1989 f250 transmission problems!

something is broken inside

Ya think? I was hoping it wasn't. It's odd though that the tranny works fine in every other respect. It shifts up smooth, into passing gear as it should. OD works fine. And, it works from a stop just fine if I turn the engine off and restart it. I was hoping it might be an electrical issue. Rick

Sounds like the torque convertor lock up isnt un-locking. Can you come to a stop when it does it, then shut it down, restart and its normal again? The reason you have to get to speed is because it wont lock till you get up to higher speed cruising conditions, this is by design. If this is the problem it is either the valve is sticking or its an electrical problem. See if your brake lights are working too, the brake pedal should disingage the lock-up. Thats about all I can tell you cause I'm no tranny expert. GL

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I just went out and tried the brake lights, and they seem to work fine.

When it happens, I can come to a stop, shut off the engine, and restart it, and it will be fine again (may take 2 restarts though).

I also thought it might be an electrical problem because of this.

I just got off the phone with the local Transmission repair shop. They also said it sounded like the torque converter was not unlocking. He's going to call me tomorrow morning to discuss it.

Fingers crossed that this isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to get fixed. Rick

because I HAD THE WHOLE TRANS REBUILT... the whole thing.... its a 2wd car and it is a trans problem... at most it would cost 850$ if you went to the guy by me... however.. since I dont think the whole thing needs to be rebuilt... i say it would be less...

no assumption about it... I know what the running price of rebuilding a trans is.... I know that doing only sections of it must cost less.

Having had a few of the E4OD trans that have all been driven to high mileage and some rebuilt for some reason at one point or another, my money is on the torque converter. Unfortunately, your vintage E4OD will need many updates if you decide to rebuild the whole thing while it is out. You would probably be OK to just replace the converter if you can do it yourself. If not, your best bet may be a complete exchange trans with all the updates installed if you intend to keep the truck for a while and want to ensure it remains troublefree. Unless you can or will be doing the work yourself, I wouldn't even think about having it rebuilt paying for it on an open ended parts and labor basis.

I really doubt if the original poster knows "the guy by you", and I doubt that any transmission shops car how much you paid to get the trans in your car fixed. Ever priced a rebuilt E4OD? Bob

That is where you are mistaken.

Alright look... I only attempted to help the poor guy who originally posted... And yes... the guy by me (POP and Son shop) will rebuild any trans for $850. Its in his slogan. No i have never had any experience with a E4OD transmission or its problems, however going on the simple fact that the guy by me rebuilds any 2wd for $850 kind of makes me have the feeling that he must still be making something. Ortherwise wouldnt his lights be out?

I figured Somebody would say I was mistaken, this group is full of people that knock down other peoples advice... and by the way advice is advice, its not what somebody must do to survice or they must follow or their car will explode, advice is simply ones opinions based on facts to attempt to help others in need, thats what advice is... take it or leave it. If you think its stupid advice then ignore it. Or at least leave a reason why it is stupid, or is disagreeable, I was just leeaving my feedback of what I know as fact. I dont know transmissions or how to troubleshoot them. I do know however that people are making money by rebuilding them for $850. The original poster can do what he / she wishes.

I also agree that the "guy by me" is most likely not even remotely close to the original poster, however I find it hard to beleive that the "guy by me" has the only honest shop in the world.

So thomas, want to enlighten me why you feel i am mistaken? Or is it just easier for you to just challenge everybody and leave the conversation hanging?

If you think i am mistaken about the price ill have to dig up the guys number so you can call him, is that really necessary?

Or was I mistaken that rebuilding parts of a transmission costs less then rebuilding the whole thing? Please make your self more clear, was I mistaken about one part of my reply or another, or am i just a big mistake? If we follow your logic that rebuilding part of something is more expensive then rebuilding the whole thing, wouldnt it be cheaper to rebuild the whole car piece by piece, hell that might be cheaper then redoing the trans, is that what you are saying? I dont think it is, but with such a bland and non informative statement the only thing one can do is assume.

Basically what I am saying is spit out something constructive or go away, I see enough meaningless arguments in this newsgroup as it is. So if you disagree with something somebody says it would be wise to back it up, then maybe I or whoever else can see eye to eye with the person who disagrees. Simply saying "thats where your wrong" does no good for me or the original poster, it may make you feel better because you think youre better then the next guy, but if that is your intent then I suggest you leave a reason of why you disagree.

I am awating a response. Please embed your comments as always, it makes it easier to understand where you are coming from.

Thanks, Ken

================= I think what he ment was alot of times you have to tear down the whole trans to fix something. So, you might as well overhaul the whole thing. But, that is not *always* the case. There are *alot* of times when you can just fix one problem without o/h ing the whole trans. On an older pickup like this one the trans will be easy to get out/in so the labor there isnt that bad, and rest depends on how deep you have to go in it. Rick just needs to take it to a tranny shop and find out, and I hope he lets us know what it was. BTW, I enjoyed that >"Basically what I am saying is spit out something constructive or go away"< part :)

thanks I try to make people laugh :)

thanks for the reply, just saying "you are mistaken" is not good how shall we say.... good newsgrouping?

Anyway thanks for the reply, i feel better now. They original poster may not want to spend the next 5 weeks digging up parts and spending his time reselling old clutches or whatever is in the thing.. thats why i suggested what i did.. its fast easy and relitivly cheap.

if you didnt notice.. the panties were put away two posts ago...

And if they have enough diesel fuel they can put the fire out... they just have to totally drench it.

You can even put out fires with gasoline. The fumes are the most flammable part.. the liquid is fairly manageable.

conversation

Have trouble with context and following threads? That was a direct reply to your post 1/20/04 @ 9:11 pm, just as you felt obligated to "chastise" and "inform" me, I returned the favor.

I'm sure the local fire department would frown on even suggesting you use a flammable liquid to extinguish a fire.

Guess you never tossed gas at a fire? It may be liquid when you toss it...........

You did miss the point, but if that is the type of advise you would give, you can expect "knocks" on your advise.

Like i said in that post i was perfectly calm, I said you do not have good newsgrouping skills, that doesnt mean i had panties on as you put it.

if its all I got ill take the chance

Thanks for the quick response... as a matter of fact i have "dumped" not tossed gas at a small fire.. and yes it does put it out. First hand experience rules anything any book says and I know this for fact. If the fire is a blaze then i dont suggest dumping gas on it in hopes of putting it out. however enough gas at one time would put it out.

if you had a container of gas, was able to remove all the fumes from it, you can actually drop a lit match in it and it would extinguish the match.

I know your comments were not meant to get into a discussion about gasoline, however I wanted you to know that yes gas can put out a fire if done correctly. However if not done correctly the results can be fatal.

I have also tossed gas at a fire to help improve the burn, there has been times when doing this it actually put out what i was trying to make burn hotter / faster

I think if you need first hand experience to prove anything, you should be the one throwing gas around, ive been there done that.

I am fully ready for knocks, as you can see I am prepared to respond to my best ability.

By the way i was browsing through this group.. it seems in many cases when you post something the whole thread is shot into a debate about what was said by whom and when. I think its sad. Now for the poor original poster here he/she has to filter through this big mess just to try and find an anwser for the transmission that is embedded within one of our comments to eachother.

anyway.. i was only trying to let you know to try and be clearer when you make statements... body language is not avalible over the internet nor is sarcasm ... I try my best to be serious when necessary.

Take care... Ken