5R110W Archives - Transmission Digest
How reman valve bodies are evolving

For most of the past half century, the rebuilding of the valve body has been the skill set that separates master transmission builders from those with less experience. It follows that, much like a torque converter, purchasing a factory remanufactured valve body as a sub assembly has become more and more common. It’s not only

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A 5R110W With Transmission Overheating

A laser gun was used to check the temperature of the oil pan sump, confirming an overheating condition did exist.

4R100, 5R110W Three-Piece Damper Assembly

Tri Component announces the availability of its three-piece damper assembly (p/n FX-23-45A) for 4R100 & 5R110W, 6-stud converters. Specifically machined areas prevent “wobbling” of the piston resulting in the elimination of turbine interference/noise common in the OEM assembly. The assembly is available in both bonded and unbonded versions. The friction material used is a Tri

OEM-style Drive Plate for the 4R100/5R110W

Tri-friction materials are tailored for the applications for optimum engagement characteristics and the longest life.

An Identity Crisis

Some Ford vehicles using the 5R110W are having an identity crisis. Let me explain. A 2010 Ford F450 Rollback with a 6.8L V-10 gas engine comes into Walkers Auto Trans & Repair with a complaint of a loss of power and transmission not shifting. When the truck was scanned it showed fault codes P0720 and P0722 for the output speed sensor. Scan data also showed that all transmission speed sensors read nothing.

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Identifying Converter Components

Whether you are searching through a core pile or looking for a specific part to complete a rebuild, sorting out the various identifying features of Ford E4OD, 4R100 and 5R110W converters can drive you crazy. A six-stud version of each converter that happens to have the same K factor (impeller blade angle) will look almost identical. If you have not educated yourself on the subtle contour differences where the impellers mate to the impeller hubs, or cannot recognize the 0.200″ difference in the relationship of the pilot to mounting pad difference in the 5R110W compared to the E4OD and 4R100, you can become easily frustrated. The following are part-by-part differences, as well as some hints for identifying each one.

The Importance of Checking Grounds

The 5R110W transmission that is common to the 2003-2009 Ford Super Duty trucks and vans is a very reliable and straightforward transmission when it comes to diagnosis and repair. The subject of this article is a 2007 F-350 equipped with the 6.0L diesel engine and the 5R110W transmission.

5R110W Upgrades

Beginning with the launch of the 5R110W in 2003, the number of tweaks has been unending. Some of the item upgrades had been limited to the item itself, whereas others resulted in rather expensive and heavy packages.

An Interesting ‘Spin-off’ of a Hall-Effect Speed Sensor

Since the time of writing that article, it seems the Hall-effect style of sensor is favored among the manufacturers, most likely because of its reliability and the cost effectiveness of producing it. This sensor can be either a two- or three-wire design, with the frequency signal being generated by a magnetic wheel (ring) or by the teeth of a gear. The three-wire design consists of a voltage-supply wire, a ground and a signal wire. The two-wire design has a voltage-supply wire and a signal wire. For this two-wire sensor to work a resistor inside the TCM/PCM is wired to ground, allowing the voltage on the signal wire to drop when the rotating magnet is used to “chop” the sensor circuit and producing the signal pulse.

What the …!

In essence, this equates to a hydraulic or mechanical problem in the intermediate-clutch circuit, which could mean that once second gear is commanded, the TCM does not see the correct second-gear ratio.

5R110W Filter Change

Until mid-2008 Ford trucks equipped with a TorqShift transmission, otherwise known as the 5R110W, came from the factory equipped with an inline filter installed in the cooler lines. In most instances this filter is a replaceable element inside a canister in the cooler lines (Figure 1). This requires the technician to remove the canister and replace the filter element after a flush service or a transmission replacement, at a cost of about $8 for the filter element.

What We Do for a Buck

One of our accounts brought in a 2007 Ford F-450 with a 6.0 diesel engine and a 5R110W TorqShift transmission, complaining of a delayed engagement in reverse. The driver also complained that if he decided to accelerate hard just before coming to a stop, the transmission would neutralize and then engage harshly.