Colt45's Trans swap chronicles

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So if you have read my other post, you know that I blew up the transmission in my LX yesterday.
I went and picked up a transmission today.
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Its out of a 2008 CVPI. Supposedly has only 1k miles on it, and with the condition its in Im tempted to believe that. Or its close enough I dont care. I paid $840 for that beauty.
Because its from an '08 its not a drop in, namely the EPC solenoid has different operational characteristics than the -04 part, so I have to change that. Ill just get a new one.
Since its from a Police car it has a 11.25" torque convertor and extended tailshaft housing. So, Ill have to change my flexplate out for one with the smaller bolt pattern. I already have a short police aluminium driveshaft to go with the extended housing, but I have a standard yoke on it, so Ill have to get a u-joint and put the Police yoke back on it to match.
The trans also has a TSS (Turbine Shaft Speed) Sensor that I dont need; Ill just leave it installed and disconnected. Because of that it also has a titanium sun shell which would allow the TSS to read input shaft speed through it. :p
The advantages of the later trans include a stronger gearset, upgraded intermediate mechanical diode, and improved OD band.
Also, looks like they broke the bulkhead connector so Ill have to scavenge that out of my old trans.

Thats where Im at right now. I have to gather the additional parts needed. I also need to either acquire a new transmission cooler, or find a place that has a heated flushing machine to clean it out.
Since Im going to be installing 4.10s in the rear sometime after this debacle, I am going to do the forced tailshaft lube modification to this and I will also JMod it as SOP before it is installed.

I will update this thread as progress is made.
 
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Cool. Kind of sad to hear the trans went out, seems they last well for most. Heavy foot issues? Just kidding, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Good luck with the swap, that seems like a terrific deal on the used unit...
 
Yeah, I have some ideas on why it went out. I will be dissecting the old one before the new one goes in so I can find out why it went out and try to prevent that from occurring again, espically if it was something I did to it.
 
Maybe you should just cut your losses and give the car to me?
wink.gif


Love the crown vics. The police transmission is a 4R75 right?

I'd absolutely love to get a civilian Vic, JMOD it and do a 3.55 or 3.73 rear end. I would think 4.10 would hurt highway mileage a bit much for me. I know the modular v8s like to wind up, though.

I can soooooooooo close to making an offer on this Saturday. Ultimately I didn't because it had heated power seats, electronic climate control.
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You wouldn't want mine, because it has EATC as well.
If you are gonna put gears in it, you will need a tune, and if you need a tune you might as well get the Police Airbox and ziptube. Worth 11HP. Since its OE stuff it fits just like the original but you would need the tune to correct the MAF tables.

Yes, its a 4R75E. I was thinking about 3.73s but really once you get up that high, might as well go for the 4.10s.
 
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I generally drive like a granny. Just 2.73 gear ratios make me cringe. As handy as it is to go 60 in 1st gear and not hit redline, or idle down the highway, we have too many hills.

I think at that point, it would actually hurt economy. Good for EPA ratings, I guess.

Do you expect much of a FE hit? Seems like it would be cruising > 2000 when on the highway?
 
It would run about 2800RPM at 75MPH. Thats about 1000RPM more than it does now with 2.73s. As it is I get 25MPG at 75MPH with cruise control. I guesstimate a 10% drop. Mostly it will be increased frictional losses from the engine and transmission spinning at the higher RPM.
 
Since the previous transmission failed, I would definitely get a new transmission cooler. Its not worth the risk and stacked plate coolers aren't that expensive.

Got any pics of this car? I've always loved the Vics.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Do you think the failure is related to your recent installation of that deep aftermarket pan?

That pan has been on for 46k miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Do you think the failure is related to your recent installation of that deep aftermarket pan?

That pan has been on for 46k miles.


Oh, LOL!

Do you still think it was a contributor though?
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Yes, its a 4R75E. I was thinking about 3.73s but really once you get up that high, might as well go for the 4.10s.


