New motor or/and transmission for a '94 E350? (351W / E40D)

[BajaSportsmobile]

Unfortunately, the transmission I had sold just last week so that is not an option. Sorry.

We have welded several broken bell housings over the years. If all the bits are still available and not too distorted that could be a cheaper solution.

The best would be a rebuilt unit with all available upgrades that will serve you well for a long time.

Source it where you can get local warranty service.

Buy the way, I don't think you would have any standing with whoever left the socket in there as you were not the one who paid for the work.

[BrianW]

Originally Posted by BajaSportsmobile

Buy the way, I don't think you would have any standing with whoever left the socket in there as you were not the one who paid for the work.

That's what I was thinking. Plus, proving it would be near impossible. Not worth the time, expense or hassle IMO. It sucks, but it's just one of those things.

[k2orbust]

A couple more photos from visiting the shop. They say the input shaft on the transmission is locked up implying further damage within. A nice chunk missing from the casting so welding would be more difficult anyway. Scuff marks are visible on the exterior of the torque converter, along with ambiguous date that could be 2001 or 2011. I do have transmission rebuild paperwork dating to 2001, though I forget the month right now.

New E40D transmission quote is as much as a new motor, though at least labor is less. A new one from Ford with 3 year unltd. mile warranty is $1000 less than John Wood Automotive. Too bad y'all are saying the factory produces junk.

(higher res pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/k2orbust/)

[mikracer]

As much as a John Woods trans would be great, I think a factory trans will work just fine. The majority of SMB's out there are running factory transmissions.

[E350]

Yep. Let's count together:

1. Original factory E4OD in your van which lasted until 48K miles;
2. First replacement E4OD in your van which lasted until when?;
3. Second replacement E4OD in your van which will last until when?

1. Original factory E4OD in my 1993 Bronco bought new by me which lasted until ~63K miles IIRC;
2. First factory replacement E4OD in my 1993 Bronco which lasted until ~75K miles IIRC;
3. Second factory replacement E4OD in my 1993 Bronco which was running strong when I sold it at ~190K miles IIRC.

If you go factory at least get the HD version which will put you closer to the John Woods in price. So, just go with the John Woods, IMO...

Perspective: I spent $1,800 on the Ford OEM extended warranty in my bought new by me 1993 Bronco, which was used primarily to cover my three E4OD's. So, consider the $1,000 extra (assuming not E4OD HD) to be the cost of the extended warranty in your out of warranty vehicle.

Edit: "A new one from Ford with 3 year unltd. mile warranty" - I didn't see that you had converted to 4x4. Good. Don't do it during your warranty period or you can kiss that "unlimited" mileage warranty good bye. I bet this is not an issue with John Woods... ask.

One more thing. Your van does or will likely eventually weigh more than my 1/2 ton 1993 Bronco ever did. Yet the two factory E4OD's which failed in my Bronco couldn't even push a 1/2 ton vehicle around for long without failing. (Am I sitting on pins and needles with respect to my 1995 Bronco's E4OD? Yes... Will I go with a John Woods transmission if and when it fails. Yes.)

I will support your choice either way. Good luck!

[Viva]

Just in case you are thinking about John Wood, I'll just say that I had the 4R100 in my 1998 E-350 rig (slight evolution of the E4OD but basically the same trans) repaired and beefed up at John Wood and I couldn't be happier.

All started because I had a ticking noise. Symptoms indicated it was not the torque converter. Another shop (well regarded, but...) said it was just normal and/or a new one might be the same (for $6k). I just knew it was not right, as my previous E4ODs had not sounded like that. Also there were some slight metal shavings in the pan, which they wrote off as normal.

I did some Internet research and decided to give John Wood a call. I half expected him to be "above" helping me, as I could see he did lots of super-cool beefed up racing transmissions, etc. I just have a 2WD E-350 and was basically happy with it, but wanted the ticking diagnosed and fixed, plus perhaps a "beef up" to make it more bulletproof for towing.

Much to my pleasant surprise, he said he enjoys doing work on rigs like mine, and likes matching the transmission to the job (vs. just giving everyone the "coolest" transmission, even if inappropriate for the rig). I went down, he drove it, and had an idea about the ticking noise, to be fully diagnosed after removing the transmission. He also said he did not consider the metal normal (I had a photograph of it on the magnet in the pan). Out it came, and a peek inside was set for first thing the next morning... (not like I was going anywhere at that point!)

Turns out it was a dislodged snap ring, which was his primary guess. Was bulged way up and had been grinding metal off of the outside of a toothed cog (luckily the inside is the important part). He said at any moment it could have left me stranded. He also explained that while this snap ring is held in place (supposedly!) by little metal "pimples," the truck ones have a groove. He machines a groove AND uses a locking snap ring when he does the work.

So that was a lucky stroke. (Could have been worse by far.)

Cool thing is, he used to work for Ford back in the day, rebuilding transmissions. So over the years he had all sorts of ideas for fixes/improvement on things he would see come in often needing work. Eventually he started his own shop, and the rest is history.

