Hey guys! Been a long time since I have been on here. Ive got a 2000 Ford F-150 XLT Ext. cab step side....I did the Lightning engine and trans swap a few years back along with some other stuff. Well, my trans went out on me a whil ago. I took it out and dis-assembled it, a few snap rings broke and trashed a couple bigger parts as well. So, what ive been doing is looking at remans and used trans. Problem is, I have learned a lot about the 4R100 but not exactly what i need to know! If memory serves me right, the drivetrain was out of a 2000 or 2001 lightning. I have heard that the bellhousing is diff on the 4R100 that goes in deisels, and the output shaft is differant on the 4100 that goes in the 4wd due to transfer case stuff. What I cant get anyone to accurately or confidently tell me is what is different on the lightning 4R100? or more accurately, what other 4R100's will fit into mine and work? Here are the number off mine:
Raised on left side of case: RFF81P-7006-AA (ive seen this on eve 4wd's)
ID tag: XL3p-KA
PRB-BE
00001844
BD-9D21
Bar Code: 4093 00001844
Upside down on ID tag : M-4x2-T

When I got this trans I did have to change only the output shaft housing to allow my 4.2 driveshaft yoke to fit properly. Other than that and the crossmember i think, it was fine. Any help and info would be great. Ive researched but only found maybes, if's and choppy answers and contradictions. Thanks guys!!

 

The Lightning version of the 4R100 is a modular engine case with diesel internals. I believe it is also a 4x2 output shaft. The way to tell is if there is a slip yoke that goes into a trans, then it is a 4x2 shaft.

 

Ok, cool. So then it seems like they just put some heavy duty internals in a standard 4R100 case. I have seen that casting number(the one I mentioned on the case) on 4wd and other 4R100 versions so I assume that most of the cases(aside from maybe diesel) are the same. And the output shaft is differant on the 4wd version. There is a slip yoke that goes into mine as it is a 4x2 truck and trans. It seems that physically any 2000-2001 or similar generation 4R100(aside from 4wd and diesel) would fit in my truck and up against my 5.4. I would hope my torque converter and yoke spline would fit, but only way to tell is to see it in person and try it.
The next question would be trans controls....Are the harness/valve body wiring and connectors all the same? Is a lightning trans the only trans that will fit into my lightning drivetrain without mods or rewires? Or is there another (out of a reg f-150 w 5.4, expedition, e350, etc).???? The only other truck that comes w a SVT style supercharge 5.4 is the Harley davidson edition. But....is the trans wiring diff from the lightning? It has been hard to evev get the dealer to check this for me.IF everything is the same and only the internals are beefed up it would seem that I should be able to plug in a 4R100 out of a 99 e350 van with the 5.4 engine for the time being. Just wish it wasnt so much for a lightning trans! :0

 

The trans wiring is the same for all 4R100 transmissions. Any 4R100 from a 5.4L or 6.8L two wheel drive will fit.

 

Great! thanks a bunch Mr. Kovalsky! So if I found another 4R100 out of a truck/van with a 5.4 or 6.8 2wd it will bolt right in and work fine. Thats good news for me. The only differance(if i didnt go with one out of a lightning) would be that the internals wouldnt be as "heavy duty"? (referring to your statement about the internals being that of diesel ones) Correct? Thanks again for this help. You are the first one that has had a straight-forward and confident sounding answer...I guess your job title helps out with that knowledge!

 

Yes, that's correct. And it's former job title, I don't do that anymore. Now I just play an automatic transmission engineer on the internet!

 

That'll work!! haha. I meant to put former actually! Well, thanks a bunch, again! Ill see what i can dig up. Sure would be nice to just put another lightning trans in it or rebuild this one, but the dollar will dictate! When I have another question or find my solution I will post back on this thread. Have a good one!