Automatic Mach 1 owners BEWARE!!

[grlshy]

I just had 2000+ dollars worth of work done on my tranny two days ago. The tech was saying that the aode is not quite enough tranny for this engine. I had burnt out every clutch and sheared off 4th gear. Granted I don't drive like my grandmother, but he was saying that the original shift pressures aren't high enough to guard against burning the clutches up. He fixed my car and bumped my shift pressures up significantly. The car shifts really hard now, even harder than the Diablo was programed to do, so I could save the tranny a bit. When you stand on the throttle the car really takes a toll on the tranny. Maybe some of you might look into this and see if your local shop would bump your pressures up. Hey it is like getting a free shift kit from ford? JMHO

[codymach]

Sorry to hear it....you didn't have to pay that $2,000 did you?

[ach1]

Did your Diablo chip remove the RPM limiter?


Originally posted by grlshy
I just had 2000+ dollars worth of work done on my tranny two days ago. The tech was saying that the aode is not quite enough tranny for this engine. I had burnt out every clutch and sheared off 4th gear. Granted I don't drive like my grandmother, but he was saying that the original shift pressures aren't high enough to guard against burning the clutches up. He fixed my car and bumped my shift pressures up significantly. The car shifts really hard now, even harder than the Diablo was programed to do, so I could save the tranny a bit. When you stand on the throttle the car really takes a toll on the tranny. Maybe some of you might look into this and see if your local shop would bump your pressures up. Hey it is like getting a free shift kit from ford? JMHO

[69mach03]

Oh-- we'll see. Might rebuild mine with a level ten kit. Full system including manual valve body and other little goodies. I'll get a mechanic to do that fun job for me next Spring/Summer. :THUMBSUP:

Sorry to hear about your transmission problems. However, I had guessed this much on the tranny before I even took delivery on the car. This is the first DOHC mated with the 4R70W in Mustang history. :D Lot of power- junky tranny. Ford just didn't think this one through.

:LAUGH:

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally posted by 69mach03
[.............This is the first DOHC mated with the 4R70W in Mustang history. :D Lot of power- junky tranny. Ford just didn't think this one through.

:LAUGH: [/B]

The 93-98 Lincoln Mark VIII's had the DOHC 32-V 4.6L motor rated 280/290 hp with automatic also. Many of us who modified our Mark VIII's ran into tranny problems too. I had thought about building my own "Mach 1" back in 96 to 98 by putting a Mark VIII DOHC 4.6L into a Mustang GT. I'm glad I waited, I could never have done as fine a job as Ford with the '03. The Mark VIII's also had the IRS before the '99 Cobra's.

[Ralph Greene]

Originally posted by grlshy
I just had 2000+ dollars worth of work done on my tranny two days ago. The tech was saying that the aode is not quite enough tranny for this engine. I had burnt out every clutch and sheared off 4th gear. Granted I don't drive like my grandmother, but he was saying that the original shift pressures aren't high enough to guard against burning the clutches up. He fixed my car and bumped my shift pressures up significantly. The car shifts really hard now, even harder than the Diablo was programed to do, so I could save the tranny a bit. When you stand on the throttle the car really takes a toll on the tranny. Maybe some of you might look into this and see if your local shop would bump your pressures up. Hey it is like getting a free shift kit from ford? JMHO

I believe your tech is wrong. Your transmission is designed to withstand a certain TQ load, and our engines make little in any more TQ than the 2V engines and other applications this trans has been used succcessfully with. With modification your trans is handling more than 500 RWHP and correcponding TQ on many 2V drag race cars.

[grlshy]

I guess what I meant is that this is too little tranny to have such nice clutchy shifts for that engine setup especially when you have a driver like myself who likes to get on it every once in a while. (at least twice a day!) Do you agree though that with harder shifts the tranny has a better chance of lasting? If not I bought the 5 yr. 60k warranty bumper to bumper. Oh well. And my Diablo chip just bumped the rev limiter back about 200 rmps on a WOT shift in "D".

