identify past rebuilds?? and a trans question

[jrowe6]

i was wondering if anyone knew a way that i could determine if my engine has ever been apart or rebuilt. how about a trans rebuild?

the truck had almost 175k on it when i bought it and i think i am the third owner so there is no paperwork or service log for me to look at. i dont even have the owners manual.

the engine currently is running great so i have no intention of taking it apart im just curious if it has lasted the entire 200k or if its been rebuilt. so im looking for some way to tell by just looking at the engine. i cant think of anyway to determine a past rebuild, but im hoping one of you who has been waist deep in one of these things might be familiar enough with it to tell me something small that could be an idicator of the engines history.

i am also curious if the trans has been rebuilt. it does have one issue i know for sure. sometimes going from 1st to 2nd it will take a little too long to fully drop into 2nd gear so the engine will be revving too high, but it always engages. it has never completely missed 2nd. i usually let of the gas at bit when that happens bc i figure its bad to let it slip like that. when that happens i usually move the gear selector around a bit to make sure its as in gear as possible and that seems to help. also that issue usually only happens the first time i take off after having put it in gear.

another thing i have suspected but am not sure i can prove....sometimes i get the feeling it is shifting like this:

1st gear, 2nd gear, out of 2nd then back into 2nd, then into 3rd. this trans only has 4 gears right? at times when it has done that i will push the OD button to turn OD off to see if it will downshift back into 3rd, to see if it was in OD, but it wont shift so i was assuming its in 3rd. so 3 shifting points and still only in 3rd gear. whats up with that? its hard to tell sometimes bc the rpm change between gears is pretty minimal so i have a hard time determining whats going on. if its a 5 gear trans i guess all is well, but i did not think the 2nd gens had 5 gear autos.

 

[lifted93xplorer]

No 5 speed but when the torque converter locks up it almost feels like another upshift and it's controlled by the TCC solenoid. Since you are not tearing the engine apart I'm not going to get into how to tell if a motor is rebuilt but one indication is it may not be as clean(not talking dirt or grease) like wire looms out of place or bolts and nuts missing, stuff like that. Although at under 200k it's likley original. Look for writing on side or back of block with a paint pen indicating a date or milage of engine swap. Same goes for tranny, look on bell housing. Some write info on radiator support core but likley you wouldn't see it.

 

[jrowe6]

i thought the torque converter only locked in OD?

im sorry i dont know what the TCC solenoid is? is that what makes the trans go in and out of gears?