More than normal auto trans failures????????

I knew of one guy, in HVAC business, that had one fail a few years ago behind his Powerstroke on his F350 service truck.

He now uses a mid-sized Kenworth rig to haul the HVAC service body around with Cummins engine and Allison automatic.

Sometimes you just have to use a real truck for loads that are too big for any pickup chassis. And living in a high tourist traffic area, I see more and more of these rigs hauling huge 5th wheels around.

Budd

Maybe your friends lied to you and they abuse the s*it out of theirs.

Dunno. I load three to four rebuilt Ford Autotrans a night onto trucks for delivery in the Portland metro area on the frieght dock I work at.

But Ford are all I see, so I can't read anything into that.

Plasyd

A mgr. in the Ford service dep told me a week ago that the new 5 speed auto tranny that was new in 2003 with the new diesel has had a lot of changes inside now and it seems like it is very good ?.It is about time they got the new motor and tranny as it should be . In the next two years I think I will try one and try out the new rv break control they have now as a option . Hope this helps you on your interest in the tranny problems Ford has had in the past . We will see in the next year how they are standing up pulling large rvs. Fox . S. Ont .

Stuuder wrote:

The overdrive went out in mine. A '99 F350 PSD 7.3L. I had the trans replaced at 85,000.

Spdloader

I know that the Escapes have had problems. Mine blew and cost $3500

No response from your friendly ford dealer. No more purchases for me from Ford.

This is not a problem limited to Ford. GM and Chrysler are having problems too. What is hard to explain is why. Automatics have been around over 50 years, why should they be such a problem now? With experience they should be getting better. Years ago if you bought an automatic pickup you could expect it to hold up. Now you can expect to have problems.

Al

Personally, I believe it has to do with the EPA and CAFE requirements. Overdrive transmissions are the least efficient, mechanically, and when it's an automatic with OD, then you're adding more probs than you can imagine.

The GM 350, Mopar Torqueflites ( Loadflite in truck apps), and the Ford C-6 were just about as good as autos could get . . .then the EPA wanted lower engine revs / mile to reduce pollution. CAFE wanted higher corporate gas mileage averages so the quick, cheap fix is to go with overdrives. The correct way would be to go to numericaly small axles ( in the 2.5 to 3.0 ratio range) and add UNDERdrive ratios to the transmission. More lower gears.

I'm suprised someone hasn't done it by now. A 7 or 8 speed auto with a huge trans cooler would handle most anything you would nbeed to pull with a pickup and if the gears are wide (thick) enough, it could handle about any torque and do it well.

Budd

Hey Big Al

Do you have any insight as to where the trannies are built? Is it a shift to different manufacturers? I was very surprised to have ours blow out so early. Especially since Ford recalled it and reprogrammed the PCM the month before....hmmmmm, do I smell a rat?

What do rats smell like anyway?

CD4E trannies by Mazda, but inside the Fords.

Sorry to prolong the thread re: non - truck trannie.

Bob

blame the bean counters

the old A4LD and early 4/5R55E had a band strut between the end of the servo rod and the band.........which kept the band from side-loading the servo rod in the bore

guess what part was eliminated in the interest of economy (HINT: newer units suffer from servo rod bore wear)

He got no concessions from the Ford dealer either..... Thanx for all your input. Stuuder

go>

Why would they need a concession? Aren't 2003's under warranty?

Stuuder

Try logging onto the ford truck enthusiast page and asking there. GO to the forums and look under the trucks and post your question. It has lots of good info.

Bob

Good grief!!!

Back when I worked at the muffler factory in Indiana, a 10 foot length of 2

Pathetic.

Budd

TranSurgeon,

Why do the overdrives fail so often in the 4R100 transmission? (I believe that's what mine is) Why would they put it in a ton truck with that type of durability issue, or did they not know it would be a problem at the time? I never pulled equipment with the overdrive on-ever.

The transmission in my '99 PSD SuperCab dually failed due to the overdrive coming apart (I was told)

When the dealership installed the new transmission, I was told the problem wouldn't reoccur because the replacement unit had all the "updates". Including an input shaft able to withstand 1000ft lbs of torque. What other updates? I know the replacement transmission was a remanufactured unit that came from Charlotte, NC. It had a tag on it.

The bright side is I have another 3/36 warranty now on the transmission.

Spdloader

early units ( and some re-mans) used an aluminum carrier for the OPD planetary

later uses a steel carrier and a better input shaft

Oh, so I can assume the mechanic, which did seem knowledgeable, was for real then.

I wish I had some transmission experience, had the chance to go to school for it when I was a mechanic, but didn't go. I could kick myself for it now.

Thanks for the reply,

Spdloader

Oh, yeah, that could be. 36,000 miles I guess.