Worked on my ZF 5 swap tonight

[EMD_DRIVER]

With the beautiful 73 degree day we had today, I decided to start getting the ZF 5 into my truck. After disconnecting the batteries, I removed the top two bellhousing bolts. The one on the passenger side was just slightly more than hand tight.

After getting those bolts out, I jacked up the truck.

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Here's the view before I started. Notice the rear tire chocked on both sides.... Safety first!

Next to come off, were the torque converter cover and the starter. It was interesting to note how much lighter the Mitsubishi starter is, than the Nippondenso. I replaced the direct-drive starter in my 87, with a Nippondenso at the '08 rally and it was MUCH heavier!

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Here's a view of one of the torque converter nuts. I was amazed at how small they are. As amazed as I was, when I saw the five small bolts that hold the spindle on the front axle.

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Next thing I did, was drain the transmission and the torque converter. It was a bit too messy, to get pics of the pan draining. Here is a pic of the torque converter drain plug. Sorry about the fuzziness of the pic.. My macro setting doesn't work well when I'm just too close! It's amazing, how much fluid will come out of that little hole!

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I also disconnected the cooling lines from the transmission, but had to temporarily put the rear one back in. Even after it had run out, it was dripping on my belly, while I was trying to get the drive shafts out.

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Forward cooling line fitting.

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Rearward cooling line fitting.

I then removed the transfer case skid plate, to get access to the U joint straps that go to the front drive shaft. Then it was time to remove the drive shafts themselves. Here's a view looking forward, after both drive shafts were removed.

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For reference purposes, I took a pic of the solenoid pack connector. I had already removed my home-made heat shield.

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Once I had the drive shafts removed, I laid them with the ones I managed to scrounge up for the swap. This pic shows the front section of the rear shaft. The E4OD shaft is on top. I'm hoping the bottom one will work. I will have to clean up the piece that goes into the transfer case.

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Here's what I found for a front shaft. Again, the E4OD shaft is the top one.

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I'm going to tear into this swap in earnest tomorrow. Since I already have the clutch pedal assembly in, I'm hoping to get most everything done tomorrow. I haven't put all the trim back yet, so I can take pictures of the pedal assembly and explain the swap process, if anyone wants me to.

 

[trackspeeder]

 

[david85]

Oh yeah, its a messy proposition to drain an E4OD unless you have a pan drain bolt. All slushboxes are messy, but the pan is just huge on the E4OD compared to the older 3 speed autos.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Worked on it some more today, until I hit a major road block.. The SMF I got, wouldn't fit the end of the crank. The collar on the crank is 2-3/16's in diameter and the corresponding hole in the SMF is only 2-1/16's. I didn't find this out, until 45 minutes after NAPA had closed for the weekend.

Here's a pic of the driver's side of the E4OD, showing the MLPS removed. The 4wd shifter has also been removed. The little pig tail at the bottom of the picture, is the connector for the 4wd indicator light (That I've never been able to find in the dash!) I will be leaving the MLPS connected, but tied out of the way. I made sure the tranny was in neutral, before I removed it.

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This is the bracket, that holds the shifter cable in place. I also will be leaving the cable in, but tied up.

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This pic shows the solenoid pack connector removed. Notice how clean it is inside? It wasn't like that, when I got the truck!

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Here's how I got the TC nuts off. I rotated the motor by the front of the crank, until the nuts were between the oil pan and the spacer. A 3/8 swivel, 14mm socket and a 6" extension made it relatively easy to do.

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Here's the beast, with the tranny jack under it and two straps also. This jack turned out to be way too tall. It was designed to be used with a regular floor jack, but didn't work too well for me. Once lowered, there was no way I was getting the transmission out from under the truck. I ended up putting a couple of thick rubber mats down and sliding the transmission off the jack.

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Ta da! It's out now! I went ahead and removed the transfer caes, while it was still on the jack. The T-case end was already close to the floor and was easy to remove right there.

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One side note... It's a whole lot easier to remove the middle right-side bell housing bolt, if you pull the dipstick and it's tube out first.

