I just bought a '93 f150 with the 5.8L V8(what a beast that thing is...) and the E4OD tranny. Nearing 125k on the clock. Checked the ATF dipstick with the motor idling in park. I pulled it out, and the dipstick was covered in bubbles of ATF, I couldn't get a reading of where the fluid actually was(the bubbles went nearly 1/3 the way up the dipstick, way past the crosshatch area). I turned the motor off and tried again, it was still all bubbly but I could kinda make out the level was right at the low end of the crosshatch. Added 1 quart of ATF.

I checked because the shifting is usually fine, but a bit irregular. Sometimes shifts are so smooth you don't feel it at all. Other times (going up usually) the shifts are very hard. Namely 1st-to-2nd on acceleration, and from OD-to-3rd when going uphill. I've heard some E4OD's were poorly programmed and had some hard shifting issues.

The fluid (or bubbles at least) were a light brown color, similar to a watery mud. Didn't smell burnt, didn't really smell like anything. No codes/lights. All gears work fine and grab quickly(sometimes reverse takes a sec though from a cold start)

Think I should change it? I don't know when the last time it was changed. Is it worth doing myself? The local quick-serve place does a tranny lube and "service" for $70, I figured that was a decent deal.

On a side note, how much oil does the 5.8L take? I don't have a manual for the truck and plan on changing it this weekend. I usually use plain Valvoline 10-30 conventional, that's fine, right?

 

Bubbly fluid usually means the transmission has been overfilled, which can cause transmission damage if left too long. I would drain some of the fluid out of the tranny in one-pint increments until the bubbles go away and you can get a good reading on the dipstick. I will leave it up to someone else to tell you whether or not to change the fluid in a tranny with that many miles on it, especially if you don't know the service history of the tranny.

 

Hi RaWarrior, - It sounds like it needs to be changed - Brown oils not good .

Don't Flush it . Do you have a trans cooler somewhere in the plumbing ? Up by radiator ?

Do you know if you have the tow package . I have the last E4OD built for these trucks - theres been a series of updates done to this trans from the manufacturer .

Not nowing what exactly was updated , I'm a little leary of instructing you .



I'll tell you how I do it and then others will chime in as well.. -

Three steps for a full changeout - Drain the pan, Drain the converter, diconnect both feed and return lines from the trans and force existing oil out of those lines and cooler (if you have one) with compessed air - refill..

Or you can go to the dealer - I wouldn't if I could help it though - you may get someone that's not familiar with your 93 ..

If you do this yourself get 19 - 20 quarts . I used Amsoil in my E4OD and am very happy with that stuff - It really dropped the temps down, but so would any synthetic since my trans was previosly filled with the regular Dextron Mercon that was spec in the past.. Amsoils Pricey exspensive tho... Just put something good back in it ..


Good Luck

 

After the truck sat for a while, I checked the dipstick with the motor off. The reading was way, way above the crosshatch (odd that one quart brought it from the very edge to 1/3 the way up the stick). So I drove it just enough to warm the motor and tranny to thin the fluid up a little. Got out my trusty drill pump and sucked about a quart out. Checked, it was a little lower, took another quart out. Right on the upper edge of the crosshatch.

The fluid looks brown, but if you hold it to light it has a faint dark red tint to it.

Didn't find a tranny cooler anywhere, I don't think it has one. Odd, because I'm pretty sure this truck had the towing package.

I would do it myself, but being unfamiliar with this sort of thing, and spending nearly $100 on fluid alone(say 20 quarts at $5 each for good stuff) doesn't particularly appeal to me. The local Midas does a complete auto trans service including fluid/filter change for like $80(fine print was up to 15 quarts, $5 more for each extra quart required). Seems like a decent deal, and the local Midas seems to do pretty good work in my experience. Fast, it's done right, and prices are reasonable.

 

If you buy your own fluid it will be alot less. They aren't going to use "the good stuff" so why would you have to. Plain DexIII from any autoparts store is fine for that transmission. It sounds like it could be overheating to me.
Alan

 

I don't know if this means anything or not, but from a cold start, as in the first time the truck has been driven that day, it feels like the park brake is on. I know it's not, since the feeling goes away once the truck warms up and I never use the brake anyway.

Like to back out of my garage it's just fine, shift to R and just idling gets you moving. Then I put it in drive, nothing happens. Motor revs to nearly 2k RPM and the truck starts slugging forward(like I said, feels like park brake is on). You feel the gear "grab" when you shift so I know it's in drive, but you really have to step on it to get going. After a couple minutes(by the time I get to the first stoplight), it is perfectly normal. You don't have to step on the gas at all to get moving.

I'm guessing this is some old fluid causing problems? I've been busy lately and haven't gotten around to fixing this problem, just bitching about it.

At the local Advance Auto store-brand MercIII oil is about $4.50/quart, with the better synthetic stuff well over $5. It would still work out to be nearly $90 or so of fluid to do it myself.

 

Buy Dex III it'll be about 1.50 a quart.