to all '01 owners!
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From: USofA
to all '01 owners!
Might be old news to everyone but I'll post anyway
Exclusive Report
Engineering defect plagues
2001 Ford 4R100 transmission
Published: 01 September 2000
Date of revision: 01 September 2000, 11:03pm, est.
Source: Condition of anonymity
By: Robert Lane, staff writer
Ford's latest quality sting couldn't have come at a more inopportune time. A flaw in the newly designed 4R100's truck transmission has forced the temporary closure of Ford's highly profitable Michigan truck plant and the decreased production of certain other Ford truck models at other assembly plants. It was earlier reported that a lack of 5.4L V8 engines was the cause of the Michigan plants closure; however, those reports were FALSE.
Ford upgraded the 4R100 transmission for 2001 by using a new mechanical diode in the forward clutch area. The new diode was expected to save Ford $4.00 per transmission, but now the diode is the cause of the transmission's failure. If a diode fails it could damage the transmission and or disable second gear.
The 2001 4R100 transmissions that are being recalled are used in the highly profitable 5.4L V8 powered Expedition, Navigator, Excursion, Econoline van and F-Series truck. They are also used in F150 Lighting models. There are 30 different 4R100 transmission models - none of which are interchangeable. Close to a thousand vehicles with the faulty transmissions have already been sold to the public.
An earlier report by BlueOvalNews.com INCORRECTLY reported that 4R100 transmissions were being diverted from Michigan Truck and Lorain to Kansas City. All production vehicles at the Kansas City Truck plant utilize the 4R70W transmission which is NOT affected.
The problem was first noticed when some of the Kentucky truck plant's assembled vehicles started experiencing transmission failures before they left the assembly plant. This prompted Ford to issue a stop build and stop ship order to the Sharonville, Ohio plant until the cause of the transmissions' failure could be determined. Ford's transmission engineers concluded that the failure was due to an error in the testing procedure and the transmissions would not fail outside of the faulty testing procedure. The testing procedure was modified and Sharonville was asked to continue production and shipment of the transmissions.
Last Thursday, Ford's Livonia, Michigan powertrain operations group discovered that if the engine's RPM went up to 4,600 and then the throttle was released and then applied again under wide open throttle the mechanical diode would fail. Later that night the theory was tested at the Michigan truck plant on seven different Expedition and Navigator models - all experienced transmission failure. On Friday, a second stop build and stop shipment was issued to the Sharonville plant where upon all 4R100 transmissions intended for non-diesel engines was issued. On Saturday, 20 experimental 4R100's were built using an a new mechanical diode design and there have been NO REPORTED FAILURES.
Sharonville is now building the upgraded transmissions which have an orange paint splash on the top of the case (bellhousing) and on the side cover where the Ford script is located.
An estimated 50,000 transmissions were built with the bad diodes. Ford is making every effort to recall each transmission back to Sharonville where upon they will be rebuilt. Reverting back to the 2000 design could force Ford to idle production at several plants for weeks. Sharonville is currently building the 2001 designed transmissions.
Since the problem only occurs when the engine's RPM range is above 4,600 rpm, transmissions used with diesel engines are not going to be recalled since this is above their operating range.
BlueOvalNews has reported several problems with Ford's ability to design and engineer a durable transmission - but there have been NO instances where the quality of a transmission's assembly have been a major issue.
Autocraft (formerly Fred Jones) who is the rebuilder for the 4R100 will be receiving 16,000 failed transmission from the Ford Sharonville Transmission plant that will need to be rebuilt due to the mechanical diode
failures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a comment about this article? Post it on the global message board or email Robert Lane.
Copyright permission to use this article in any form is not required. For more information, go here.
BlueOvalNews.com
Exclusive Report
Engineering defect plagues
2001 Ford 4R100 transmission
Published: 01 September 2000
Date of revision: 01 September 2000, 11:03pm, est.
Source: Condition of anonymity
By: Robert Lane, staff writer
Ford's latest quality sting couldn't have come at a more inopportune time. A flaw in the newly designed 4R100's truck transmission has forced the temporary closure of Ford's highly profitable Michigan truck plant and the decreased production of certain other Ford truck models at other assembly plants. It was earlier reported that a lack of 5.4L V8 engines was the cause of the Michigan plants closure; however, those reports were FALSE.
Ford upgraded the 4R100 transmission for 2001 by using a new mechanical diode in the forward clutch area. The new diode was expected to save Ford $4.00 per transmission, but now the diode is the cause of the transmission's failure. If a diode fails it could damage the transmission and or disable second gear.
The 2001 4R100 transmissions that are being recalled are used in the highly profitable 5.4L V8 powered Expedition, Navigator, Excursion, Econoline van and F-Series truck. They are also used in F150 Lighting models. There are 30 different 4R100 transmission models - none of which are interchangeable. Close to a thousand vehicles with the faulty transmissions have already been sold to the public.
An earlier report by BlueOvalNews.com INCORRECTLY reported that 4R100 transmissions were being diverted from Michigan Truck and Lorain to Kansas City. All production vehicles at the Kansas City Truck plant utilize the 4R70W transmission which is NOT affected.
The problem was first noticed when some of the Kentucky truck plant's assembled vehicles started experiencing transmission failures before they left the assembly plant. This prompted Ford to issue a stop build and stop ship order to the Sharonville, Ohio plant until the cause of the transmissions' failure could be determined. Ford's transmission engineers concluded that the failure was due to an error in the testing procedure and the transmissions would not fail outside of the faulty testing procedure. The testing procedure was modified and Sharonville was asked to continue production and shipment of the transmissions.
Last Thursday, Ford's Livonia, Michigan powertrain operations group discovered that if the engine's RPM went up to 4,600 and then the throttle was released and then applied again under wide open throttle the mechanical diode would fail. Later that night the theory was tested at the Michigan truck plant on seven different Expedition and Navigator models - all experienced transmission failure. On Friday, a second stop build and stop shipment was issued to the Sharonville plant where upon all 4R100 transmissions intended for non-diesel engines was issued. On Saturday, 20 experimental 4R100's were built using an a new mechanical diode design and there have been NO REPORTED FAILURES.
Sharonville is now building the upgraded transmissions which have an orange paint splash on the top of the case (bellhousing) and on the side cover where the Ford script is located.
An estimated 50,000 transmissions were built with the bad diodes. Ford is making every effort to recall each transmission back to Sharonville where upon they will be rebuilt. Reverting back to the 2000 design could force Ford to idle production at several plants for weeks. Sharonville is currently building the 2001 designed transmissions.
Since the problem only occurs when the engine's RPM range is above 4,600 rpm, transmissions used with diesel engines are not going to be recalled since this is above their operating range.
BlueOvalNews has reported several problems with Ford's ability to design and engineer a durable transmission - but there have been NO instances where the quality of a transmission's assembly have been a major issue.
Autocraft (formerly Fred Jones) who is the rebuilder for the 4R100 will be receiving 16,000 failed transmission from the Ford Sharonville Transmission plant that will need to be rebuilt due to the mechanical diode
failures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a comment about this article? Post it on the global message board or email Robert Lane.
Copyright permission to use this article in any form is not required. For more information, go here.
BlueOvalNews.com
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 4,297
Likes: 0
From: Clifton, NJ, USA
I think this has been fixed already if I remember reading correctly in the past... (we've already heard this bulletin).
Wonder if it is what caused "job1" to initally get pushed from begining of Dec to Jan.
Wonder if it is what caused "job1" to initally get pushed from begining of Dec to Jan.