I completed the Ford factory update (new separator plate, new solenoid bracket and the "install kit"). I also installed the majority of the Superior kit (more on that later) along with a new filter, pan gasket and installed a drain plug. I am only going to go through the steps before and after the valve body mods as Glacier has covered that pretty well and his pics show a nice clean valve body
.
Here are the special tools / supplies used:
Superior shift kit
Ford mod parts (refer to an earlier post of mine for what I bought and how
much it cost)
-Note: my separator plate came with bonded gaskets
Torx T-30 bit
3/8” drive torque wrench (must have a range of 70 to 135 in-lbs)
Drill bits up to 1/2"
-Note: bits for Superior kit are included with the kit
Drain plug kit from auto parts store (less than $5)
About 7 quarts of ATF (Mobil 1 for me)
I highly recommend getting the ATSG service manual as it covers just about everything, especially the tightening sequence for the valve body (which
these trannies are sensitive to, from my understanding). It is fairly inexpensive and came in handy. I ordered it from Makco along with the Superior kit.
Here is what I started with. The heat shield next to the cat will have to be removed (in the left side of the pic below).
There are two clips and a 10mm nut (the nut is up above the upper clip shown in the pic). The nut has to be removed by feel as it is not visible from below.
Here it is removed:
Getting this thing on and off was nearly the hardest part of the whole thing!! It has to be rotated and snaked forward through the exhaust as well as some hardlines to get it out.
I put down a big catch pan (or a “cookie sheet” as my wife calls it) with an oil catch pan on top of that. Next the pan was removed. I left all but 3 bolts in (one at one end, two on the other) and slowly loosened the one until it was removed. I took my time draining as to avoid an ATF shower (I still smell like ATF as it is). After the pan was removed, I completely cleaned the inside of it. Make sure that you get most of the gunk off of the magnet.
Here is what we have now:
Note the pawls and the shifter detent spring (spring loaded roller) on the left side. There is a post that engages the spool valve that translates the gearshift position to the spool valve, in turn to the valve body. Note the reverse servo cover in the upper right. I reused the servo cover gasket as it was still in pretty good shape. The black plastic piece running across the valve body is the wire loom guide.
When you reinstall the valve body, you will need to make sure that the post engages the spool as shown here:
While I waited for things to drain a little, I went ahead and drilled out the two orifices called out in the Superior kit.
This is the hole that is drilled out to 0.062”:
Here is the one drilled out to 0.086”:
I used a pocket screwdriver as a pointer as I couldn’t find my BBQ skewers
I noticed that when I used a low drill bit speed, there was a lot less deburring to do.
Then, I removed the wiring connectors from the solenoids as well as the wire loom guide. Next comes the fun part (and yet another ATF shower). Remove the bolts (23 vb bolts, 4 reverse servo bolts and one for the shifter detent spring). I took ROE’s advice a made a template for the bolts, and was big help on the reinstallation.
Here is the removed VB:
As you can see, there are a couple of places where the sep plate gasket blew out.
One by the 4 solenoids:
The other by the reverse servo:
I checked the resistance of the solenoids as Glacier did and here is what I found:
SSA,SSB,SSC,CSS: 22-48 ohms spec (mine were 26.4 ohms)
EPC: 3.1-5.7 ohms spec (mine was 4.7 ohms)
TCC: 8.9-16 ohms spec (mine was 10.4 ohms)
As Glacier has done an excellent job detailing the VB mods, I will not cover them. I completed the entire Ford service kit. I only did about half of the Superior kit. I did not do the following: replace the coast clutch valve retaining plug (I couldn’t get it apart using several different techniques, and the instructions as well as Glacier’s experience admit it is difficult to disassemble), the thermo blocker (I don’t think it is needed in Houston), the PressureRiser or intermediate return spring. I did not do the intermediate return spring due to access and lack of special tools (although I am sure there are a couple of “back pocket” methods available). The servo has to be compressed to get a snap ring out to get it apart. This also happens to be in very close proximity to the cat (refer to the pics above regarding the heat shield, these servos are what is shielded), creating the access problem.
The spring goes inside the intermediate servo, which you can just barely see just past the edge of the pan in the pic below. The upper one is the intermediate and the lower one is the overdrive servo:
After the mod kit and shift kit are installed, assembly is the reverse of disassembly with the following exceptions:
-Torque and torquing pattern on VB and reverse servo
-Torque on pan bolts
I did install a drain plug, using the location suggested by Brain in his Frankentranny post. I would recommend drilling the hole out in multiple stages to the 0.5” that is called for. I put a little silicone on both sides of the Teflon washer as well as some John Deere Rigid Form-in-place gasket maker (not a lot different than red Loctite) on the threads. I tightened it to about 15 ft-lbs.
Start to finish probably took me about 6 hours (at a pretty leisurely pace, with several trips out from under the truck to the tool box and back, a long lunch, etc.). If anyone wants any more info or has questions, let me know. Besides, I am sure that there is something I forgot to mention.
