Help, I live in the mountains

[M.L.S.C.]

Originally Posted by surfacedr

First, I cannot thank you guys enough.
What did you mean by coming up with something on my own for the clod air intake?

Well, if you take my truck for example, I have a cold-air intake that only cost me $8 - I cut up the factory plastic ducting and shoved it down under the driver-side battery tray and right behind a big opening in the firewall, then connected it to the air cleaner box with some dryer vent aluminum ducting that I bought from Lowe's for said $8 (came with clamps too). I think this works good, as it still inhales the cold air being pushed in from under the bumper, but it cannot be packed with snow if I go drift-busting.

[Steve250]

I'm asking the following question to help the OP...and myself

Say he put the turbo on it, would his transmission be more prone to breaking since there's more power in front of it? I would think the tranny would be the weak link??? Any thoughts???

[rsr911]

I would think the trans would be fine. First he is currently down on power due to the altitude and second the E4OD is pretty beefy. A quick internet search will reveal lots of guys installing them behind big blocks in muscle cars etc. That being said I'm convinced there are two things that cause premature failure in the E4OD, the first being non-functioning sensors and the second being it's standard soft shifting. My future plans involve a shift kit to firm up the shifts in mine. A soft gentle shift really slips the clutches. The E4OD can also be upgraded during a rebuild.

[LMJD]

I would think the trans would be fine. First he is currently down on power due to the altitude and second the E4OD is pretty beefy.

I can think of plenty of people I've known over the years that would argue with you. Every one of them who has pulled a trailer had a failure sooner or later, mostly sooner. Same with many members here. And these are guys who are conscientious and treat their trucks right like Chuckster. He's had good luck with his trans, hopefully it continues. Some years back a Cummins field mechanic who drove a F350 7.3 mechanic's truck and never towed anything was complaining that he'd just had to have the trans overhauled. He said the trans shop told him, See'ya in another 60,000 miles. However, nowdays evidently the independent trans shops can beef them up for more reilability. Banks and ATS both sell a trans shift kit with their turbo kits to compensate for the added HP.

[Steve250]

Originally Posted by LMJD

I can think of plenty of people I've known over the years that would argue with you. Every one of them who has pulled a trailer had a failure sooner or later, mostly sooner. Same with many members here. And these are guys who are conscientious and treat their trucks right like Chuckster. He's had good luck with his trans, hopefully it continues. Some years back a Cummins field mechanic who drove a F350 7.3 mechanic's truck and never towed anything was complaining that he'd just had to have the trans overhauled. He said the trans shop told him, See'ya in another 60,000 miles. However, nowdays evidently the independent trans shops can beef them up for more reilability. Banks and ATS both sell a trans shift kit with their turbo kits to compensate for the added HP.

So would you say that with the shift kit it would be fine?

[NH2112]

A shift kit to firm up the shifts and eliminate slippage and the absolute biggest tranny cooler you can find, along with bigger cooler lines if possible, and your tranny will live longer. Other good ideas are a deep tranny pan for more fluid capacity, a thermostat in the cooler circuit to get the fluid up to operating temp quicker (too cool isn't much better than too hot), and a remote mount spin-on filter to keep the fluid cleaner.

[surfacedr]

Originally Posted by Steve250

I'm asking the following question to help the OP...and myself

Say he put the turbo on it, would his transmission be more prone to breaking since there's more power in front of it? I would think the tranny would be the weak link??? Any thoughts???

GREAT POINT! I was told that the tranys on these things were not beefy enough for the torque, so I was a bit taken back by it when I first saw the ambulance.. I then found out that the owner had replaced the tranny with a beefed up heavy duty tranny that cost him about $5500 instead of $2500. I have no way of verifying that, but even my mechanic agreed that it was at least newer.

I like the cold air intake idea with the dryer venting material. You have to have at least one "jimmy Rigged " part on any car over 5 yrs old.
Thanks and please keep it coming

[LMJD]

So would you say that with the shift kit it would be fine?

It's evidently recommended by both ATS and Banks. But with or without it, I can't ever remember anyone on here over the years blaming a E4OD trans failure on their turbo kit. I just pulled out my old piles of ATS information, reviews, etc. Here's a quote from an ATS newsletter about the trans: "As this transmission is electrically managed, turbocharging the engine encourages a change in the micro processor. Ford's awareness of that need and discussion with ATS's staff resulted in the automaker's new development through it's S.V.O. (Special Vehicle Options Dept). ATS has included the new micro processor for the E4OD in it's 6.9/7.3 Ford diesel turbocharging kits when used on vehicles equipped with this automatic transmission." I'm not an auto trans guy, so I don't know what the processor change does exactly. The guy in the know would be Mark Kovalsky. He's a (retired, I think) FoMoCo trans factory guy and he knows his stuff. He's on here a lot, maybe you could PM him if he doesn't see this thread.

[Steve250]

Is the E40D in the IDI's the same as in the PSD's up till '99? If so then it would make sense that it would last.