[Ralph Greene]

I think your trans is fine for it's intended use (IE not racing).

What I don't know is how good an extended warranty is when your car has a chip which is changing shift charasteristics (even if for the good), and when others mods are made that change TQ load. Better read the fine print of the warranty.

[rsnider]

Eric,
Do the modifications made to the trans effect the shifts during normal driving? Is this work something Ford will perform "Before" problems show up? Is the work covered by warranty?

[realshelby]

When you installed the Diablo chip your transmission warranty expired. That is not to say your dealer did not get Ford to pay for the repairs. However, if an engineer from Ford were to have come out to look at your car you(something seen more frequently lately) they probably would have denied the claim. If you modify your engine to produce more power don't expect the manufacturer(Ford) to pay for failure of parts intended for a lower stress level. We all pay for it when we buy a new car in higher prices!

[grlshy]

Originally posted by realshelby
When you installed the Diablo chip your transmission warranty expired. That is not to say your dealer did not get Ford to pay for the repairs. However, if an engineer from Ford were to have come out to look at your car you(something seen more frequently lately) they probably would have denied the claim. If you modify your engine to produce more power don't expect the manufacturer(Ford) to pay for failure of parts intended for a lower stress level. We all pay for it when we buy a new car in higher prices!
Boy oh boy 'realshelby' I sure do appreciate you overwhelming concern with my warranty issues as well as my car. I started this post to just warn auto owners about what happened to me. I couldn't give a rats a$$ whether or not you think my warranty claim should have been paid by Ford or not. Hey, by the way the high prices we pay for cars isn't because of warranty work, it is due to inflation and a growing economy. Study economics and you'll learn something. I can guarantee you that if you look at Fords end of the year financial statements you won't see them saying, "Boy, we sure do need to charge more for our cars because of this darn warranty work we are doing, duhhh what do you think, Al?" If you don't want high prices, go buy a bicycle.

[03AV8R]

Ouch ! OK Good points all around.. The Chip & Your driving habits may both have contributed significantly to your tranny woes.. But Supposedly Ford "beefed up" these Auto Tranny's pretty good to accomodate the DOHC 32Valve Mach1 Driving habits as i read here & there prior to purchase (ended up getting the 5 speed anywho) Either way we shouldnt have to baby these cars just because of Warranty Worries should we?? It would just suck all the fun right out of this.. The most popular Banner Ad Poster shows the car doing a nice posi burn and for $30G's i should be able to do it once in a blue moon too without harm! :THUMBSUP: <---- AHH Blue Moon!

[grlshy]

03AV8R, that is what i am saying. This car SHOULD have been equiped with a better tranny than the normal AODE. We should be able to drive it like a sports car and not have problems at 10,000 miles nomatter what. I don't appreciate the "Ford Sales" guys coming in on our forum and condemning me for my choices, nor is it any of their goshdarn business.

[realshelby]

I started this post to just warn auto owners about what happened to me
My thread was intended more for other owners than GRLSHY. He is obviously more concerned about his upcoming economics test that he is likely to fail. I stand by what I said earlier. The main point I want to get across is that Ford is checking warranty claims concerning powertrain in all Performance vehicles. It was fairly rare a few years ago. Now they come out on many claims before the repairs are started and THEY KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR! In the 60's the warranty for a Ford with High Performance engine and drivetrain was 3 months or 3000 miles. While I would hope the automatic in the mach 1 would stand up longer than 10K we don't know the whole story. I have seen Lightnings eat up a 4R100 in that length of time because they had a chip that raised the line pressure too high for hard shifts. That in turn did not allow lubrication to some critical parts. That would cause the problems GRLSHY mentioned. I know GRLSHY doesn't appreciate a goshdarn Ford Sales person on here but I hope I can help others understand the "new" attitudes so they won't have surprises ahead!

['70 Vert]

It's well documented that the AODE doesn't withstand high HP/torque for very long.
Time will tell if this tranny is under-rated for the Mach, but I'll bet my 33 year old stock C-4 in my other car is stronger.

