Installed Factorytech valve body: Overdrive light is blinking

[adami67]

I installed a Factorytech valve body into my 4R70W transmission and now the gear shift lever mounted "overdrive off" light is blinking. This is in a 2001 F150 Supercrew 4x4 with 5.4L engine. With the transmission dry after the valve body change, I put in 10qts or Mercon V. At 10qts, the thing is showing full on the dip stick while warmed up. The owners manual indicates that this thing is to take 13.9 quarts, so it loolks like I'm a bit low, but the trans dip stick shows that it's full. The overdrive on/off button is working. When the "off" is lit, it shifts out of overdrive. When "off" is not lit, it is allowed to shift into overdrive. I don't know what to use to pull codes from the computer, so a suggestion for this as well would be helpful. Thanks

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[crashz]

Autozone can read the codes for you for free. I think there was a rumor that they can't read the transmission codes, so I'm not 100% positve that the can. Its worth a try though. Any drivability issues?

[adami67]

As far as drivability, the thing really hammers the gears between 1st and 2nd.
I'm worried that this is way to harsh on the truck's other drive train components. The shift between 2nd and 3rd is quite a bit softer, but way more firmer than stock.

I'm almost inclined to put the stock unit back in unless somebody can tell me that the harsh shift between 1-2 is ok for my truck.

Reminder of what I have:
2001 F150 Supercrew with 5.4L
35" tires
4.56 gears
5 psi intercooled blower.

Thanks

[HiOSilver'01]

Don't know if you have seen this old thread or not but it may help.

For those with FTVB

Questions: How much fluid did you drain out?
Did you drain the TC? If not you may be overfilled.
Did you torque the vb bolts and in the correct sequence?

I had the same concerns about the 1-2 shift. The post above has Gregg's suggestion about removing one of the springs in the 1-2 accumulator to soften it up (vb doesn't have to be removed for this).

HiO

[Factory_Tech]

Shoot me an address and I'll replace the valve body. We can spend x amount of time tryiing to figure out what's wrong, and honestly most of the problems I run accross are install related, but in the end it's easier if I overnight you a new one, that way even if it's an install problem, you only pull it once. Use my regualr e-mail GBEvans@peoplepc.com.

Thanks, and sorry for the problems,

G

[02XLT]

Mine also hammers the 1-2 shift. But it's been working fine with no problems. I do however regret the hard shifts. What's odd is that when I changed my fluid a few months ago the 1-2 shift was PERFECT. Not to hard but nice and quick. After about 2 or 3 weeks though the harshness came right back. I just thought that was kind of weird.

-Brian

[adami67]

Hi all,
I'm going to summarize what I experienced with this FTVB upgrade which consists of just about everything that has been reported by others that did this upgrade.

HiOSilver,
Yes, that thread was very helpful in confirming everything I have experienced so far. Notable:
-audible "whine" that was not present before the upgrade
-WAY TOO hard of a shift from 1 to 2 (this must be fixed)
-Very nice shift from 2-3 and 3-OD (quick and expected firmness)
-Very nice upshifting when accelerating
-11quarts of Mercon V ATF
-a little sticking with the manual shift lever between N and D (I noticed this on the VB before I installed as well, but figured it would work itself in.
-And of course,,,the blinking Overdrive LED. Still has not gone away.

Things that took me a bit of extra time:
-The bottle cap came crashing out when I took the VB off. Took me a while to figure out what end goes up. Figured this out by matching wear patterns and locations.
The little screen was laying on top of the VB, so took a bit of matching to figure out where it goes. What a pain to make it stay put when installing it back.

Things that concern me and I need to fix:
-What is that whine??
-Why is my Overdrive LED blinking? what controlls this?
I unhooked the battery for 15 mins, then reconnected, and it started blinking again.
-Can I just remove the suplimental spring in the 1-2 cylinder to easy up the 1-2 shift?
-How many quarts actually go in this thing?

I have 35" Xterrain tires and 4.56 gears. The 1-2 shift does not break the tires loose, so I'm really worried about breaking something else like U-joints, or t-case parts.

Greg,
I'll send you a private message. I 100% agree that most problems are with the installation, so I'd like to get your opinion and the technical details of what I'm experiencing. Maybe my information along with the others I have seen so far will help you provide a "cheat sheet" for customizing this install.

Thanks all.

[Factory_Tech]

Something that is very important about the bottlecap. There are 2 different ones, the tall and short. SOme valve bodies have 3 "pac man" plates, some have just 2. If you have a valve body with the 2 plates, you MUST use the tall bottlecap, all 2 plate models sent out come with a new bottlecap that you must install. If you have the 3 plate valve body, you can use either bottlecap, but the tall one will shift harder on the 1-2 shift, keeping the "short" bottlecap" will lessen this a bit, or you can also leave the 1-2 accumulator stock and it will work fine that way, also. (the 1-2 is adjusted in both the accumulator and internally in the actual valve body) If you got a bottlecap in you FTVB, you MUST use the one supplied to make sure you have a tall one, if you use the short bottlecap with a 2 plate valve body, the 1-2 accumulator will over stroke and bad things can happen. I think the instructions are pretty clear on this, but just to make sure.

G

[adami67]

Greg,
My stock valve body had three "pac man" plates and the shorter bottlecap.
The new FTVB had two "pac man" plates and the longer bottlecap.

Installed the new FTVB with the longer bottlecap per the instructions.
The bottlecap cone is pointed downward just like the stock one was.

Is there any harm in putting the stock springs back in?
Does the new valve body with stock springs provide "any" improvement over stock for other things?

[adami67]

One more think that was interesting,,

When I pulled the pan off the transmission, I noticed this wierd object inside. The object is plastic has a 3/4" round ball section at the bottom, an o-ring around the middle of the ball area, and then about a 1.2" pin section that was about 0.125" thick. The bottom of the ball section was carved out making the bottom concave. It was just floating around in the bottom of my pan. It sort of looks like a mini plastic plunger with an o-ring.
The last folks to touch my transmission was the Ford dealer as part of the tranny filter change and fluid flush. I'm sure that they did not take the valve body off, so this part must have been somewhere outside the valve body and casing (but inside the pan of course). What the heck is it? Did Ford leave me an extra part for some reason?

[adami67]

Ok,,now the truck is hesitating when shifting. It's like it can't figure out what gear it should be in.

I won't be driving my truck today..:-(

[jaymz]

The extra piece you found is a plug that comes with the tranny and is meant to keep the crud out of it til vehicle assembly. It gets pushed out and just lays in the pan. Does no harm, but remove it if you get inside again.

[adami67]

Whew!!
Jaymz, I was worried about my mechanical talent in not figuring out where that thing goes. Thanks for confirming that this was an unnecessary part that can be removed.
I wonder why the guys at Ford did not remove that thing when they did the fluid flush and filter change?

Thanks again

[02XLT]

Makes you wonder if they even changed it.

-Brian

[Factory_Tech]

When the dealer does a flush, they don't remove the pan, they never even saw it.
You can safely leave the accumulators they way they were stock, most of the changes are in the actual valve body and there are improvements with just that.


G