E4OD rebuild

[Traveler]

I will keep adding to this as we get farther into it.
It is important to know what was wrong with the transmission when you are about to rebuild it. Helps you focus on what needs the most detail.
We tore down a tranny that was burnt up, we knew it would need lots of work. We were pretty anxious to see what was in it and what hard parts we needed to order so not a lot of tear down pics of the burnt tranny, but I will come back and add some later.
When we started tearing it down you could tell the fluid was burnt really badly. The smell and color is a good indication.
Once we pulled the pan, that is the second indication.
This is after we had dumped all of the fluid out.

What our parts tranny looked like



We pulled the pump. The first thing we see is the overdrive clutches are burnt and melted together. We had to pry out the coast clutch drum which should fall out.

Looking at the coast clutch drum it looks like the missing area in the teeth were machined in there and it would be easy to believe that they were. But that is not the case.
When working with the unknown tranny you need to inspect everything. Every little detail.

Before tear down, it is nice to have codes, but more importantly if you can hook up a pressure gauge to the case and test pump pressure. It can be difficult to see wear on the pump gears and visually determine if they are bad.
Driver's side of the case, just above the pan is a test port for doing just that.




It is a good idea after pulling the pan and valve body to use air pressure to test apply each clutch pack and see which one failed. This also needs to be done during reassembly to make sure you have not cut a seal and put it together correctly.


I will come back and add to the trouble shooting later.


The tear down. Yes this will be picture intense
The color of the fluid is such a relief compared to the previous one we pulled apart.

Next, pull the pan

Pull the filter.


We are just using the guts of this tranny, this one is a Diesel case and we will stuff the guts into are Gas case. All the internals are the same minus upgrades from model years.
We still have to pull the valve bodies to get the guts out of it.
The filter hold the pump in, but there are 3 bolts, 2 that hold the center support and another that holds the overdrive clutch. That is why we are pulling these valve bodies.

Remove the top portion of the main control body.

There are two plastic check balls behind it.


Remove the accumulator body.

Remove the main control body

Remove the separator plate reinforcing plate.

Pull the solenoid screen so you don't lose it.

Pull the solenoid body. It can be pretty sticky where the connector passes through the case. Take your time and just keep working it. It will give up.

Behind that is the one steel check ball. Grab that and put it someplace safe.

Pull the separator plate.

Now, after you pull the gasket down, if it didn't come with the plate, be careful, this is where the majority of the check balls are. Remove them and keep track of them.
Your check balls can help you identify what year range your transmission came from.
1989 had two models, early and late. Early was 14 check balls.
Late 1989 had 10 rubber and 1 steel, total of 11
1990-1995 had 9 rubber balls
1996 and later has 8









This is the spring underneath the steel check ball that fell out when we pull the solenoid body.


Finally we have gotten to the 3 bolts we need to remove in order to pull the guts out of this thing.
See the 3 bolts in the center, form a triangle, take a 13mm socket to remove.



After pulling those I pull the tranny mount and tails housing off.

[Traveler]

Okay pull the tail housing off and get it out of the way.



Pull the input shaft.


Next the pump bolts.


The front pump has two holes with threads in the pump.
They are meant to install slide hammers to pull the pump.


We went a different way. We installed vise grips, slid up against the bolt head.


That gave us something to pry against.


A few tugs and the pump is out.

[bob_95_psd]

Does your rebulid kit come with good instructions. All those check balls would drive me crazy without a good reference document showing me where they all go.

Can't wait to see more.

[Traveler]

Rebuild kits are horrible, usually no instructions and most of the time they don't have all the parts you need.
We will be putting in a shift kit. That will cover most of it, but the ATSG manual is the one and probably most important tool. The Automatic Transmission Service Guide has all the info you need, broken down by model. Tolerances and trouble shooting steps.

It isn't that hard. Just focus on one thing at a time, 1 ball, or one clutch pack, don't let the whole project overwhelm you.
Like a remote starter, you pull it out of the box, see 40 wires and give up, Start going through one wire at a time and it is easy.

[bob_95_psd]

Rebuild kits are horrible, usually no instructions and most of the time they don't have all the parts you need.
We will be putting in a shift kit. That will cover most of it, but the ATSG manual is the one and probably most important tool. The Automatic Transmission Service Guide has all the info you need, broken down by model. Tolerances and trouble shooting steps.

It isn't that hard. Just focus on one thing at a time, 1 ball, or one clutch pack, don't let the whole project overwhelm you.
Like a remote starter, you pull it out of the box, see 40 wires and give up, Start going through one wire at a time and it is easy.

