What does a chip do to make a 4r100 go out? Is it the heat or what? They claim the 4r100 can handle 1000 ft lbs of torque. So what is it that tears them up?
The 4R100 series is just not a heavily built as the 5R100 and up trans. It can be but most chips, programmers, and tuners just increase the line pressure, wearing out the pump and creating more heat.
the 4r100 needs to have a larger capacity trans cooler (popular choices are tru cool kit, or 6.0 trans coolers) most people see 25 degree lower temps towing or empty. my old roommate saw almost 30 degrees cooler all around.
better torq converter
shift kits are always nice
custom tuning for your specific needs and uses.
its not a bad transmission just not the strong point on the 7.3L.
^^^^ He pretty much summed it up, heat is the big killer of the transmission, also I high HP tune, and a heavy right foot. I don't have a stock tranny, but it's not a bullet proof one either. The guy that built it know's I tow a heavy 5th wheel, and it has tune's. and it nailed it perfectly. It shift's smooth, and can handle what I throw at it:wink:
The guys above pretty much explained it but not only is the heat an issue with these transmissions, the stock tuning that comes with them is horrible.. didn't start to improve the tuning until the later year 7.3s such as the 02-03 7.3 strokes. But a 4r100 cant handle 1,000 ft lbs unless the transmission has been built fairly heavily.
Yes, tuning is one of the main problems with their bad rep. The stock Ford tunes could have been a lot better. Only a couple strategies throughout the years where considered to be pretty good (PMT1 is the popular one). Aftermarket tuning can fix this stuff up though. We put a big focus on the trans when we write tunes. It is pretty easy to add power, but getting the trans to hold it and put it to the ground efficiently can take some time.
The 02-03 trucks had really bad factory trans tuning IMO. TQ converter lockup comes way late, which is definitely not a good thing.
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