Rebuid or trade up? transmission advice needed

[blupaddler]

Bringing an old thread back to life, and in need of (probably urgent) advice...

Today while driving my van, a 1995 E350 SMB with the 7.3 diesel and Quigley, the OD light on the shifter started to flash. The van only has 126k. It subsequently lost any ability to go into Drive or Reverse, or any any other gear. Fluid is o.k., just flushed about 5k ago, not pretty red, but a decent mixture. The transfer case was in 2H. So that should eliminate those problems.

So, after waiting over an hour for AAA I had the van towed to... AAMCO. So not my ideal or first choice, but the shop came highly recommended from a really good friend of mine.




So questions...
Does anyone have any experience with this issue?
Any suggestions? Especially with the E4OD?
Can anyone recommend any transmission shops in San Diego? Or SoCal?
Has anyone dropped and installed a transmission on their own? I think I could do it provided I found a tranny jack?




And yes, I now have read about all the AAMCO, ummm stuff. However the shop was highly recommended by a good friend who has been there before. They should get to it tomorrow am, and I will know more then and explore options. But I wanted to check here and see if you guys could help.





Any specific recommendations on parts to upgrade on the E4OD would be helpful too.


Thanks in advance!

[BIGVANS]

Monster Transmission and Performance has a GREAT reputation for having the best upgrades. You can buy one they build for you or you can order the “Kit” to have your own guy install.

http://monstertrans.com/store/categorie ... ions/E4OD/

[carringb]

Originally Posted by blupaddler

Bringing an old thread back to life, and in need of (probably urgent) advice...

Today while driving my van, a 1995 E350 SMB with the 7.3 diesel and Quigley, the OD light on the shifter started to flash. The van only has 126k. It subsequently lost any ability to go into Drive or Reverse, or any any other gear. Fluid is o.k., just flushed about 5k ago, not pretty red, but a decent mixture. The transfer case was in 2H. So that should eliminate those problems.



Thanks in advance!

Those transmissions rarely fail suddenly, and when they do, its usually accompanied by a large mess on the ground. One possible cause for that symptom is communication to the valve body was lost (i.e. connector is loose).. A good code reader will tell you why the OD light is flashing.

[Fulthrotl]

Originally Posted by bluedog225

A manual trans would be nice. I wonder how tough that would be?

Update on the rebuild. I checked with a couple of chains (Eagle, etc). No estimate unless I brought it in. Ok. I took it to Eagle Transmission. No estimate unless I left is for 3 hours. I asked for a price for a total rebuild or a Ford remanufactured. No estimate unless I left it for 3 hours. Jerks.

Found a place out in the rougher part of town. Transmission shop, total rebuild, upgraded heavy duty parts (including the torque converter). $2,200. Sounds about right.

Nobody wanted to order a Jasper and install it.

Thanks for the help.

it's pretty hard to beat a sturdy automatic offroad.
just from a drivability and traction standpoint.

i had the trans in my LT-1 trans am go out, and researched the best guy i
could find to do it... the ex superstar for art carr transmissions....

he was about $800 more than my local independent trans guy who's been
there for 35 years.... but it's gonna be soooo much better....

he was a week late getting it done... i left the next day, bound for monterey
pennensula on a much needed vacation..... on 17 mile drive, the tranny went
south... cancelled rest of vacation, nursed it home..... drove it in second gear
from pismo back home.

the "old faithful" shop pulled the transmission, and we found all the clutch packs
had been sandpapered to freshen them up, but they were warped. the clutch drum
was wavy, and had been sandpapered as well.

they rebuilt it for their original price, and it's been good for 8 years now.

turns out the trans had been rebuild with emery cloth, a gasket set, and
methamphetamine. a year later, i happened to cross paths with the guy,
and with a lot of mumbling, he explained he had a problem with crank,
and owed me an apology.

i said he owed me either the money i gave him, or the money i spent
to fix his screw up... and i'd believe he had a chance of staying sober
when i saw some money towards that end.

i never saw him again, but then, i never really expected to.

moral of the story? find a decent trans shop near you, and don't search
high and low for the "ultimate rebuild" made with parts of unobtanium.

and enjoy your vehicle. and that new trans? go to somewhere like dieselsite,
and buy their trans filter. and change the fluid every 25k miles or so, and
it'll probably last longer than anything else on the vehicle.

that's my nickels worth.

[BIGVANS]

Fulthrotl, does the "ex superstar for art carr transmissions" happen to live at the edge of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley? If so, I know who you are talking about.

[Fulthrotl]

Originally Posted by BIGVANS

Fulthrotl, does the "ex superstar for art carr transmissions" happen to live at the edge of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley? If so, I know who you are talking about.

yeah, you guessed it. by the time i crossed paths with him, he was in a little
industrial strip development right near mcfadden and springdale, in huntington.

couple months after he finished with me, he lost that place, and last i heard
of him, he was homeless, living with his crackhead girlfriend, and two weeks
sober, so he said anyway, when he happened to be out back of under pressure
fabrication in westminster, and i got my mumbled apology.

the message to the original poster here was to find a decent local guy without
superstar status, who stands behind his work... the tendency when surfing the
net is to look for the "bestest and brightest", especially when one of our
favorite playtoys is in the broken department.

one way transmission in westminster has been there quietly doing trannies
for close to 30 years, on goldenwest, with that little shortened VW microbus
with their logo on it, sitting out front, all that time, and they do an excellent job...

if i needed a godzilla trans, i'd look for a premium builder the likes of which
have been mentioned already, and buy a crate from them, and have someone
near me put it in, but how often is that really warranted?

last i heard, there were no E-350 service trucks or sportsmobiles running in
the parker 400. most of us need something that above all else, comes home
at the end of the vacation, and not at the end of a rope.

Note to Ford Motor Company:
Routine maintenance on a diesel engine should not
look, feel, and cost like the effort necessary to get
Apollo 13 home.

[Fulthrotl]

Originally Posted by blupaddler

Today while driving my van, a 1995 E350 SMB with the 7.3 diesel and Quigley, the OD light on the shifter started to flash. The van only has 126k. It subsequently lost any ability to go into Drive or Reverse, or any any other gear. Fluid is o.k., just flushed about 5k ago, not pretty red, but a decent mixture. The transfer case was in 2H. So that should eliminate those problems.


So questions...
Does anyone have any experience with this issue?
Any suggestions? Especially with the E4OD?
Can anyone recommend any transmission shops in San Diego? Or SoCal?
Has anyone dropped and installed a transmission on their own? I think I could do it provided I found a tranny jack?

Thanks in advance!

on my 06 diesel, when the OD light flashes, it means you don't have enough
pump pressure, and that is your warning. assuming you have fluid as you say,
and don't have a blocked cooler, filter, or pick up screen, you don't have enough
pump pressure, so looking at your main pump is where i'd start.

you need a decent scanner to read codes, i'm assuming your vehicle is OBDII.

i've pulled 3 auto trannies in my life, in the driveway. two C-6's, and one C-6
in a gravel driveway, on my back. i wouldn't want, to be honest, do do it on
a 4WD.

the gravel driveway was the worst, with my friend bench pressing it on his
chest, and shoving it into place, while i got bolts started. i tried getting it
up into place, but wasn't strong enough to hold it. i'm 6'2" and 225.

you can do it on a flat surface with a tranny jack, but.... this might be a
job best left for a shop.... if you get it halfway out, and find out you can't
get a frozen bolt free.... or any one of a number of sucky things.... when
you drag a crippled half dismantled toy into the repair shop, the pricing
structure changes noticeably.