I'll take the forty wires any day...i have no fear of wires. Wrestling a huge/heavy transmission and transfer case out and back in only to find one little check ball lurking in the corner of the tool tray gives me nightmares and makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

I'll check out that service guide.

[Traveler]

Okay, Pump is removed. The first thing you see is the coast clutch drum. It should pretty much fall out.


Inside is the coast clutch friction and steels.
The center piece is called the overdrive sun gear.

That leaves this.


Next pull the overdrive planetary and ring gear.


Next pull the snap ring in the outer case.

Pull the overdrive clutch pack out.


Now this is where you are supposed to have a special tool. I have one, can't find it.
Made this out of 1/4 x 1" strap.
10 3/8" long. A hole in each end, drill and tap the center.


You can get it with a tool like this and if you do trannys you will always use this tool so not a bad investment if you can find it when you need it.


With out home made tool and a 2x4 that actually fit perfect, slightly compress the overdrive apply piston.


I tried really hard to get a picture of this. But the 3 bolts we removed on the bottom, two of them holding the center support in place, the front one feeds the overdrive clutch. If you could see in there you will see by compressing the clutch the threads no longer line up with the hole. That is far enough to remove the snap ring without damage.



Remove your tool and the overdrive apply piston.


Now we remove the center support. This is one of the parts that is recomended to be upgraded.
This design uses a bushing and the new design uses a bearing.


With the center support there may be a lot of items that come with it, if not just pull them out next.
The intermediate clutch, the band, The intermediate clutch drum, the direct clutch.


Next we pull the forward clutch pack and drum out.


Now the forward planetary assembly.


Now the sun gear and sun gear shell


Now pull the reverse clutch pack snap ring.


remove the planetary gear retaining ring.


Remove the rear planetary gear.


Remove output shaft snap ring.


Remove the tail shaft.


Pull the reverse drum


Pull the reverse clutch, frictions and steels.


Pull the 5 bolts holding the overrun clutch race.


It will just fall off and the low/revers piston return springs may just fall with it as the race is the retainer for them.



Now we are going to shoot a little air in the oil supply port to the reverse apply clutch to remove it.


Remove the apply piston


You now have a case that is ready to be washed and cleaned up.
Hopefully to help installation you have taken the time to stack things in order as they came out.
This will help identify parts that look similar.


We will be stuffing these parts into our SBF case. I will show you the different planetaries and so forth as we go back together.

[Traveler]

Now we are ready to go back together.
Once you have an empty case, pressure wash it out. Take it and get it cooked. inspect it for cracks, wear.
Cases don't go bad often, but when you get one as torn up as we had, question everything.
Since our transmission was starved for oil the bushings showed a lot of wear. So we ordered a bushing kit and started putting them in as we go.
There are two back here in the case. The outer one will always show wear because of the weight of the tailshaft, so they don't always need to be replaced, but the kit is like $20.


When you are looking at the bushings you will see grooves, machined or cast into the bearing. This is to carry oil. They also make good wear indicators.

Look at how wide this groove is compared to the groove in the last picture.
They are from the same bushing.


My Fancy installation tool.
1 1/4" socket with an extension backwards, inside the socket.



Now with those first two bushings in, time to do the seals on the reverse apply piston.
there is an inner and outer seal.


Now to find them in the mess of new seals. Take your time, there are many that are close but only one that is right.
Also note if there is a groove cut, or having a lip. If it does it the lip always faces the oil.
This has none of that. Just a square cut seal.


With the seals installed, lube them up. There are plenty of different lubes, use something like what is made for engine assembly it is designed to protect during dry start up and wash away and break down into oil. This stuff says for engines and transmissions.


Seals are all lubed up and piston is ready to go into case.


Check the case one more time, make sure it is clean and dry. I did find some goo stuck down in there and had to wipe it out again.


Install the piston, take your time, work it around. You certainly don't want to cut a seal now.


Install the cushion spring.



Next is the overrun clutch race.


This oil port lubes the race. It must be put in the 5 o'clock position. Otherwise there will be no lube and burn it up.


Now bolt the race in and torque.
20ft pounds.


Now it is time to build the Reverse clutch pack.
Hopefully your frictions have been soaking in fresh fluid for a while and are ready to go.
Find the matching frictions and steels.




Put in as many as you took out. I had 5 frictions and 5 steels.
Start with a steel and then a friction ect. You will end up with a friction on top.


Now it is time for the backing plate and snap ring.
The backing plate only goes in one way.


Hard to see from this pic, but try to install your snap rings so the ends are underneath a piece of the case and not hanging out in the middle.