He (and his assistant) were happy to let me watch and explained it all. He has several improvements along the lines of the snap ring, and things that he has custom done to his specs. So I ended up with a better torque converter, stronger overdrive gear, improved snap ring, etc. etc. I also had a larger transmission cooler installed, along with the deep transmission pan, which has a drain plug (so does the torque converter, although my original did also). There were a few other things I can't think of off the top of my head. All of this was around half the cost of the rebuilt/Ford transmission I wanted the first shop to put in (but they were so unenthusiastic I did not have them do it). And I think I got a much better/stronger transmission too. Win/win!

I did not have to have anything in the way of inner/inner guts done (not that familiar with auto transmissions still, but I think there are "deeper guts" I did not need to do anything too, so not saying every job would be as favorable, cost-wise). John said repairing/beefing up my existing transmission (I had around 50k on it at the time) was a better idea (and less costly) than getting a new one.

He also ships transmissions in and out all day long, if you are not in the SE California area.

Just figured you might like to hear from someone who went there and had a good experience. I'd strongly consider having the same things done to any new rig I bought (with a similar transmission) just to know things were strong.

[JWA]

Wow Viva---thanks for sharing your John Woods story---very impressive.

While $1K above a "standard" reman'd trans seems like a lot guys like John who've "been there, done that" in the real world and go out of their way providing huge value for money spent makes it seem a bit paltry in the bigger scheme. Whether buying extended warranties or opting instead for incredibly thorough quality control and enhanced features as JW would add added reliability and longevity costs something---which way would we go with such choices?

I'll often quip I don't need a forever warranty, just build it right the first time and I'll be happy forever. Found On Road Dead doesn't have to be our van legacy here after!

[Viva]

Happy it is of interest. I posted hoping it was not too much of a hijack. I really just wanted to mention it to begin with in case the OP was considering having transmission work done by another shop/John Wood. But then there was no context without the story. OP: I can only imagine the horrible feeling of having that totally cracked/destroyed bell housing on the way home with a brand-new-to-you van. Ugh! I hope you also get a more bulletproof arrangement out of the deal - at least that would be a positive.

I'm picky (I like to say "particular"), and I had such a great experience at John Wood that I found myself "glad" I had a transmission problem - because now it literally is much better than new. I had always slightly worried about my Ford van transmissions (E4OD and 4R100) because I feel like I see a lot of vans for sale with 50k and a rebuilt transmission... I found it interesting that certain things seem to be "lesser" in the van version (doesn't it seem like they often give vans short shrift?), such as the snap ring being held in by pimples vs. a groove in the same transmission in Ford trucks.

By the way, I actually heard this ticking noise within the first ten feet of test driving my rig (before buying it). I actually pulled over and checked the engine oil immediately, because it sounded like that "lifter" sound you get with low oil. But that was fine. The rig was super clean as it had been stored indoors and the interior was like new, so I really wanted it, and proceeded to take it to a Ford dealer for a pre-buy check over (I was in a large city away from home so didn't have any known/small mechanic shops to bring it to -- my usual preference). I specifically mentioned the ticking noise.

Well, they said it was normal (ahem), and plus I had such a nightmare with the tire shop section of the dealership ("torque wrench?" the tire fellow said to me blankly) (also they cleaned the bead with just brake fluid so of course the tire had 15# in it by the time I drove a few blocks) (etc. etc.) that I just wanted to get the heck out of there! I had already negotiated some money off for a few other mechanical things, so I just figured I'd deal with whatever the ticking noise was when I got it home. I'd already looked at enough vans to know that having a one-owner, stored indoors rig would make any mechanical issues doable.

So I drove it like this for awhile (thankfully nothing happened - aside from the ticking no driveability issues), and then when I got to a good/known shop to get my baseline things done (fluid changes, belts, etc.) that is when I found out it was actually coming from the transmission (although that was the shop that said they all do that and "we could put a new one in but it would likely make the same noise" so my confidence in them is not as high as it used to be).

Anyway, you now know the rest of the story. Fortunately I was never stranded, and I was "okay with" spending the money since I had figured when I bought it that there must be something to that noise. Let me see if I can get a couple of photos over from my album - this is exactly how the snap ring looked when John Wood opened things up (it was causing the ticking noise). You can also see where it wore the metal off the outside of the assembly as I drove with it like this ( ). Yep, that's "normal" ... right?

(I don't have an "after" photo uploaded, but the outside of that assembly had a nice groove machined in it to hold the snap ring - which is also a locking one, unlike the non-locking one Ford uses.)

[k2orbust]

It's good that good mechanics exist in the world. But, besides the extra expense, I didn't have two weeks to wait for Woods to build one up for me, so I went with the source the mechanic likes, LKQ Online. That's the place with the 3 year/unltd mile warranty, not Ford like I said before. You pays your money and you takes your chances... I'm just happy the labor is so much less for a transmission than an engine. I can start saving for another transmission in three years and a day ;-)

[E350]

k2orbust: Thanks for hanging in there and documenting what has become a very informative thread which will likely help others in the future. Enjoy your vehicle and hope to see you on the road, buddy.