteries probably blew the fuse that powers the relay,that powers the trans.since this all happened at the time of the alt failure and your symptoms match,it's a fairly safe conclusion.it should be a free fix.
let me see here............................found it.perfect too as it includes e-series.

double edit,well ok.so the only thing this still doesn't show ya,is where the fuses are located that power the relay......but no big deal.just start pulling and inspecting.replace any blown.once you replace the blown fuse that powers the relay,you'll be able to hear it clicking as remove/insert it.then you'll know for sure it's getting power.if still not,then swap the relay from another location to test for a faulty relay.of course then the od light will go out and the trans should function correctly again too.should be all you need.keep us posted.

 

[derjackistweg]

yeah with a steady light on (when the teca relay or fuse goes on on the 92-94 teca's the dim will remain on half bright) this means the trans lost power.whenever D doesn't work and it feels like manual shifted 1 0r 2 are the same gear (it's actually 2nd) so i think you just have a minor issue.just the trans has lost power is all.

the alternator failure killing the batteries probably blew the fuse that powers the relay,that powers the trans.since this all happened at the time of the alt failure and your symptoms match,it's a fairly safe conclusion.it should be a free fix.
let me see here............................

Sounds like a way I should check first (and probably checking filter).
What is "teca" relay? I know what a relay is but haven't heard teca. Do you know where this is located?

I live in Germany and therefore my mechanics (us car lover though) do not want to touch the tranny. A rebuild here would cost me (for sure perfectly done) 3500$! So no way to go that route.
I ve a downloaded rebuild guide (150 pages) if I know what to look for I can probably find it there.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

sorry i was editing while you were typing it looks like.check out the post you quoted again for additional info.
teca just means; transmission electronic control assembly (the control unit/pcm/ecm,tcm,brain etc.whatever ya wanna call it.the controller that operates the trans electronically.)

 

[derjackistweg]

Right

 

[derjackistweg]

Hi,

long time, nothing really further...

So I finally managed to test something:
I found the so called Power distribution box. It is in a 1992- E350 directly under the master brake cylinder. And with directly I mean directly. Just about 1-2" and half an inch below the waterline coming from the water cooler.

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It is so tight that you can hardly manage to remove the cover from the Power Box

So I checked all fuses, none was defect. The ECC Relay is removed at the picture and was located near the 20A fuse.

I checked the provided power as mentioned in the ECC Relay Function and location Doc above: All as mentioned except Terminal D. Ignition off was correct but Ignition on only ~3.3 Volt, it should have near 12V!
Not sure if this could cause the problem? And I have no clue why there is 8 Volt "missing"?

PS: I have, since the Alternator screwed up, the problem that the engine (7.3 IDI N/A) is NOT KILLED by the key! I need to pull the connector from the IP. I guess that these problem come together in any burned something (fuse, relay .. I have no idea)?

 

[OLDBULL8]

If there is a shorted diode in the alternator, it will kill the batteries in about 6-8 hrs. Charge the batteries, then see if the alternator gets warm, if so ya got a bad alternator. The E4OD is controlled by a EEC-IV module. Inputs to it are the RPM sensor, MLPS or VSS and Speedometer. An Alternator will not kill a E4OD, only if the alternator puts out an overvoltage.

 

[derjackistweg]

If there is a shorted diode in the alternator, it will kill the batteries in about 6-8 hrs. Charge the batteries, then see if the alternator gets warm, if so ya got a bad alternator. The E4OD is controlled by a EEC-IV module. Inputs to it are the RPM sensor, MLPS or VSS and Speedometer. An Alternator will not kill a E4OD, only if the alternator puts out an overvoltage.

Hi,

I was not clear enough: The alternator is new, as the batteries are now. The "EEC-IV module" is the box in the picture or the relay? I am confused ....
I've a Van and therefor no RPM gauge, so there is probably no input from this side, right?
What is MLPS/VSS? EDIT: I got it: Manual Lever Position

 

[LCAM-01XA]

You may not have an RPM gauge (tachometer), but you still have an engine speed sensor wired in as the transmission computer requires one to know when to shift. On the E4OD-equipped trucks said computer is wired in between the engine speed sensor and the tachometer gauge, in your van you still have an input from the sensor just not an output to the gauge (actually the output is there in the computer pins, just the wiring to use it is missing from the harness).

Your 3.3V is definitely a problem - the transmission and its brain are made to run on 12V or more (over 13V usually), a small drop is not a big deal but almost 10V drop IS a huge deal. If you're getting battery voltage at the C terminal all the time, then your problem is either the relay itself or the wiring for terminal D. How did you measure terminal D voltage anyways? You can only get an accurate reading with the relay in place, you can usually plug it in just halfway and that's good enough to make decent contact with the wires yet still allow you some space to sneak in a voltmeter probe and be able to touch it to the terminals to check their state.

 

[derjackistweg]

Just some few minor updates. The truck is still not running, though its now in another garage!

Update #1 is: Speaking with some different mechanics they all came to the conclusion that this could be caused by an "overvolting", like typical by done with an 24v jumpstarter. As the first garage has not very much clue from big ford trucks (2 batteries in parallel) though they do heavy trucks very much - its likely that they used a 24v jump starter instead of 12v. Remember all electronics damaged: Engine shut-off, Tranny, Batteries, Alternator - all at once!
This garage/ mechanic of course told that they jump started correctly. Though having spoken with other people I doubt that now.

update #2: Having the probably source of failure in mind, we now think its the trannys TCU in the firewall. A common part in the US, sadly means a very very unknown part in Germany. I´ll try to find someone able to test the unit electronically.

 

[Rainer1965]

PM me if I can help with an adress of the guy who did mine. In Germany of course [emoji16]

Liebe Grüße,
Rainer