In a 1993 F250 with the 7.3 IDI and E4OD the TCM is located below and to the right of the master cylinder. The TCM is removed and replaced by pulling/pushing into the firewall. There is no reason to remove the kick panel inside the cab. The inner fender has to be moved but not necessarily removed. Even if the TCM is loosened and pulled from its resting place the inner fender will prevent the TCM from being fully removed. Getting enough clearance to pull the TCM out was accomplished by removing the wheel arch trim then the small screws that hold the inner fender in place to allow the rear part of the inner fender to be loosened and bent forward. Once that access is gained the TCM is right there accessed through the wheel well. The inner fender developed a crease from forcing it away but I'm hopeful that a heat gun will help me return the inner fender to its former shape and mounting holes when I reassemble it.
I've ordered a replacement TCM from NAPA online which has taken 10 days so far and still hasn't shown up. The TCM I removed looked pristine - no burnt odors and the capacitors which sometimes degrade and leak looked fine. All circuit traces were clean - the rear tab (which must allow programming but is only accessible by disassembly did have a funky waxy, whitish deposit over all the tabs was the only possible visible defect I saw. Possibly that funk was allowing cross contact leakage. Possibly the TCM has a bad component that is not visibly apparent.
Before I removed the TCM I looked around for a video or description of how to do it and found very little. Even the two volume 2,000 plus page shop manual for the truck has an illustration of what the TCM looks like but nothing else. An alternator AC ripple (who knew?) might have ruined the TCM which causes the recently rebuilt transmission to go into fault mode. Time will tell...
I've ordered a replacement TCM from NAPA online which has taken 10 days so far and still hasn't shown up. The TCM I removed looked pristine - no burnt odors and the capacitors which sometimes degrade and leak looked fine. All circuit traces were clean - the rear tab (which must allow programming but is only accessible by disassembly did have a funky waxy, whitish deposit over all the tabs was the only possible visible defect I saw. Possibly that funk was allowing cross contact leakage. Possibly the TCM has a bad component that is not visibly apparent.
Before I removed the TCM I looked around for a video or description of how to do it and found very little. Even the two volume 2,000 plus page shop manual for the truck has an illustration of what the TCM looks like but nothing else. An alternator AC ripple (who knew?) might have ruined the TCM which causes the recently rebuilt transmission to go into fault mode. Time will tell...
