1997 F-350 7.3 Powerstroke with an E4OD Trans

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Whats up guys, happy almost Friday!

I come to you for help troubleshooting, or confirming my suspicion about my tans in my truck, 1997 F-350 7.3 diesel with the E4OD
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To start, whenever the truck is cold, the first few sets of shifts are SMOOTH as butter, feels new. Once it warms up however, it starts to act up. 1-2 becomes a bit hard shifting, 2-3 is smooth all the time, 3-4 feels like it falls into gear it's hard to explain(if it does it hard enough you could bob your head forward a bit), and 4-OD I think is slipping(it's not revving high, but it sort of "rev matches" where it bumps down a couple hundred RPM then goes lower into its normal range, which I classify as slipping until told otherwise)

Here is an album showing the color of the trans fluid, it's not good just a warning. http://imgur.com/a/RHSBQ
I'm going to go out on a limb here an say I probably shouldn't change it and the filter, probably just leave it alone


For those who know these trucks, maybe you can help. Apparently that 1-2 hard shift indicated that the trans is in "limp mode" using line pressure instead of solenoids to shift. I was unable to pull trans codes, but I will try again, but I have no lights and it wasn't under DTCs in my friends scanner. I know these can be very finicky transmissions, I just replaced a rear speed sensor because I was getting an ABS light here and there and I noticed my speedometer jumping a little bit time to time.
I also read the the throttle position sensor on these trucks can greatly affect transmission behavior, looking for someone to chime in on this.


My assumption is that the lovely E4OD is on her way out and that I'm on borrowed time, but if anyone has any helpful advice, I am all ears.
 
And how many miles?
I had some ugly shift issues couple years ago and all it was was the filter I was told had collapsed. Out of $200 and only been changed a year before. Different shops of course but what is one to do when the vehicle is 175 miles from home
 
229k miles, assuming the transmission hasn't been touched.

Will do Langanobob, very helpful, thanks
 
When I had my 94 Bronco it also had the E40D it had 235K miles. CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION NEUTRAL SWITCH! I believe it will correct your problems.
 
First of all, you only have four forward gears. If you're feeling four upshifts, there might be something else clunking in your driveline like a u-joint.

Yes you should change the fluid. If a little bit of friction material floating around in your fluid is keeping your trans going, your trans is already toast.

A TPS is very easy to test. Just watch the readings with a voltmeter while an assistant sloooowly works the pedal, making sure that the readings on your DVOM are consistent.
 
When the transmission is acting up is the OFF button on the gear shifter flashing? Although your symptoms aren't that similar to mine I had a problem that pretty much all shifts were hard as it was running in fail/safe mode. Towards the beginning of the problem it would randomly come out of cruise control and the rpms would be a little funny. Ended up being the PSOM (programmable speedometer odometer module) as the signal sent from the PSOM to the computer was lost and caused the transmission to go into fail safe mode.
 
Opinions may vary, but I feel exchanging new ATF for old and replacing the filter is never bad, and always a good idea. It may of may not help, but will not hurt. Sometimes the filter needs changing again a few thousand miles after changing the ATF. Your transmission may be on the way out. The color of ATF is a better indicator of useful life left than the color of motor oil.

Auto-Rx. Magnefine inline filter.

Avoid cross country trip.

Find Indy transmission guy.
 
Haven't really had a problem shifting into gear with the gear selector, isn't that the main function of that?
 
UPDATE for anyone wondering.

JimmyJohns is a good friend of mine. Over a 30 pack of ice cold beer, some grilled Italian sausage and the company of a couple of friends we dropped the trans pan on the truck, drained the torque converter, installed a new filter and bolted it back together. Filled with around 14 quarts of Dex/Merc MaxLife ATF and a couple of bottles of Lubeguard Red.

Truck is shifting better than ever. The shifts are more positive and confidence inspiring, the trans shifts fast and spot on. The first to second shift which was increasingly hard had softened up a lot. After driving it for a couple of weeks, the fluid is starting to turn a touch brown. We will probably repeat this procedure in a few more weeks to effectively clean up the trans.
 
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