Grab an airline and blow gun, apply the clutch pack a few times.
You should hear a solid thud, no hissing or leaking.
If it leaks, pull it back apart and check your piston seals because one is cut.


Now we check the tolerance for the clutch pack.
Not sure what ford spec is, but Alto recommends between .020 and .025" to help reduce apply delay which is common in these trucks because when you put it into reverse 3 clutches have to apply at once. Tighter tolerances means it will take less fluid to apply and less delay.
Other manufactures recommend .045" which is what my tranny guys say.
I came in right at .045 so we will run it. I wanted it tighter but without ordering a snap ring, or machining a plate I can't do it with the parts I have so I left it alone.
Check your clearance through this little access port in the case.
You need to have feeler gauges 180 degrees across from each other to get an accurate reading.


Now we are ready to install the reverse drum. Inspect it.
Here are the two I have side by side. See on has some damage on the drum from the teeth, the other drum looks much better which is surprising since it came from the burnt transmission.


First design on the left, second design on the right.
We are using the second design since it is in better shape.


This is a one way clutch. It should only spin Clock wise as we are looking at it in this picture.
You tip, twist, and turn the drum until it slips all the way down in. It is a little tricky as you are trying to line up all of the frictions of the reverse clutch pack.
The one way clutch face will slip down past flush on the race and seat firmly to let you know you are all the way in.


Next we slip in the ring gear for the rear planetary.
Don't forget the bearing.




Next is the output shaft.
Inspect the thrust washer.

Lube up the bushings.


Replace the bushing in the end of the shaft.

I use a round nose chisel, or a punch with the end ground at a taper to cut the bushing in two.
Blow the chunks out and install the new one.



Now install the output shaft and don't forget the snap ring.
This is tough to do alone, helps to have long arms or a friend.
I have both.


Here are the two designs of the rear planetary. 3 and 4 pinion.
We are using the 4 pinion came out of a 91 diesel case, the 93 5.0 case had the 3 pinion.
being starved for oil the 3 pinion setup was wore badly, the teeth where almost honed to sharp edges from lack of lube.
This is one part that is prone to failure, due to cracking of the aluminum housing.


Ready to install the rear planetary.
Lube the thrust washer. Both sides. It doesn't spin against the planetary, the lube is to just hold it in place during assembly.


Now the snap ring to hold it in place.


Next the thrust washer on the outside of the planetary.


Now lets put new bushings in our sun gear.



Install the sun gear assembly.


Nest is our Forward planetary and clutch pack assembly.


Pull the drum out, note the nylon thrust washer location.


There is also a bearing inside the planetary.


Pull the snap ring, backing plate, frictions and steels.



Another make shift clutch tool.
This is an OTC model we had. Use it an the pipe piece you see is just a flange I used to spread the weight out. I thought using a couple C-clamps they would have done the same job.



Pull the spring plate.


There is this little steel ring that sits on the piston, it is to prevent the spring plate from wearing through the aluminum apply piston.


Bearing, don't lose that.


Apply a little air to the apply oil port.


Forward apply piston is out.

[Traveler]

On the back of the forward clutch drum are two seal rings, that is how the oil used to apply the clutch is supplied.
Replace those. The ends are locked together, so can be a little tricky getting them apart.
Before and lock the new ones and stagger the seams 180 degrees.



The center seal is just an o-ring. Plain round. It is on the hub this time not part of the piston.


The seal on the outer edge of the apply piston is a lip seal.
Install the new one the same way the old one comes out. Lip towards the fluid to hold the pressure in.


Lube the seals.


One trick to putting lip seals in is take a feeler gauge and slip it in, and run it around the seal. That will help work the lip inside the sealing surface.
Be careful you can cut the seal. Don't force the piston in you can roll the seal over backwards.


Now put the small steel wear ring back in.


Spring plate.


If you can get the snap ring started you don't have to used the clutch tool to compress it. I take a punch and work the snap ring in.


Hard to tell from the pic but this clutch pack has a wave plate. Install after the tapered backing plate.


Next stack your frictions and steels, start with a steel, then you will end with a friction.
I had 4 in this set.


Then backing plate and snap ring.


Apply air to test the clutch.


Check your clearance. Spec is 0.55-.030. We are at .035 so cool. You want this one tight. It is engaged with every forward gear.


Don't forget the bearing, but assemble the drum and planetary/drum into the forward clutch packs.

