I was wondering if I could get your oppinion of these mods for the 4R100? You add a spring to the accumulator valves and change the line pressure valve. Im nearing my 60K service and am thinking this looks like a great mod. Do you see any problems doing this to a tranny with 60k on it? Thanks for your input.

http://forums.ford-diesel.com/ubb/Fo...ML/005261.html

http://forums.ford-diesel.com/ubb/Fo...ML/005089.html

http://www.techtranstool.com/tric.html

 

Looks like a great idea to me. A very poorly kept secret is that I rebuild and sell 4R100s on the side, and I'll try one in the next box I build. The springs anyway. one difference in a Lightning Tranny and a regular gas 4R100 is stiffer springs in the accumulator, which is why a Lightning shifts much firmer, so the concept makes sense to me. For $15 I'll try one, now $150 for a valve is littel more than I'll pay unless it's made of Titanium or Gold, the the other thing I'll pass on.
If you do it and need help, let me know, I do prolly 30 accumulators a week, can do them eyes closed.

G

 

Hey Factory Tech,

I have a 1994 F150 4x4 E40D (junk). I had the transmission rebuilt last year (supposedly) because it was shifting hard to second gear. I recently had a new valve body put in and solenoid body. Still shifts hard to second after I get off the highway. Drive around town a day or too and it shifts normal. Any ideas.

Thanks,
Joe Harris

 

Thanks for the quick reply. You bet $150 is way too much for the one valve. There is another company selling a valve out of a Taurus(AX4N tranny) I believe, that is about $25 or so.

 

joe,
A hard 1-2 shift could be any number of things, I wouldn't know where to start. If you're gonna rebuild it yourself, just keep digging until you find something wrong. The first thing I would check would be the forward clutch, esspecially since you've already done the Main Control and the solonoid. I'd also swap out the accumulator, but I have the luxury of having a rack of them a few feet away and a test stand that can check if it worked. Factory repair is quite different than field repair.
To illustrate, I just changed the transmission in my Lightning because I had a delayed engage on @ shift. Granted this is a symptem that 9 of 10 drivers would never even notice, or not until it got a lot worse than it was on mine. On the test stand this would show up as delayed engage, or line pressure low or maybe soft engage, even possibly as late TC lock, all of which I would know exactly how to fix, but in an actual truck, I just know I have a delay when I put it in drive, and being that I have a better knowledge of how a tranny works then most drivers, I know it could be any of the things I mentioned above or maybe something I've never even seen. The point is, a test stand will tell me a lot beter than any judgement even a trained tranny repairman can make by just driving the truck. Without a test and being able to see exactly what the box did, I'm pretty much reduced to "dig until you find a problem", which in itself is a pretty haphazard way to diagnose. (not that I haven't done it a few times myself) Also, a transmission repairman who works for say, Aamco, can see several things in a valve body that I would be clueless on, I don't work on valve bodies, I just put a new one on. Same with converters, beyond basic theory, I consider a torque converter just short of Voodoo, if the stand says the converter's bad I grab a new one, but the guys who work at B&M know more about converters than I ever will, I just don't work in that environment. Do you see what I mean?

I've rambled enough, but I hope this helps,

G

 

Thanks Factory Tech for you quick response. I don't have a clue what an accumulator is. Is it something that I could put in myself? When I had the solonoids changed in Iowa, the mechanic said that my TC was good. Everything showed up normal on the machine. One question, How do I know if the TC is locked? I have always had standard transmissions in my previous trucks. Thought because I am getting older an automatic would be more in line for me, and maybe the Wife would like to drive this one. She won't touch it because she said it is too big.

I am wondering if my problems are actually in the transmission or could it be in the computer, etc.

Thanks for your time and any information you could shed on my problem.

Joe Harris

 

If you have any mechanical ability you could change the accumulator, there are 3 "valve bodies" just under the pan, the accumulator is one of them, the biggest problem is that people take off the Main Control which is another one, and if you don't know exactly how to remove a main control 4 check ***** will fall out which is something you have to know how to put back and honestly is a real pain if the tranny is right side up (I work on them upside down at work so it's easy for me). Well, I guess you could re-assemble the main control and then put it back on, but I digress.
I can mail you a picture that shows which one to remove, it's idiot proof with a good diagram. Why I had it open, I'd change the filter, too. I would scan the picture but I know a lot more about transmissions than scanners and mine is on the fritz.

Hope it helps,

G

[This message has been edited by Factory_Tech (edited 01-31-2001).]

 

Thanks again Factory Tech. I think I will take it on the highway again to see if I can get it to bump when I get back on city streets, and then I will take it to a transmission shop to see what they tell me. I would appreciate seeing a picture though of the accumulator.

Thanks again,
Joe Harris