For my edification can anyone tell me what the common failure points are for auto trans? I know torque conv fail or wear out but these are probably wear & tear items anyway. What other parts are common failures for autos? Or does it depend upon the auto? I'm guessing that most autos suffer the same types of failures regardless of the manufacturer. I have the E40D w/102k and hope to get to 200k+ w/o fixing/replacing it. Autos are so expensive to repair. I guess I'm really nervous because Ford burned me on a Taurus trans. I spent $1500 at a local shop to fix it because Ford wanted $2500. The shop tells me that the Taurus is it's biggest customer so I figured it must be a design flaw. So I went to arbitration as I was only 5k miles out of warranty and they told me to 'take it, and like it'. Well f' them so I sold the car for $1500 less than I owed on it. Now I'm $3000 short and had to buy another car. About 6 months later I get a letter from Ford stating that there is a recall or something like it and that they would repair the trans or repay you if you had it fixed before this letter. Of course I was so mad at the time that I threw all my paperwork away once I sold the car and the little shop that fixed my trans would not or could not produce me a copy so a few months later I write Ford and they look up the VIN and tell me that the new owner had it fixed under that recall so they wouldn't be able to help me. Apparently the fix I had done didn't take so it failed on the new owner and he got it fixed under the recall/TSB. Never got my money. I know I'm rambling, I just had to vent as this still boils my blood. I'll live.

Thanks for the info guys!

 

Edification:

Quote:

"Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment."

Great word

 

HEAT is the biggest killer of auto trans. Once the fluid gets over 200* for any length of time it does all sorts of bad things inside.

I'm no tech or anything, so I don't know exactly what happens, but I just know it really mucks things up inside.

On my F150, I tow a #4500 travel trailer, so I installed a temp gauge. The only time I've seen my tranny temp go over 180* is when I was backing the thing up. Took me about five minutes of maneuvering to get it that high so fast......

Driving on the highway, I've not seen >150*, even towing, but I've got a cooler and lots of airflow. It's just when a tranny is working hard and has no airflow that it gets hot.

That really sucks about the whole "timing" thing with your Taurus. I don't think you'll be able to get anything out of Ford without having to spend a fortune on a lawyer first. Bummer...

Good luck with whatever you have now!

 

You are the failure point! If you don't know how to take care of an auto transmission, then you should buy a manual trans. Do you really expect Ford to pay for your mistakes!

 

PS, before everyone gives me a hard time, drm7 is my brother and I am just giving him a hard time.

 

In an E4OD, the weak point is the intermediate plates, which is second gear, but most of them that have problems are trucks that have been modified. A chip that raises line pressure or removes a torque reduction program (mostly on Lightnings) will burn them up pretty quick. Don't buy any chip that tries to improve shift timing or duration, but changing shift points doesn't do to much harm. That said, heat is the biggest killer, get a cooler and change the fluid every 3K miles and you should be fine. The E4OD is a big piece of iron and the hard parts hold up real well. Also, avoid doing stressful things in reverse, like pulling stumps etc... they just don;t ake it very well, it's not designed for anything much more than backing out of the driveway.

Hope this helps,

G

 

What about the 4R70W? what are it's weak points? How does it compare to the E40D?

Thanks...
Jono.