[surfacedr]

OK, here we go... First I am having trouble with my 2000 Taho (170Kmi) so I have to sure the ambulance to go pick up my girlfriend. On the way in to town I have some very minor hills. As I was going up the last one, the engine really started to wind so I backed off and had it shift to a lower gear (I am doing about 53mph at this time). It get to the round about and the Van just lost all power and would only turn over. So there are bigger issues. My thought is that he is going to have the thing torn apart and even though I really do not have the money, just have the Turbo put on. I think that the reason that the engine failed today is due to the fact that it is working so hard up here in the mountains. Thanks for any input.
Tom Cigno

[NH2112]

First thing - crack a couple lines at the injectors and check for fuel squirting out while cranking. If it's not there are only a few reasons why, and I'll get to those later. First of all, though, if you haven't done so yet, I'd go ahead and replace the fuel & air filters. The vacuum switch in the filter housing *should* have notified you if the filter was clogged, but only if it was still working. If the system is anything like the GM 6.2l diesels, the vacuum switch is a common place for fuel to leak and the port to atmosphere is tapped & plugged to render it inop.

Next, pull the supply line off the filter, put it in a can or jar, and crank the engine for 30 seconds. You should have at least a pint of fuel in the container, and it should come out with some force. No fuel? Try pumping from a 5-gallon can of clean fuel to ensure the lines or pickup aren't blocked. Otherwise I'd suspect the fuel pump is bad. The Stanadyne DB2 injector pump can pull fuel all the way from the tank but it's a lot of strain on the pump and could cause it to fail in time.

Next, check for power going to the shutoff solenoid. With the key on, pull the solenoid wire off and put it back on, you should hear a clicking. If there's no click check the wire for power with a test light. No power? Work your way backward to the ignition switch and then to the batteries. Power? Replace the solenoid.

If the solenoid and everything else so far checks out, then I'd say your next step is to have the injector pump tested at a authorized Stanadyne service center. You're looking at maybe an hour to remove the pump. These pumps can go from running great to DOA inside a week, and the ULSD that's pretty much everywhere is especially hard on them if you're not running a lubricity additive (Power Service, Stanadyne, FPPF, etc.)

[Cjhstang]

Originally Posted by Steve250

Is the E40D in the IDI's the same as in the PSD's up till '99? If so then it would make sense that it would last.

the basics yes. the parts no. you can do an internet search for the upgraded parts. every year from the point when the E4OD was first released to its 'name change' to the 4r100 there were many upgrades. valve body, hardened pinions and gears as well as input shaft and the pump. torque converters were also improved.

oddly enough the complaint on the e4od regaurding its soft shifts...when they 'upgraded' to the 4r100 one of its selling points was that it shifted more like a car. hmmm....

[rsr911]

Originally Posted by LMJD

I can think of plenty of people I've known over the years that would argue with you. Every one of them who has pulled a trailer had a failure sooner or later, mostly sooner. Same with many members here. And these are guys who are conscientious and treat their trucks right like Chuckster. He's had good luck with his trans, hopefully it continues. Some years back a Cummins field mechanic who drove a F350 7.3 mechanic's truck and never towed anything was complaining that he'd just had to have the trans overhauled. He said the trans shop told him, See'ya in another 60,000 miles. However, nowdays evidently the independent trans shops can beef them up for more reilability. Banks and ATS both sell a trans shift kit with their turbo kits to compensate for the added HP.

With all due respect, and I have a lot from the help you have provided me, I don't think you read my entire post. I am well aware of the bad rap the E4OD has on this and other forums. I also know that it is based on the C6 which is a well known tough trans and it eventually became the 4R100 after lots of upgrades. The E4OD shift ridiculously slow which I am certain is the cause of many failures, especially when coupled with a heavy load or trailer. A trans cooler and a good shift kit would surely extend the life of the trans. Also my only experience with the trans has been with this van and it's failure was brought on by malfunctioning sensors. For reference I destroyed a stock C6 behind a big block from towing with no shift kit and no aux cooler and that was in a much lighter F100 truck.

I can tell you though from cutting up my old converter for another project that the lockup clutch looks really wimpy LOL

[LMJD]

One thing about the trans I never could figure out is Ford builds a diesel pickup for towing and back in '93-'94 the guy from our shop I mentioned in another post comes out to my place in a like-new '92 with the E4OD and 7.3 that he just bought. He's complaining about what the trans does and he takes me for a ride and when he lets off the throttle at a wide range of highway speeds the thing free-wheels and gives you no deceleration braking at all. Then when he'd get back on the throttle, you could feel an instant split second deceleration as the converter locked back up. He hardly ever towed but he had to do a brake job about every other year. It would be interesting to know why they designed it that way, especially in a vehicle aimed at the towing market.

[M.L.S.C.]

LMJD, that's why me and many others go with the manual switch for the lockup, it can literally be a life-saver on long steep downgrades. I do agree with you on the odd TC control logic tho, for comparison most GM trucks will keep the converter locked even in off-throttle conditions and will open it only when you step on the brakes or your vehicle speed drops below certain limit. The E4OD can do that too, but it needs an aftermarket controller for it, from what I've read on the intrawebs the factory PCM cannot be reprogrammed to work in that manner.