Transmission replacement

AB AUTOMOTIVEREPAIR TRANSMISSIONS

MEMBER
2004 FORD F-150
5.4L
4 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
1 MILES

I am having a debate, and I was hoping you could give me your perspective on this. It is regarding 2004-2008 Ford F150/E150/E250 4.6/5.4L. Now Transtar and other sites all call it an E. But our shop calls it a W because of the plug, and the bolt sticking out. (I'll include pics) My boss has taught me 04-08 = W (and some early production 2009) and 09-14 are E's. The W also has a hole in the bell housing. Now, we haven't been wrong when selling any of these, but why does the internet and transend/transtar call it an E when for all intents and purposes it has W traits?

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Monday, February 1st, 2021 AT 7:34 AM

5 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

It has been many years since I had my Ford training but the way I remember the difference was the E was for vehicles with electronic controlled throttle.

I will try to locate this training material because I am seeing the same thing you are online. It looks like different websites are confusing these labels and actually interchanging them on different vehicles.

Good old Wikipedia doesn't seem to help either as some of these vehicles don't look right.

I will find the training document and get back with you.

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Wednesday, March 24th, 2021 AT 1:36 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

I could not find the training book that I was thinking of but I reached out to one of my Ford dealers and they agreed that the E is for electronically controlled transmissions and the other are mechanical.

So all the drivetrain components inside them are transferable between the units but the electronics are not.

Hope that helps a little more.

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Wednesday, March 24th, 2021 AT 1:36 PM

AB AUTOMOTIVEREPAIR TRANSMISSIONS

MEMBER
107 POSTS

Thanks. I understand that the guts are all interchangeable. But does that make the 04-08 W's or E's in the E150/E250/F150 4.6/5.4?

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Wednesday, March 24th, 2021 AT 1:36 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

I am showing that it depends on years. The E didn't come in until 2004 but wasn't used on all vehicles. So I attached some pretty good detail that I just found on this but it appears Ford was phasing them all over to the E over a few years.

Make sure you see the 70 or 75 as that will matter for sensor location. Again the internal parts are the same but the 75 is stronger and I think has a second speed sensor.

Hopefully this sheds the light needed.

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