[Traveler]

When I don't understand something, or maybe have questions that the ATSG manual does not cover I google it.
I came across this ebook that is actually pretty good.
http://download.cnet.com/E4OD-Free-T...-10537137.html

It is a download that you run on your computer and once you figure out how to use it, it has lots of good information.
I hosted that download so it doesn't go away. Here it is if you want it.
E4OD ebook

Here is a nice PDF breakdown of the tranny.

[Traveler]

Drop the forward clutch and drum in the case.


Now the direct clutch.


Need to compress the dampener springs.


After the snap ring is off, flip it over and apply a little air to pop the piston out.



Now lets put the new bushings in.


New seals, lip facing the fluid. The transgo shift kit has an updated seal for this.


Re assemble the piston, springs, frictions and steels. Looks like I missed a couple pictures.


Sorry for the turned picture, but this is where you pretty much have to stand the tranny case up.
I use a bucket, then a couple of wood blocks.


Now drop the direct clutch in. This can be pretty aggravating as you have to make sure it lines up with all of the splines and seats down on the thrust washer, there is not much room to move it after it starts to engage the sun gear shell.
I actually pulled the forward and the direct clutch back out and lined up the splines on the bench and then dropped them back in one at a time.


Now we drop our band in there.


One side of the case has a steel pin sticking out, One end of the band rests against that. The other end lines up with the servo pin hole through the valve body.
Pretty hard to get it in wrong, the case almost physically will not let you.


Thrust washer is next.


Needle bearing.


Next is our intermediate sprag and race.


looking into the case it should turn CCW and lock turning CW


Next is our intermediate backing plate.


Then the intermediate friction and steels. This set is kind of different. It is covered with an apply plate that doesn't look much different than a standard steel to be careful.


Now we replace the seal rings on the center support. Same as last set, the ends lock together and alternate the seams.


Smear some assembly grease on both sides of the thrust washer to hold it in place during assembly and lube up the seal rings.


Now drop in your center support, line up the oil feed holes as you put it in.
Take your time as the seal rings have to compress as they go into the direct clutch drum you don't want to force it and break one.


Now this goofy little setup actually has two apply pistons in it. One side is to apply the intermediate, the other is to apply the overdrive clutch.


Replace the seals in both sides. The intermediate side just pops off very easily.



The overdrive side has a retaining spring and snap ring.



With new seals installed, reassemble.


You don't really need the clutch compressor tool for this, you can pop it off with a straight screw driver and put it back on with a punch or screw driver. Just start it and tap the snap ring down. Go around a couple times to make sure it is seats.
The Transgo shift kit has an updated snap ring for this as well.


You have to line up the oil feed tube on this piston set as well.


Drop the intermediate piston return spring.


Now drop in your piston set.


Now we need to compress the intermediate clutch spring.


Now we install the snap ring that retains the over drive clutch piston.


Now line up and install the oil feed bolts in both the center support and the overdrive/intermediate housing. Torque to 20ft pounds.

[E40D Headaches]

Nice post. Very informative. I've got a problem with my 95 Club Wagon E4OD that I was hoping you might have an answer to.

I was driving at highway speed when the tranny just went into neutral. AS I coasted down I dropped into a lower gear and felt the tranny spin up to mesh with the axle speed. When I stopped I had no forward motion but reverse works fine. Not a fluid issue as I checked that and not a connection issue as I checked those as well. My thought was a stuck/bad valve but can't find anybody to confirm it.

Any ideas? I'd appreciate anything you could tell me. Thanks in advance.

Rich

[Traveler]

Nice post. Very informative. I've got a problem with my 95 Club Wagon E4OD that I was hoping you might have an answer to.

I was driving at highway speed when the tranny just went into neutral. AS I coasted down I dropped into a lower gear and felt the tranny spin up to mesh with the axle speed. When I stopped I had no forward motion but reverse works fine. Not a fluid issue as I checked that and not a connection issue as I checked those as well. My thought was a stuck/bad valve but can't find anybody to confirm it.

Any ideas? I'd appreciate anything you could tell me. Thanks in advance.

Rich

There are far better people than me for troubleshooting these transmissions.

It is my understanding you can completely un hook the electronics and get forward motion, but it won't shift.
If I was to guess I think you have a hard part failure, such as the forward clutch, or the forward planetary. Or some other hard part. It is not good news as the transmission will have to come out and be torn down to find out.
Could be a bad torque converter.
The valves in the valve train are to control line pressure and shifting. If there is one stuck it should still move forward.
If you do a google search you will see it is a very common problem.

[Traveler]

Now we are working on the overdrive ring gear, hub, and planetary assembly.


Once you pop the top you see the forward planetary.
This one is a 4 pinion steel from the HD versions of the early E4OD.