This is one more reason not to buy an auto Mach. Add it to the the fact that they have cast cranks, not steel cranks like the manuals, lower redline and higher parasitic drivetrain loss.:rolleyes:

[realshelby]

70vert, the AODE does not have the best reputation for durability. Just remember your C4 is the father of the AODE, I have destroyed a few stock C4's till I learned what to fix to keep them together. Now the C4 is capable of staying together in 8 second drag cars! The same applies to the AODE. With the right upgrades it will last too. They are upgraded to some degree for the mach 1 but when you raise the torque applied to them or put sticky street tires/slicks on the car the transmission is probably the weak link. If I had an automatic mach 1 that I was going to modify I would start by upgrading the the internals BEFORE something breaks.

[grlshy]

Originally posted by realshelby
When YOU installed the Diablo chip YOUR transmission warranty expired. That is not to say YOUR dealer did not get Ford to pay for the repairs. However, if an engineer from Ford were to have come out to look at YOUR car YOU(something seen more frequently lately) they probably would have denied the claim. If YOU modify your engine to produce more power don't expect the manufacturer(Ford) to pay for failure of parts intended for a lower stress level. Man that sure is a lot of YOU's and YOUR's for a post for "all" owners. Get your story straight, there smart guy. Oh by the way I passed my economics test, did you? Oops, I forgot you probably never took an economics class since you never needed any more than an 8th grade education to start selling cars. You da MAN!

[realshelby]

You are right GRLSHY, I don't have an economics degree. I don't need one, my wife is a CPA! It is a shame that all those YOU's and YOUR's bothered you, must have a guilty conscience or way too thin skinned to post the trash talk you started. I can say this because I am an educated car salesman-I have more than an eighth grade education. ;)

['70 Vert]

Originally posted by realshelby
70vert, the AODE does not have the best reputation for durability. Just remember your C4 is the father of the AODE, I have destroyed a few stock C4's till I learned what to fix to keep them together. Now the C4 is capable of staying together in 8 second drag cars! The same applies to the AODE. W

I know what you're saying, but if the C-4 is the father of of the AODE, then the AODE is a red-headed step child. The C-4 is one SOLID box; stronger in some ways than a C-6 and super simple to upgrade and repair.
Upgrade the intermediate servo and install a shift improver kit in a C-4 and they're rock solid even up to 450 hp with stock internals. You can't say that about an AODE, though.
Best of all, there's no solenoids, control unit, speed sensors, etc. to f#*k up.

[FL Mach 1]

GRLSHY,

No offence but that "ford sales guy" didn't just show up on this forum. Realshelby has been around for quite a while and he, Five oh B and several other dealer types really helped out quite a bit when we had questions during the ordering and production process. Not tryin to flame ya or anything. So I figure that we can cut him some slack.

[grlshy]

Realshelby, the trash talk I started? guess again. I was just letting people know what happened to my car and to lookout. they can take or leave my opinion, I do not care. However what I dont appreciate is you telling me what I should have or shouldn't have done. You don't drive my car, you don't pay for my repairs, and you don't know me, so the YOU's and YOUR's were not appropriate. You tried to flame me for having the ability to get warranty work on modded car. Frankly, how you feel about that means nothing to me so I can deal without your opinions on my situations. Didn't your mother ever teach you to not say anything if you had nothing nice to say? Take note. I will.

[realshelby]

OK

[realshelby]

70VERT- I am with you on the simplicity. I had a lot of trouble with the clutch drums snapping off where they were spot welded. Took one to a welder friend and he TIG welded it, no more trouble. That is till I snapped two input shafts. Turns out the 68 and up has a bigger input shaft-switched to that and did ok. You haven't lived till you have driven 50 miles to the drag strip with 4.11 gears only to have to drive home in second gear because the 3rd gear clutches fried!

[GoMach1]

Cut me a break...the trans...is awesome! I have one!!.....If you got a 5 speed the clutch would be toast!