How do i know? 4R70W or 4R100
 

I would like to know an easy clean way to identify what trans i have. All this talk about what a piece of !@#$ the 4R70W is has me concerned. My truck is a 1999 4x4 sc 5.4. I have 150000 miles and change fluid on a regular basis. The truck has all the heavy goodies from the factory like trailer tow and the heavier rear diff ( which i think is the only one with the 5.4). I just want to know as i drive the @#$@ out of this truck every day and will need to budget for a trans if i have a 4r70W from the sound of what others are saying.

Thanks
Josh

If you look behind the drivers door where the recomended tire preasures and stuff are, it tells you there. Where is says "TR" and a letter underneath. The letters should be "E" or "U". "U" is the 4r70w and "E" is the 4r100. I'm not %100 on this but I have looked it up in the past. I have two rigs that have the different transmissions in them and the above coresponds with what is on mine. If you do a search here on maybe "transmission type" you should find a thread or two that verifies this. Or, someone might respond here. ;)

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...sion+type+door

Follow that link :)

Most of the 5.4L as I recall got the 4R100 not the 4R70W.

That's true in the Expedition/Excursion and the superduties. In the F150 it depends on wheather or not you get the #7700 towing package. I think it has to do with the curb weight of the vehicle. (could be wrong) My Expedition is something like 500 pounds heavier than my wife's F-150, so the Expi has the 4r100. Both have the 5.4L.

Up until about 98, the 5.4 got the 4R100, after 98, the 5.4 expy got it for all 5.4, all navis have the 4R100. On the F-150, after 2000 it depends on the emissions package, the 7700 payload could still have the 4R70W. But the easiest way is as mentioned above, the door code for the 4R70W is U, the 4R100 is E, or count the pan bolts, 14 for the 4R70, 20 for the 4R100.

G

Now the question which is better? I have been told the 4r70w is more reliable under normal conditions and the 4r100 when it has a problem is expensive.

Josh

agree with josh, there is plenty of evidence and opinion regarding the high quality of the 4r70W. mine has 165,000 miles on it and still shifts like new. it is only used on the highway so maybe it would crap out if used hard in offroad 4x4 applications.

I know this is an old post... but for anyone in the future, this is what I send to customers to help them identify:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...0eef19c821.jpg
AODE/4R70's have 16 bolts around the pan and the E4OD/4R100's have 20

Are 4R70 transmissions Junk?
 

I don't think so. Of course, they aren't E4OD/4R100's but they aren't "bad" units. We rebuild these transmissions almost weekly. Properly maintained can be great transmissions. We replace the direct drum with a steel drum during a rebuild, along with other this and that's. You also have to make sure you have an adequate cooling system in place. Flush out those cooler lines :)


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...1c920b400d.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...04af2bf316.jpg