Here is the 3 pinion aluminum removed from the original gas case. The newest upgrade version is a 6 pinion.


Comparing the two hubs to see which one to use.
There are two designs there. The old and updated.
This is the overdrive sprag or one way clutch.


The one on top in the last picture was the updated, newer design. Wanting to use that we inspected it and found it torn up pretty bad. This is the center race.


The teeth that grab that center race. Not all of them are worn down, but they need to be consistent.


We install that overdrive pinion set, next the overdrive sun gear.


Next we tear apart the coast clutch drum and replaces the frictions and steels.


New bushings.


There are some important oil feed holes you have to be sure they are not covered.


new seals.


Compress the spring again.


Install the frictions and steels.


Drop it in. It is tough to get it all the way in. Take your time, be sure.
I do not have a pic of installing the overdrive friction and steels. That needs to be done now. You can see them installed in this pic



Now to start on the pump.


It helps to mark the case somewhere to make the reassembly quicker and easier.
Just scribe a line, of course it doesn't show in the pic.


And we have the pump. The number of ears on the rotor will tell you if it has been upgraded or not. This one has not.
You basically pull the gear and race out and inspect them for damage, scratches, pits, scars. This pump is from the diesel case and is in great shape.


Replace the front seal and bushing. The orientation, or basically the groove in the bushing needs to be at the bottom of where the shaft would ride, so check the old one and make sure the new one is clocked the same.
You will also notice this groove does not go all the way across the bushings like others. This is to help keep excessive oil flow away from the front seal.
Also notice the two chisel marks at the top center of the bushing in the picture. That is called staking. The housing is notched for it. By bending it there, this prevents the bushing from spinning in the case. Do it.
I have had bushing spin on me, taking out the front seal and it is not good.


Now for the pump mods. This is a trans go shift kit. Not the tugger 2 kit just a standard shift kit. I strongly recommend some kit. It does so many things. It is always a good thing to increase pump flow and pressure as well as replacing springs that have cycled thousands of times already.
A good shift kit can also cover up many mistakes in clutch pack clearances and wake up a lazy transmission.


these kits can seem pretty overwhelming. Don't give up, stay focused on one step at a time. Read, then read again, lay out the parts you are swapping. Read it again. Then put it back together.


You can see a hose clamp around the pump housing. This is used to help align it. The bolt holes leave room for lots of play. You need to line up the mark or marks you put on the pump and then build a clamping system to make sure the housings are matched up perfectly.


This is where I realized my camera was broken. So I lost a lot of pictures that didnt turn out. But the next step was to put the pump in. No big deal.

Now we are ready to start on the gear selector bushing and seal.



Pull the roll pin out. This can be tough as it is supposed to be flush with the case and is a blind hole so you cannot get to the back.
You can pry it out with a couple screw drivers to start it. Or put a small screw down the center of it.


More to come when I get the other camera card.

[awcwo]

excellent write up. I was wondering if you could help me out. I rebuilt my tranny and think I have it all togther correctly, however the truck will not move. It is a 96 Bronco 351W with E4OD. I took the tranny out an checked the O/D pack with air and heard it engage, but I am not sure where to check the other clutch packs at. Any and all suggestions are appriciated.

[Traveler]

Do the RPMs change when you put it in gear, or does it feel like it goes into gear?
What happens when you rev the engine with it in gear?
Could be a bad torque converter, or even a one way clutch in backwards.
So you still have it out of the truck?

[awcwo]

The RPMs change with the throttle, it seems like it goes into forward gears. I was not around this weekend, but I was told that it limped a few feet forward. Nothing in reverse though. The TC worked prior to the rebuild. We checked the oil pump by removing the feedline with the truck running, it was fine. It is still out of the truck, I am taking it to Cottman Transmissions today to see if they can check the other clutch packs. If that checks out I am going to replace the oil pump, as it might just be weak with all the new clutches and then I will start changing the electrical….

[sheepman]

Erik, did you mod the pump for full flow during lock up, where the pump casing is drilled?

[Traveler]

You know I honestly cannot remember right now. I will have to go through the rest of my pics and see if I can spot it.

[killforfood]

This is the best E4OD tutorial I've found!!! Good job Traveler
Nearly 200 good clear pictures by my count.
I copied the whole thread into a word file and it will be on my laptop guiding me all the way through my E4OD rebuild. I'm currently trying to decide between Racer X and John Woods for the rebuild parts and then the fun begins

[woodman]

Hello I was wondering when you were checking the clearances on the reverse clutch pack you had mentioned you could of ordered a snap ring to get tighter clearances. My question is where can a person purchase one?