Ford 4r100 trans

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ClinchValley86

DBH Farm
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4r100 valve body issues. Anyone familiar with them? Ford super duty trans, 99 year model. Its shifting hard and delayed shift. Going to pull it apart this weekend and inspect/clean.

Any advice is welcome.
 
I'll do a lot of things but auto transmissions aren't one of them.

You would need to do good pressure testing to figure out what the deal is, and watch the data from a scan tool to make sure it isn't electrical.

There are just so many little intricacies and details with them, everything has to be done perfectly for them to work right.

You'll need a good manual for that trans for all of the clearances and specs.
 
Ive been doing a bit of reading on it. Symptoms and stuff like that. Sounds like my problem is in the VB. Broken spring or sticking valve. Hoping for a stuck valve in need of a good cleaning. Probably going to need a shift kit or something.

Yall add any type of additive to transmissions that seems to help clean them up? I assume it hasn't been serviced properly. Just got the truck. Was a cheap buy. 99 4x4 f350 6.8 dually. Shifting funny tho and needs a tune up
 
Funny you bring this up. I had all 3 valve bodies out of a 99 7.3 4R100 on my bench a week or two ago. Recent purchase not shifting into 3rd properly. Found one missing spring and one valve installed backwards. Installed a Transgo Tugger kit, along with their 2nd to 3rd steel shift valve. Now have access to 3rd, but it skips it when in high range - but you can downshift to 3rd from OD with the cancel button. Ran all sorts of diagnostics and such, I'm convinced it's linked to my inop speedo which is linked to all of the 4wheel ABS wiring being ripped from my front calipers. I've grown bored with it and just started using it, feeds cows perfectly fine the way it is. And all 4 gears work perfectly in 4low!!!

Summit Racing is the best place to purchase the parts referenced above, FWIW.

Is your OD light flashing? This would indicate codes stored in memory.
 
I only know dodge transmissions, but if that was in a dodge, I'd be thinking of a valve body issues as well, broken accumulator spring or something.. I like the Transgo shift kits, I put them in all my transmissions.

cfpinz, on the dodges, it's common to put a manual OD switch in and bypass the PCM
 
I have briefly read on the transgo tug kit. Havent sat down and really read into it though.

Is it something that can be done without dropping the trans?

Truck has 243k miles. No blinking OD light bit the service engine soon light is on. Oil was thick as maple syrup and low. Trans fluid smells ok, good pink color.

It shifts extremely hard 1-2 and delayed, again quite hard 2-3 and have to let up on the pedal to get her to go timely.

I hit the OD button to get the trans to downshift to 3rd, it was everything but violent. Lol. BAM. But did go into 3rd. Doesnt seem to slip.

Does this info make you think anything? Sounds like accumulator stuff to me. But I only know what I've read. Have never worked on a trans other than filter/fluid.
 
Here's the truck. Excited about the 4.30 gears and DRW.
 

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Have it checked with a good code reader that can read the ABS and GEM codes, not the cheap readers from Advance, AZ, etc. I know some folks that are using ForScan which is free to download and you just need to buy the OBD2 adapter. I'm using AutoEnginuity which is way smarter than I am, but can tell you some pretty amazing things if you're intelligent enough to find them - I'm not!

You can install all of the valve body upgrades from the Tugger kit without dropping the trans, but there are a few mods done to the front pump and an internal seal retainer or two that can't be done unless you drop it - I skipped the latter. I'm well pleased with the shift firmness and braking power of the trans now, and would recommend the kit personally. Just make sure you have an inch/lb torque wrench and a clean place to work, the directions can be a bit intimidating but take your time and do thing step by step. I'd bet you'd see some positive improvements in your transmission, but just be aware that it's likely near the end of its service life based on mileage. Local shop quoted me $2200 for a complete rebuild without me touching a damn thing, fwiw.

This guy did a really good writeup on the install of a Tugger kit: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/...-kit-shift-kit-for-hd-hauling-and-towing.html
 
I have briefly read on the transgo tug kit. Havent sat down and really read into it though.

Is it something that can be done without dropping the trans?

Truck has 243k miles. No blinking OD light bit the service engine soon light is on. Oil was thick as maple syrup and low. Trans fluid smells ok, good pink color.

It shifts extremely hard 1-2 and delayed, again quite hard 2-3 and have to let up on the pedal to get her to go timely.

I hit the OD button to get the trans to downshift to 3rd, it was everything but violent. Lol. BAM. But did go into 3rd. Doesnt seem to slip.

Does this info make you think anything? Sounds like accumulator stuff to me. But I only know what I've read. Have never worked on a trans other than filter/fluid.

Really should put a scanner on it and see if the PCM is delaying the shift, or it is commanding the shift normally but the trans is delaying it.

There are some accumulator mods you can do. It's common for them to stick.

A trans manual will have a troubleshooting chart, and another that shows what holding members are applied in each range. Often whatever component is shared between ranges that are having issues is to blame.

Valve body and accumulator work can be done through the pan, no need to pull it.

The accumulator can certainly cause a hard shift, but I'm not sure that it would delay it.
 
I did the Transgo TFOD-HD2 kit in my dodge (A518 trans) and there are some parts of the kit that can't be installed without taking it out and apart, but you can get improvements just doing the work on the valve body. There are some holes that get drilled out on the separator plates that control how hard it shifts, a lot of the modern transmissions were built to shift really smoothly, which is done by overlapping the gear changes.. yes, it makes them shift smooth, but it also causes a lot of wear since one gear hasn't disengaged before the next one starts engaging.. the kit should give you the necessary hole sizes to accomplish what you want as well as replacement springs for the ones that often break or need to be stronger (to release a clutch faster).
In your case, it could be a bad pressure sensor, bad solenoids, connections, etc that make it behave poorly as well and a good code read first is pretty much imperative.

If you're mechanically inclined and have (or are willing to buy) a couple specialty tools, (and have a backup vehicle), it's not rocket science to refresh the transmission with new bands and clutches.. I just did a 47RH, really took my time with it, cost me about $400.. replacing the torque converter is a good idea, which is one of the expensive parts of doing it though
 
Really appreciate the advice from you all.

If I could find a zf6 for decent price I would snatch it in a heartbeat. A dead truck for parts would be good too. Got my eyes peeled for one.
 
I got the VB out today. It appears to have been overhauled in the past. Has orange accumulator springs. Someone has written on it with a paint market. Number 18 or 78 and number 14.

Looked like it had been open not long ago. Think someone tried a fluid/filter recently.

Pan magnet has pieces of what I think is a spring. I'm going to pet my Pops take it apart from here as he does this type of stuff for a living. Pretty sure this is my problem.

Should all the plungers be sitting flush with the VB case when taken out?

The one spring is for sure broken and piled up on itself. Gonna figure out which function that valve is for.
 

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I don't know all the proper terminology, but the round items in the last pic are what I'd call retainers and held in place by the clips visible in the bottom slot of the middle picture. You can thread a metric bolt into the retainers and use it to push/pull them while you fish out the clips, then pull the retainers along with the springs and valves they hold in. If you need a steel 2nd to 3rd shift valve, let me know and I'll send you one. They only sell them in packs of 3 and I hope I'll only need the one in my lifetime.
 

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