I recently blew out the trans in my F150, its the E4OD Trans. Mated with the 6cyl engine. The original one started slipping in Drive, and making a swirly noise when changed gears.
pulled it out and got a Ecology trans from a 1990 F150 that was a cutoms impound, but was dirty. Put it in a the thing act's like it seized, the starter just clunks and the flywheel is locked. I tried pulling the tranny back, and setting the torque converter in amking sure it was set in, no help, I think I bought a bad trans, Owell it was only $140 with a warrenty/exchange.

 

If I'm reading right, engine OK but trans not. R&R trans, now don't start. This is not good. It's very easy to mess up the rear pump on a trans if the converter isn't installed fully into the trans. Have never heard of the engine not starting, just the trans all messed up. I think I'm going to learn something here. How did you even turn the engine over to tighten the torque converter nuts. Don't tell me you left the converter on the engines flywheel when you removed the first trans, if you did , you are going to spend more money. Sorry, that all I have.

 

Engine was running perfect. I tightened the torque converter bolts when the tranny bolts were a hair out, when all bolts are tightened down the flywheel/torque converter is locked in place. I also tried turning the flywheel/TC before the tranny was tightened down, it did turn with the tranny. I did use my original TC with the new tranny, could it be different??

 

Any help? Has this happened to anybody else? Am I overlooking anything?

 

Sorry guy, I am totally confused. My memory tells me there is an access plate located forward of the flywheel near the starter. Remove this to gain access to the four nuts securing the torque converter to the flywheel. These nuts are the first thing to be removed and the last thing installed when taking a trans out. Sent a private message to a guy for help, I surely hope I'm all wet. Good luck.

 

Ya you did install it slightly wrong and may have put the converter in a bind. I use a bar on the crank nut to turn the motor and access the tq nuts. You might try this to see if you may have just dammaged a starter wire or had it crap out, just be careful you could dammage the converter if it is bound bad. If the tranny turned during install it has to be something you did for it to be locked now.

 

I am assuming you used a proper transmission jack so the transmission went in straight. If you didn't use one it is so easy to get things in ****-eyed. If you didn't use a transmission jack then I would say pull it back out and with the proper equipment put it back in. To me it is a matter of pride to use the proper tools to do a job. this is what separates a true mechanic from the bailing wire, vise grip crowd.

From where I am sitting I see two possible problems. The first one you heard on with the original transmission The swirly noise was this the transmission or the starter hanging up on the flex plate, as for the problem you have now are you sure the parking brake pawl is retracting, you know about the interlock that prevents the engine from starting if the truck is in anything but park or neutral if your linkage is out of whack it will cause all kinds of problems. And if you have a bad starter.....
Do you still have the original transmission why don't you just rebuild it a kit for that transmission is $200 bucks. If all it is doing is slipping the clutch pack is worn out and needs to be restacked.
Of course the $140 dollar special your purchased could just be a pile of junk.

Oh and one more thing you need to flush the torque converter, the transmission cooler and it's feed lines. Bad clutches can throw out all kinds of trash, clog the cooler and ruin the Torque converter. I should mention there is a special fixture used to flush the Torque converter this is something that really can't be done right otherwise. which is why if you are doing this work in your own shop you should just get a refurbished TC.

When it comes to transmission work you get what you pay for. I can rebuild transmissions but I am not set up for Ford automatics I am a Turbo-Hydramatic man. To me one of the greatest automatic transmissions in the history of the world is the TH-400. If the transmission fails on my F150 it is going to go into the shop and I will pay the good mechanic to do the job. I like the local
Ford Dealer so they will get the job.

The Theory of operation of E4OD Transmission:

It consists of a converter clutch, six multiple disc friction clutches, one band, and a roller one-way clutch. It uses a two sprag one-way clutch. A torque converter couples the engine to the transmission gear set.

OPERATION
The input shaft transfers power into the transmission gear-set. The power input is controlled by the application of the converter clutch, which is controlled by the Electronic Engine Control IV (EEC-IV) or Electronic Engine Control V (EEC-V) system on gasoline engines or the transmission control system on diesel engine models. These controls, in conjunction with a hydraulic valve in the pump body, operate a piston plate clutch in the converter.

The application of the piston plate effectively replaces the hydraulic coupling between the converter cover and the turbine with a mechanical coupling between the converter cover and the turbine hub. This mechanical coupling helps improve fuel economy and wide-open throttle performance by eliminating converter slip.

Transmission shift selection in the Overdrive range and converter clutch operation are controlled by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) on gasoline engine models or the transmission Electronic Control Assembly (ECA) on diesel engine models. They are calibrated to determine the optimum transmission state.

GEAR TRAIN
The coast clutch locks the coast clutch cylinder and the overdrive sun gear to the overdrive ring gear when the transmission selector lever is in Overdrive and the overdrive cancel switch is depressed or when manual one or two is selected. The coast clutch prevents the overdrive one-way clutch from overrunning during coast.

 

No trans jack was used, just a large floor jack. Probably went in kinda weird...so I got a harbor freight attachment for my floor jack to use as a trans jack, never had a problem with turbo 400's and mustang aod's. Its not like this is my first time doing a tranny swap... The starter is good, its clanking hard on the flywheel, but its locked up once its all bolted down.

 

If the converter is installed all the way, you should have 1/8 to 1/4" gap between the converter and the flexplate with the trans bolted up tight. If not the converter is not all the way in and you tightened the trans all the way tight when the converter is not all the way in there is a good chance you damaged the pump gear.

 

slide your trans back enough to pull out the torque converter and try spinning the input shaft into the trans by hand. if you can't move it, somethings wrong in the trans, mine did that and the pump bushings froze on the input shaft good luck