Mine's got 120k miles, shifts great, and has beautiful cherry-red tranny fluid in it. But, I don't know how well the previous owner took care of it. So how long do these things typically last?

 

You say AOD in your sig???

The E4OD is a tough tranny and will give many trouble free miles. Unless the fluid gets over 210degrees or so. Easy to do towin a big trailer with an unlocked torque converter situation. Once the fluid gets overheated even once, it can break down and lose protection ability and then it is a shootin match for longevity.

Adrianspeeder

 

First off, congrats on the Bronco. I used to love my 86 Eddie Bauer. It also had a 302, AOD, and EFI (first year for that). I had about 180K on it when I sold it. The tranny had no problems. That being said I had an 89 F150 same engine and trannie, and that engine went out after about 150K. I think it comes down to what you will be doing with it. My f150 was towing trailers,water tanks and hauling all over the place. The funny thing is I wasn't even the one who blew that trannie. A guy from work borrowed it to haul something and didn't take it out of O/D. That is the biggest killer of these trannies. Too much load in O/D. I used to drive both around in straight drive unless I was getting on the freeway, then I would put it in O/D, but only when I didn't have a load.

Don't be too hard on the EFI by the way. It is a great system, very reliable.
Theres an article in Hot Rod this month about this motor. They do a build on a stock 302 EFI. After only $4k in bolt-ons the thing was making close to 400 hp on pump gas!

 

I've got 170K-something on a 4R100, still shifts alright. Big problems with those were the intermediate one way clutches locking up. Most times on the earlier units, it's not a matter of "if," it's "when."

 

Big difference in the AOD and E4OD. E4ODs will pull fine in OD.

Adrianspeeder

 

Been through 2 rebuilds in my 92 with E4OD & cooler they suck imho. mine only had 90k for 1st rebuild & 140k for the 2nd. no heavy hauling or towing changed fluid & filter every 30-35k. Also be weary of the A4LD.
The problems with these trans. are brass bushings on the clutch drums. I found semi circular peices of them in the pan just before my first rebuild.
Another problem I found was a nice soft shift tends to kill them to. You should be able to feel it shift all gears(not hard but noticeable)
Hope it helps to get a different opinion

 

So it sounds like by and large, I'll probably get quite a few more miles out of it if I take care of it. That's good, I've heard a lot of horror stories like the one above, and that it's quite a pricey unit to rebuild and on a college student's budget...yeah, you get the idea. Most towing I'll ever do with it is my Dad's 16' bass boat once in a while and maybe the occasional car on a trailer or bringing the riding mower in for service. FWIW, yeah, I can barely feel the shifts, although they're on the soft side of what I'm used to.

As to the 'don't be too hard on EFI'...ooh, if you only knew me. I'm something of an old-schooler (some call me a rockabilly or a rat rodder, if you believe in labels) with a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with computers. Hadn't touched one for the 6 months before I registered here, and wouldn't have even done that were it not for a pesky professor of mine who wants everything COMPUTER typed. I'll handwrite or typewrite something to get out of using a computer, and keep the thing in a dark corner covered up so it doesn't annoy me by being there (out of sight, out of mind). So, it irks me when the d@mn things are in my car. I'm a pretty hardcore carb guy, this thing is only the stopgap until I can get a REAL car/truck (something carb'd). Think '30's Chev/Plymouth/Dodge, chopped, Rocket Olds V8 with Stromberg 97's...almost makes me cream my pants to think about it . Goes well with my rolled-up pants, DA, turntable, Schwinn, and typewriter

 

I hear ya on computers, but being an engineering student forces me to this plus a laptop.

http://www.fourdoorbronco.com/temp/i..._my_corner.JPG

Here is a pretty good site that tells everything about EFI for fords.

http://www.fordfuelinjection.com/

It actually is a very well thought out and tested system.

Adrianspeeder

 

Putting a lifetime on a transmission is a crapshoot. Properly maintaining it goes a long way, but all the fluid and filter changes in the world aren't gonna stop a hard parts failure like the intermediate one way or a clutch drum or something. I've seen 'em fail under warranty with as little as 15-20K miles. I've got one in a '97 F250 LD with 170K+ miles on it. All you can really do is change the fluid and filter regularly and hope for the best over the long haul. It will break eventually, it's just a matter of when.

 

Take care of it and it will last 300,000 miles. I know one guy that drives from here to New Orleans everyday almost 100 miles one way. The last time I heard from him he had over 500,000 on the trans and 300 I6.

I sold my 93 351 4x4 a couple of months ago and it had 221K.
My wifes uncle had a 93 4x4 he sold it with 28X,000 miles (new 302 at 240K)
Dads 93 he had traded it in around 190K with original trans.

Kind of ironic we all had 93s. Now me and my dad have 2000s and wifes uncle 2004.

 

My '97 F-250 LD, 4x4, has the E4OD. Currently have 129,000 on it with really no trouble. I've changed the fluid twice now, torque converter drained each time too (14.5 quarts!!). I regularly tow a 5000 pound boat/trailer. Never towed in OD.

The only complaint I have is a strange whistling noise in reverse when the trans is cold. Noise goes away when drive is engaged and doesn't come back once it warms up.

 

How long do they last? not long enough for me, I had a '92 bronco silver anniversary edition with the 351, I was the second owner, the truck was in very good cond. well maintained and drove great, it had 120,000 when I got it and had 132,000 when the E4OD took a total crap, not a good thing to have happen when you live in a remote area (not that it's good at any time)

 

'91 was the silver anniversary...

Adrianspeeder

 

What the Hello did I have that was a '92? oh ya Jeep, I stand corrected on the Bronco, that's what happens when you have waayy too many cars and not enough memory