Hi everyone, great forum!

I just picked up a 1994 ford econoline E250....the price was right so I bought it on a whim for hauling and towing.

Since I know quite a bit about cars, but nothing about these vans, could someone point me towards a good source for info, as in what engines / transmissions were in them and other info. Wikipedia.org has a good site, but not too much info. also, any recommended sites for engine and other parts?

It has the 300 (4.9) engine, with an auto tranny. Wikipedia says that only a 4 speed was in this van for this model year, but the tranny is evidently a 3 speed by how it shifts. It also has really town oriented gears, and I want to do highway cruising.

Is it better to swap a low ratio rear end, or just look for an OD tranny? if so what ratio is good for towing mostly highway, or what tranny should I look for?

also, the lifters are really noisy, is this a fix I can do with the motor in?

 

Welcome bikesandcars..

What's the Trans and Axle codes off the data sticker?

Changing the rear ratio would be the easiest upgrade, and converting/buying a 'donor' trans with needed pieces is more work for sure, and has some risk involved should the trans unit prove to be 'in need' or high mileage.. Not to mention cost for all the other componenets needed for the swap if it were to be 'piece' purchased without a donor van available... Certainly 'doable' but I always look at the cost of the swap/upgrade in relation to the amount of fuel it would buy..

Whats the mileage on the van/engine?

 

thanks for the reply! nice fighter pilot gear on your busa, I'm a motorcycle guy myself (kawasaki zx6r race and street bikes).

van total mileage is 180,000. unknown tranny or engine swaps, by the way the engine sounds it's the first one.

I'll grab the engine and tranny code off the sticker, its so new i didn't even do that yet.

I'm guessing a lot of F-series equipment bolts on to these vans right?

 

On the door sticker it gave the following

| WB| typegw |body| trans| axle
| 138| e241 | AJ | G | 23

i'm still scouring the internet for what those codes mean, any help appreciated

 

Igive up, I can't find a listing of how these door numbers line up with anything, google has failed me. I have a haynes manual and even that doesn't really help. I guess i have to get dirty and crawl under the van for a while gathering tag numbers off the parts?

 

i saw here that the "G" transmission code is for a C6 http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/i...de_Chart_.html

so i'm assuming I have a C6, and not an E04D transmission. I still can't find the rear end ratio.

Is it easy to do a C6 to E04D swap? I read that the E04D is electronically controlled, where the C6 is hydraulic, does that mean I need a different computer or other parts?

 

Axle is a 3.54

Here's the VCL data...

[IMG]local://upfiles/6756/4AFD69E28EF24741BFB5DAC0C01EC010.gif[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6756/0E31761C5697478AA2A22F7BEF96341F.gif[/IMG]

 

Never done one, but you'd need atrans controller or similiar to thishttp://www.powertraincontrolsolution...content-4.html and some work done to the drive shaft, cross member, shifter control, possibly column for OD cancel, and some wiring to complete the job..

 

Thanks a lot for the decode! It's funny that almost every van got theE04D but a few still got the c6. I guess for around town it was the cheaper option and OD wasn't so important.

by the way the motor reved on the highway i almost don't believe it had 3.54 gears, i would have guessed 4.0+.

Btw, I blew up the motor on Friday. I was driving down route 80 going to western NJ and it sounded like it spun a main bearing or something wicked. It lost power, then blew a rod... I got it off the road in neutral and discovered a nice 2" hole in the bottom of the oil pan under cylinder # 2.

so it looks like i'm in the market for a used motor. I saw lots of 300 with E04D transmission combos for sale around 500. I wish that controller was less than 700 bucks, but it sounds pretty impressive.

Since theE04D is electronic, does that mean I canuse a switch or other means to shift besides the column shifter? I could rig up something pretty sweetby using a sequential type **** andsome switchwork in that case.

Maybe I could justlook for a used front end (with wiring harness) from a salvage yard or a motor/tranny/harness comboand pull the whole combination. .

I guess right now i'd favor keeping the c6 in, but for highway cruising a lower rear end ratio would be really great. Do you guys think a C6 with a lower rear end is still effective for towing with the 300 engine? Do you recommend any particular rear end ratio's?

I'll keep you guys updated.