I agree, that thing will rock with 4.10s. It'll be a lot of fun.
 
So, I went out and did some testing on the bad trans this morning. Trying different things to see exactly what is going on. I have a hypothesis but I dont really want to post it in case Im wrong. I built it from research on the intertubes and my recent testing seems to be bolstering it..
I will post it anyways because Im trying to get over my fear of being wrong.

So, before when I drove it home, I only had (shuddering at takeoff) 1st and 2nd. 3rd and 4th never happened, it would just stay in 2nd all the way out. This confused me because if it was actually trying to engage OD with no OD band I would end up in neutral since it opens the Forward clutch.
The shift pattern is:
D (1st) Forward clutch on
D (2nd) Intermediate clutch on
D (3rd) Direct clutch on
D (4th) Forward clutch off and OD band on
M (2nd) Forward, Intermediate, and OD Band on (the OD band comes on in manual second to allow for engine braking, 2nd in (D) will just return to near idle)
M (1st) Forward, and Reverse band on (Reverse band on for same reason as OD band in Manual second)
I had checked the fluid and it was within the okay range.

Today I went out and dumped fluid in it until it was overfull.
Partial success. First thing I tried was getting it up to about 20mph, put it in manual 2nd and let off the throttle. The engine returned to idle. So the OD band is shot. That I expected.
Then I took it up to 50mph. Somewhere in there it attempted 3rd. I felt an ever so slight bump, but it again never completed. Better than it was before; it never tried. Once I crossed the OD threshold, it went into neutral. So it tried to go into OD and opened the Forward clutch unlike before I had overfilled it.
Ever since I had installed the trans pan, I have had problems getting the fluid level right. I usually ended up with the level right at or just above the max mark with the trans hot. It seemed like if I set it in the middle of the range, it would be too low when cold.
Recently I changed the Racor filter I have on the cooler line. I recovered what fluid I could, but I still lost about a half a quart. Shouldn't be enough to affect it since I was right at the limit at the start, right?
Well, maybe.
See the cast pan I have has these towers in the middle of the pan that stick up and are supposed to hold the filter up to the transmission. I recently came across I post on the marauder forum of someone who smoked direct and OD (sound familiar?) in his fresh transmission after the aftermarket cast pan he had let the filter fall out of the transmission valve body. He used playdoh and found a pretty large gap between the towers in the pan and the filter.
I dont think its actually fallen out completely; what I think what has happened is that it has dropped out enough to become unsealed and the pump is sucking air at that interface. When I was nearly overfull the problem was mitigated by the fact that point was probably still under fluid most of the time. After I changed the filter and brought the level down to normal it could no longer operate correctly.
I killed it trying to do a WOT 2-3. If you see my shift tables above, you'll note that at that point it has to keep 2 clutches locked and bring on a third. At WOT the pressure commanded is quite high. More pressure = more fluid needed. It ran out of fluid; couldn't build the needed pressure. Boom.
I really really REALLY want to start tearing it apart, but its just too [censored] cold. Im outside a lot at work as it is and I just want to stay inside on the weekends.


Oh! I almost forgot. I got the correct flexplate from a crownvic forum member. I drove it out to me and didnt even charge me for it!
 
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Some parts arrived this week.
parts1.jpg

Im surprised at all the US parts I got.
New Dayco tensioner because the old one is annoying me. New pair of NTK O2 sensors (seem like theyll be easy to replace with the cats and trans out of the way). Nice Spicer sealed U-joint to put the CVPI yoke back on the aluminum driveshaft and a pair of output shaft seals.
I was supposed to have more, but weather has delayed some of it.
I have Monday and Tuesday off, so I plan to get it up and start disassembly this weekend.
 
If the gearing upgrade is part of this swap I would take the driveshaft to the shop for rebalancing and new u-joints.

It's going to be spinning a LOT faster...
 
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