4 Speed Interchangeability

[Paxton]

Hi Guys,

The 4 Speed in my EF is just about rooted. First to Second rattles your fillings when hot, Second is starting to slip, also when hot, and second to third is not all that great either.

The car has 250,000 on the clock, and my mechanic reckons I should have bought a Lottery Ticket at 180,000, so I've been on borrowed time since not long after I bought it.

My question is, is the AU 4 Speed a straight swap into an EF? I'd rather go something younger than an EF box, especially used on eBay, and an AU box would do the trick nicely.

Thanks guys.

AP.

[jpd80]

Sad to hear Andrew, not sure what your specialist means by 180K reference as the the 4-speed auto is normally a long life box....
180K used to be the limit for the older 3-speed autos but a lot of the 4-speeders usually last to 250K and up..

Be careful, I recall a change in bell housing with AU but someone more familiar with them may like to confirm.

[MisterAU]

I don't know about EF/AU - didn't the EF have a separate ECU for the box? With the AU it is all controlled by the engine ECU. This is the main thing I think you'd have to check. Apart from that you would also have to check the bellhousing because I know for a fact in the manuals there is a different input shaft length (AUs being longer).

IMO with older vehicle when the auto goes it costs as much as the vehicle is worth to fix the auto so I just convert to a manual at that stage.

[Paxton]

The EEC-V controls the Transmission.

I wouldn't really be worrying about the gearbox, but the BF is going to the Panel Beaters this afternoon, and I'll be needing the EF again.

Honestly, how hard is changing the bell housing? The starter is on the way out anyway, so I might as well kill three birds with one stone.

[MisterAU]

Changing a bellhousing isn't very hard. Having access to all the other parts needed to suit it may be an exercise. The tailshaft may be a different length for instance. Or your wiring loom may be too short when the box is moved rearward. In fact the transmission may hit on the tunnel - I think the tunnel shape changed with AU. These are the types of problems you need to get accurate info on before starting to pull it apart on Saturday if you need to use the car on Monday.

[Paxton]

Sorry for the vague response i am a little keyboard shy these days..

Let me reply again by saying an AU 4 speed will bolt straight up to your E-series if it is currently fitted with a 4spd with NO problems whatsoever

cheers...

Currently a 4 Speed that is about stuffed. What of the Bell housing and wiring looms?

[Paxton]

Just a bit of an update regarding the EF.

I finally bit the bullet and got the Gearbox looked at by the professionals. It turns out that not only did the S5 need replacing, but a couple of other things as well.

So, the job list - S5, Rear Seal (apparently, the tailshaft was moving quite a bit), and the Front Servo O Ring. All up, just over a Gorilla.

I got the BF back last Thursday afternoon, and the EF didn't move between then and this morning, but after the computer got used to having a working solenoid, it's much, much better. I should have done this when I first noticed a problem with the box, rather than putting it off until the car became vital again. I will definitely be using the EF more in future - it's far nicer to pedal around now.

(It's not a patch on the BF, but I don't remember the Gearbox feeling like this in the time I've had the car).