I cleaned up the mating surfaces of both the ZF 5 and the transfer case, then applied Ultra Black RTV silicone to the ZF side. The fluid you see on the ZF, is from the transfer caes. I had the ZF standing on it's bell housing, when I mated them together. I also moved the 4wd shifter linkage from the E4OD, to the ZF. Instead of modifying the longer E4OD linkage bar, I am going to make a new one for it.

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Next thing I did, was remove the floor pan. I pulled the carpet back as far as I could, but didn't need to remove the center console, to access all the pan bolts. The flex plate is still in, but was removed just prior to my attempt to install the new flywheel.

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[DeepRoots]

crazy question...
I've noticed all 7.3's have that one dead hole on the crank.
seems weird that you don't have bolts through the flywheel all around.

anyone know why? just curious.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Here are a few picture of the new clutch pedal assembly. I haven't yet put the master/slave cylinders in yet, so I just left the trim pieces off.

First pic shows the electrical connector, that has to be removed. There's a bolt that has to be backed-out, to remove the connector. It's where the arrow is pointing. The two studs that are circled, have the nuts that hold the steering column in place. There are two more, on the other side of the column.

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To get the old pedal assembly out, you will need to remove the four nuts circled, as well as two bolts at the top of the assembly. They are not visible in the pic. Also note the hole in the firewall, at the right of the pic. There was a cover plate there. You'll need to save the nuts, to use on the new master cylinder. Also, the lower bolt on the steering U joint can be loosened, to allow the steering shaft to move down. I left the U joint attached to the column, when I pulled the column out.

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You will also need to remove the cotter pin from the push rod, to get the push rod and brake light switch off.


This pic shows the connector, that goes to the clutch/neutral safety switch. I opted to buy a new switch for it, so I'll be removing the dummy plug and hooking it up.

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[The Warden]

Nice pictures!! I wish I had the time to finish documenting my tranny swap.... *sigh*

crazy question...
I've noticed all 7.3's have that one dead hole on the crank.
seems weird that you don't have bolts through the flywheel all around.

anyone know why? just curious.

The 6.9l's the same way, and I think it's specifically so that the flywheel can only be clocked in one way. I don't remember the thread, but I recall someone (might have been towcat?) saying that the flywheels are balanced relative to the engines so that everything will be balanced properly if the flywheel's oriented the correct way, but things would be thrown off balance if the flywheel was clocked a different way...and, therefore, IH put in the "dead hole" so that you could only put the flywheel on one way.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

In case anyone wanted to use it for reference purposes, I took a pic of the top-rear of the motor. It shows the GP controller circled in red and the oil pressure sending unit circled in pink.

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[discbrks]

Are you swapping the steering column? Or just gonna pull the auto lever off your column?

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Are you swapping the steering column? Or just gonna pull the auto lever off your column?

I'll swap the column later... When finances allow. Right now, I just want to drive my truck again.

 

[discbrks]

I hear ya! The reason I asked is when/if ever I get to do my swap, I don't have a column to put in. My parts truck was missing the column. So I didn't know if I could just snatch the auto lever off. Just looking to see what everyone else does.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

I hear ya! The reason I asked is when/if ever I get to do my swap, I don't have a column to put in. My parts truck was missing the column. So I didn't know if I could just snatch the auto lever off. Just looking to see what everyone else does.

From what I've been told, you only need to knock the pin out of it. I can live with the stub for a while..

 

[DeepRoots]

gary, when I hit land again I'll need to upload my pictures too.
between the two of us, and some few others input we should get a tech article on swapping c6/e40d for zf5

 

[discbrks]

gary, when I hit land again I'll need to upload my pictures too.
between the two of us, and some few others input we should get a tech article on swapping c6/e40d for zf5

That would be awesome! DeepRoots, is your truck 2wd or 4wd?

 

[BigRigTech]

I swapped for a tilt column from a 5spd 1990 F150 4x4. Once your done with the "iron work" you will need to jump some wiring together so your truck will start. I did this at the plugs in the engine bay - easy access. My old E4OD PCM is still in the truck - I left it there to fill the hole in the firewall.......Make sure you cover the hydraulic line to the slave piston so it doesn't get hot from the exhaust.