Swapping in a 4R70W into a Fox? Anyone?

S

sofa king

Forum Member
Has anyone done this? I've got the trans, and am trying to figure out how to control the electronics. Not really interested in getting the programmable trans controller, but it seems like the easiest way with least headache, hopefully....
Curious about the new style Baumann Optishift.

Thanks!
 
I did that swap to my '92 Mustang and kept EFI. As far as manual shift vs. automatic shift, that just depends on which valve body you go with. I wanted a full manual with manual lockup/OD and no option for automatic shifting, so that's what I had built. If you want to have the option or have it always shift on its own, you can do that easily. OD will still be manual if you're going w/the 4R70W setup though, since it is AOD-E.

Now for the electronics, I took a transmission wiring harness from a 96+ Mustang and mated each wire to my stock harness (a Haynes manual showed what was what), and picked up an MLP sensor from Ford for about $110 to handle the rest.
 
Canadian_Dave said:
easiet way is to just put a manual valve body in it and have switchs to control the lockup and o/d.
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Its manual now, I am switching to an automatic...I dont want to shift it, typical lazy american. Not really, I just want to go with an auto, I think the car will perform better.
 
Ozz said:
I did that swap to my '92 Mustang and kept EFI. As far as manual shift vs. automatic shift, that just depends on which valve body you go with. I wanted a full manual with manual lockup/OD and no option for automatic shifting, so that's what I had built. If you want to have the option or have it always shift on its own, you can do that easily. OD will still be manual if you're going w/the 4R70W setup though, since it is AOD-E.

Now for the electronics, I took a transmission wiring harness from a 96+ Mustang and mated each wire to my stock harness (a Haynes manual showed what was what), and picked up an MLP sensor from Ford for about $110 to handle the rest.
Click to expand...

I get what you are saying, but I don't understand it. The 4R is a more current AODE,if I wanted to go manual VB then its very easy yes, but I dont want to go with a manual VB.
The AODE and 4R70W are controlled with the engine EEC, however I am running a stand alone ECU and not an EEC. Need something to control the shift solenoids and all that crap. I think you are mistaken by saying you can have it remain automatic easily, although it depends on what your level or easy and tough is...
 
sofa king said:
Its manual now, I am switching to an automatic...I dont want to shift it, typical lazy american. Not really, I just want to go with an auto, I think the car will perform better.
Click to expand...


I am talking about an automatic, you said you didnt really want to put a trans controller in your car so you would need to have a manual valve body in the auto you shift your self OR swap everything in the car over to an auto wire harness, pcm, etc.
 
sofa king said:
i get what you are saying, but i don't understand it. The 4r is a more current aode,if i wanted to go manual vb then its very easy yes, but i dont want to go with a manual vb.
The aode and 4r70w are controlled with the engine eec, however i am running a stand alone ecu and not an eec. Need something to control the shift solenoids and all that crap. I think you are mistaken by saying you can have it remain automatic easily, although it depends on what your level or easy and tough is...
Click to expand...


4r70w = aode
 
For a daily driver I would not recommend a manual v-body. Horsepower will dictate whether you run a wide ratio (4r70w) or a standard ratio planetary. I'm not familiar with baumanns latest controller. 20 years ago I purchased a bunch of their valve body products only to have every unit fail/work improperly as a result of their parts. When I called them to find out what was going on they laughed and said "yea...we never could get those kits to work right. No compensation on my part, not even for the defective kits I still had on the shelf. That left a bad taste in my mouth and vowed never to purchase their products again. They released a product that they did not test properly. However, I have seen quite a few customers cars with them, and none of them ever complained.
Myself I buy compushift controllers. Top quality product, shift timing/firmness/lock up speed all easily adjusted. Even works with carbureated engines. built in plug for msd.
 
sofa king said:
I get what you are saying, but I don't understand it. The 4R is a more current AODE,if I wanted to go manual VB then its very easy yes, but I dont want to go with a manual VB.
The AODE and 4R70W are controlled with the engine EEC, however I am running a stand alone ECU and not an EEC. Need something to control the shift solenoids and all that crap. I think you are mistaken by saying you can have it remain automatic easily, although it depends on what your level or easy and tough is...
Click to expand...

That's where other valve bodies and/or controllers come into play. I didn't go that route. The way I see it, if parts are available off the shelf and you don't have to invent things to make it work, then it's "easy" enough.

And as someone mentioned, the AODE is the 4R70W.

FWIW I had mine built by Broader Performance out of Texas. Before I even decided on purchasing from him I talked at length about my setup, plans, options, etc. You could always give him a call or email to see what he can recommend: www.broaderperformance.com. Easy and willing guy to hold a conversation re: build specs, so don't hold back if you want to talk to someone who does it for a living.
 
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dave89iroc said:
what stand alone ecu are you running?
Click to expand...
Gen VII

It would be counter-productive to switch everything back to an EEC-IV and run the engine and trans from. It would be difficult to run the engine off the EEC-IV due to modifications. I got ahold of a W4H0 from an automatic 95, my plan was to install this in the car, share signals so the EEC would get its necessary input and then use it to control the trans. I've got it worked out on paper with the wiring diagrams and all that, but that is not in the car, and who knows what other things that are just "unknowns" but would have an impact on it.
I did not want to use a standalone for the trans because I wanted to start with something that is known to work. Having the engine control as a stand alone, and trans is a magnitude of variables that would cause issue and be difficult to troubleshoot. Using the EEC to shift the car would be the base calibration that is in every 94/5 automatic with a 5.0 engine, it works and would be a good baseline to start with, eventually I would put a tweeecer on it and burn a chip....
 
The stand alone controllers I use work, and work well. Compushift is not a company that started building controllers yesterday. There are, IMO the highest quality controllers out there.
Trouble shooting any error codes are also simple. It throws out dtc's just like any factory controller.
The controller also calculates hp & ft lbs of torque, and its accurate.
The problems you fear/describe just don't exist.
I can answer any questions you might have. It only something Ive been doing for over 30 years now.
 
I've dealt with Compushift a few times now and their stuff is top notch. Mostly plug and play, really easy to set up.
 
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