Anyone have experience working on E250s?

thekidwithquestions

thekidwithquestions

Acquiring Jeep funds...
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been needing more room for tools going to work, so I got a work van!

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Now unfortunately it leaks tranny fluid VERY fast whenever it is turned on, I have not worked on these kinds of cars much and the forums are practically useless.
Hoping someone on here knows what I could do to stop the fluid leak??
it's a 2004 with the 4.6L V8
 
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thekidwithquestions said:
been needing more room for tools going to work, so I got a work van!

View attachment 436442

Now unfortunately it leaks tranny fluid VERY fast whenever it is driven, I have not worked on these kinds of cars much and the forums are practically useless.
Hoping someone on here knows what I could do to stop the fluid leak??
it's got the 4.6L V8
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Can't help with working on them, but the cats are real easy to steal...ask me how I know?
 
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I’d start with crawling underneath and looking where it’s wet. If it’s leaking that much, there is bound to be a mess. Clean up the mess with some degreaser and look again. You’ll probably have to look carefully, but typically transmission lines will leak where there is a fitting or a clamp. Could be a pan leak, too. Might be a bad cooler. There is really only so many places it can come from.
 
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What year is it and which transmission? The AOD was followed by the E4OD which was followed by the 4R100 which was still in use till 2003 in the pickups and I believe the vans for 2-3 years after that. The 5R110 TorqueShift came after those and is a superior transmission in every way, and was the first to have Tow/Haul. Do you have a tow/haul button on the dash or a OD cancel switch on the end of the gearshift, or neither? The 4R100 is famous for puking tranny fluid from the front seal especially while backing up. The fix is a Viton seal which doesn't cost a lot but you have to remove the tranny and TC to install it. The earlier E4OD is the same basic design so likely it has the same issue.
Like mentioned, clean it up really good then crawl under while running to see where it originates.
FTE (Ford Truck Enthusiasts) is the most active Ford forum I know of. There are not as many vans obviously as pickups but the pickups use the same drive trains so you might find help there.
Good looking van though, I always liked Ford vans over the others.
 
Last edited:
thekidwithquestions said:
Now unfortunately it leaks tranny fluid VERY fast whenever it is driven, I have not worked on these kinds of cars much and the forums are practically useless.
Hoping someone on here knows what I could do to stop the fluid leak??
it's got the 4.6L V8
Click to expand...

What year is it and where's the leak?

I cant tell from here 😃
 
B1Toad said:
What year is it and which transmission? The AOD was followed by the E4OD which was followed by the 4R100 which was still in use till 2003 in the pickups and I believe the vans for 2-3 years after that. The 5R110 TorqueShift came after those and is a superior transmission in every way, and was the first to have Tow/Haul. Do you have a tow/haul button on the dash or a OD cancel switch on the end of the gearshift, or neither? The 4R100 is famous for puking tranny fluid from the front seal especially while backing up. The fix is a Viton seal which doesn't cost a lot but you have to remove the tranny and TC to install it. The earlier E4OD is the same basic design so likely it has the same issue.
Like mentioned, clean it up really good then crawl under while running to see where it originates.
FTE (Ford Truck Enthusiasts) is the most active Ford forum I know of. There are not as many vans obviously as pickups but the pickups use the same drive trains so you might find help there.
Good looking van though, I always liked Ford vans over the others.
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I cannot figure out exactly which tranny it is, I always seem to find conflicting results from searches, maybe you can help, it is a 2004 with the 4.6L V8
 
It's probably a 4R100 since they were used in the E250 thru 2004, and also it's the one with the notorious front seal leak. The 4R100 will have an "OD OFF" button on the end of the shifter, the 5R100 will have a tow/haul button on the dash. The 4R100 is a 4 speed (3 plus OD) and the 5R100 is a 5 speed. Some 5R100s have an external filter in a black cannister, the 4R100 will not unless it was rebuilt and a Magnafine was installed on the line. The 4R100 can overheat easily with the factory cooler, most people who tow upgrade it to a bigger one.
At least it's not 4WD so shouldn't be hard to remove. If you've never done one be sure to make sure you fully seat the torque converter before re-installation, best way it to do it while the tranny is out and standing up on the tail shaft.
Also the converters on the 4R100s that went into the 7.3 diesels were another failure point but not sure about the 4.6, that engine didn't stress the transmission as much as the big diesel was capable of.
 
B1Toad said:
It's probably a 4R100 since they were used in the E250 thru 2004, and also it's the one with the notorious front seal leak. The 4R100 will have an "OD OFF" button on the end of the shifter, the 5R100 will have a tow/haul button on the dash. The 4R100 is a 4 speed (3 plus OD) and the 5R100 is a 5 speed. Some 5R100s have an external filter in a black cannister, the 4R100 will not unless it was rebuilt and a Magnafine was installed on the line. The 4R100 can overheat easily with the factory cooler, most people who tow upgrade it to a bigger one.
At least it's not 4WD so shouldn't be hard to remove. If you've never done one be sure to make sure you fully seat the torque converter before re-installation, best way it to do it while the tranny is out and standing up on the tail shaft.
Also the converters on the 4R100s that went into the 7.3 diesels were another failure point but not sure about the 4.6, that engine didn't stress the transmission as much as the big diesel was capable of.
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lol jk


it has the OD off button on the end of the shifter, so it is a 4R100
 
I have a 4R100 with 185,000 miles on it, was rebuilt by first owner at 120,000 who didn't know any better and towed a big 5th wheel with the tiny cooler and no gauge. I fixed that when I bought it and switched to synthetic fluid. Shifts strong now and does everything I ask of it.
 
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B1Toad said:
I have a 4R100 with 185,000 miles on it, was rebuilt by first owner at 120,000 who didn't know any better and towed a big 5th wheel with the tiny cooler and no gauge. I fixed that when I bought it and switched to synthetic fluid. Shifts strong now and does everything I ask of it.
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was it leaking like mine?
 
thekidwithquestions said:
@B1Toad I did a little more research and I actually think it is a 4R70W
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The 4R70w is similar to the AOD. I don't know the history of the seal issues with it but from the looks of your leak the front seal is gone, or the torque converter is cracked. Early AODs had a habit of cracking the torque converter where the input shaft was welded on but I thought that was fixed before the 90s.
 
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thekidwithquestions said:
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Pull that rubber plug on the bottom of the bell housing. Rotate the converter around and find the drain plug. Would be your luckiest day ever if that's where its coming from. If its the converter seal, that's a a pretty easy job. Could probably have it out in about an hour. I've seen broken direct shafts, but I have never seen a broken AOD, AODE, 4R70W factory Ford converter.
 
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