Help! 7.3L Tranny Options.

[kccourtney]

Hey y'all.

I have a '99 7.3 4X4. It's a SK 4x4 conversion with all Ujoint steering and suspension. It's a Sporty so it's heavy, around 10k lbs but the gearing was altered to handle everything (can't remember to what. Something.10) I've never been happy with the transmission on my van. It falls into distress on really windy steep roads (flashing OD light), doesn't seem to have a second gear to speak of, and now I'm looking at needing a new rebuild only 3 years and 30k miles since my last. The paperwork from the last rebuild ID'd it as a 4R100. Is there another better model that is interchangable? I'd totally appreciate any advice on this. Thanks.

[shenrie]

I have an 03 that just did this for the first time last night. after reading up on it for a few hours it sounds like the best thing to do is to get a code reader on it when the od light is flashing. could be a handful of things including speed sensors, valve bodies, etc. or it could need rebuilt.

when I went to go drive mine yesterday I hadn't driven it in 2 weeks. sounded terrible like it was firing on 3 cylinders. after it warmed up a bit it started sounding better, but the od light was still flashing. drove around the block and the od light went off, so I decided to take it to job 2. got out on main road and it took really long to shift out of first, then went into second for a sec and jumped to 3rd, so took it home and parked it. came home after job 2 and was going to investigate further, but it started up fine and when I drove it, it drove completely normal. took it to job 1 this morning and it seems 100% fine. I hate cars.

[bet on black]

i'm not aware of another trans option behind the 7.3L. my trans is getting (re)built right now, but i'm having them go through the whole thing, and upgrade several things, and replace anything that shows wear. it only had 69k on it, but better to replace anything that shows wear while its apart. sometimes shops "rebuild" a trans but only change out clutches and broken parts, but not servos, and sprags that aren't toast, but could ghost the trans in the future.

how are your transmission temps when running? sounds like it was having issues before it gave out.

[FVShootingStar]

John Wood Automotive - Products

[BroncoHauler]

There are a few 4R100 options that are available:

John Woods transmission in Holtville, CA

BTS transmission in Leadville, AR

Ford 4R100 Heavy Duty reman

All can be drop shipped to the installer of choice.


Herb

[bet on black]

mine is at circle D in houston. great indy shop that knows these well. they manufacture their own valve body and torque converters for the 4r100. i have their 258mm triple disc billet TC in my Lightning

[bet on black]

the only other trans option besides a 4r100 is a zf6 manual.

i would guess that your trans was not built well, as the 4r100 cna be built to be pretty tough, and with the right tuning, it can perform well.

[kccourtney]

Thanks y'all. Yeah it's been non stop tranny issues for us on this rig. My wife got stranded when it went out when she was taking it up to Kennedy Meadows. Then multiple other times on tough, tight windy roads, she's started to struggle, and 30k miles after the last rebuild she gives. WTF!?!

I did come across John Wood like you mentioned and might just go that route and hopefully not worry about it again. $5K is serious coin for a transmission though (not including install)

Ugh!

[ShuttlePilot]

I"m partial to John Wood because that's what I have. But, it looks like your in Long Beach, CA so out of all the well known trans re-builders he would be in theory your neighborhood. My SMB has a sketchy past before I got it and I really wanted the one and done route so I went with John. Taking no chances I preferred John to do the R/R and any programming after. I figured out that AAA Premier allows one 200 mile tow per year and that I lived (at the time) 190 miles from Holtville. So I replaced the trans cooler with a tru cool max, left it not plumbed to the trans for John to hook up and had the van towed to John. Turned out the theory was my blown trans was most likely not the original and looked like it had many more miles than the van did. It was a bit of a project but I have never had an issue since and I don't expect to. The trans has been fantastic here in the Colorado mountains. Just a heads up, it can be a little hard to get a hold of John as he is a small shop, just blast him with calls and e mails and keep trying.

I know I sound like a John Wood fanboy but its just that I really appreciate things that get done once and done vs the alternative and I can vouch for John as such.

- Eric

[shenrie]

im with the others about the last rebuild possibly being below par. some shops just have a standard procedure and wont think outside the box or take your personal needs into account. it can be hard to find a good person to wrench on your rig, but when you finally do, its such a nice feeling knowing that no dumbfounded dipshits are fondling your business.

the guy who wrenches on my van keeps a fleet of 7.3 and 6.0 vans & trucks going. he said he will build me a 4r100 tranny that will hold whatever kinda hp I wanna throw at it for $2500 when the time comes. i don't plan much at all for extra hp, but i do want a stout tranny. I hope im not there yet cause timing would be terrible, but im glad to know real close to what I am expecting when that dreaded day comes.

brought van to work tonight and did a scan. only code out of the 6-7 i had related was a po500 which is a speed sensor code. i cleared it cause i did swap that out about a year ago and didn't clear any codes. we will see if it comes back next time i bring it to work.