E450 What transmission do I have?

on the pickups...the Torqshift transmission was started in Mid 2003
with the beginning of the 6.0 diesel the v10 shortly there after
as was the e450 the r.v.'s in 2006 v-10 engines

the 4r100 is history by 2007...there is only one tranny offered by ford with a v10 e 450.

the v10 and the torqshift 5 speed is a great combo...just do your recommended service

I have owned by both and there is no comparison...

Behind the V10, the 4R100 torque converter is normally locked at cruising speeds regardless of gear. There's only a very small range of throttle travel where it will stay in top gear and unlock, this way it doesn't generate too much heat. When it downshifts, it unlocks for the downshift then re-locks. The time required to re-lock depends which gear it downshifts into. i.e. 2nd gear will take locker to re-lock after a downshift. I believe that is done to maximize HP for passing. The diesel version of the 4R100 stay unlocked much more. I had always assumed it was to compensate for the narrow HP-band of the 7.3L however Mark K. indicates it might have been simply due to a programer who didn't know any better. That T/C strategy is why the 7.3L eats through transmissions while they are generally lifetime items behind the V10.

I'm not sure how the 5R110 torque converter clutch strategy works.

That answer was above-pay-grade for me.
Only tip-of-the-tongue for Bryan.
From what I understand the E4OD was the final edition of the C6, but with OD added. Then E4OD morphed into 4R100. To me, that's good, PROVIDING Ford did a good job with Fourth gear and the locking Torque Converter. And didn't muck up the C6 in the process. The C6 was one of the Tough Guys from the Big Three, along with GM's Turbo HydraMatic 400 and MoPar's TorqueFlight 727.
Bryan, you must know... What does 4R100 do when it's running Cruise and kicks down out of OD? Seems like all it would need is 4th/unlocked but it seems to drop back to 3rd/something. I'd really like it to re-think whatever it's doing.

P.S. That was Bryan (carringb) that just responded above on the excellent transmission details. ;)

carringb wrote:

pnichols wrote:
John, correct me if I'm wrong ... but along with the 4R not having 5 external speeds, I doubt that the 4R has six internal speeds like the 5R does, either?

The 4R100 has 4 forward gear ratios. The 5R110 actually has 6 ratios, but they call it a 5-speed because "4" and "5" are very close together, and it will never sequentially shift between those two gears (unless you activate that shift with a programmer), so they are more like two different "4th gears". 3-5-6 in the 5R110 are the same ratios as 2-3-4 in the 4R100, and those ratios are what the 5R110 normally selects. "4th" in the 5R110 is slightly under driven (and used only when the fluid is cold), while "5th" is direct.

The 5R110 shines when taking off from a launch, because it has a deep 1st gear, and 2nd gear splits the difference of "1" & "2" in the 4R100.

FYI - in both transmission, if you manually select a numbered gear (1, 2, 3) it will not shift automatically. It will only use that gear. You can launch from 3rd gear with the 5R110 if you select that gear manually, but in an RV there probably isn't much use for that. In vans and pickups that helps reduce wheel spin when its slippery.

The 5R110 is a very robust transmission, and can handle more power than the Allison 1000.

Thanks John for the info.....!!!!!

pnichols wrote:
John, correct me if I'm wrong ... but along with the 4R not having 5 external speeds, I doubt that the 4R has six internal speeds like the 5R does, either?

The 4R100 has 4 forward gear ratios. The 5R110 actually has 6 ratios, but they call it a 5-speed because "4" and "5" are very close together, and it will never sequentially shift between those two gears (unless you activate that shift with a programmer), so they are more like two different "4th gears". 3-5-6 in the 5R110 are the same ratios as 2-3-4 in the 4R100, and those ratios are what the 5R110 normally selects. "4th" in the 5R110 is slightly under driven (and used only when the fluid is cold), while "5th" is direct.

The 5R110 shines when taking off from a launch, because it has a deep 1st gear, and 2nd gear splits the difference of "1" & "2" in the 4R100.

FYI - in both transmission, if you manually select a numbered gear (1, 2, 3) it will not shift automatically. It will only use that gear. You can launch from 3rd gear with the 5R110 if you select that gear manually, but in an RV there probably isn't much use for that. In vans and pickups that helps reduce wheel spin when its slippery.

The 5R110 is a very robust transmission, and can handle more power than the Allison 1000.

John, correct me if I'm wrong ... but along with the 4R not having 5 external speeds, I doubt that the 4R has six internal speeds like the 5R does, either?

You have nothing to be concerned about, it's 5R. If that button at the end of shift lever is marked Tow/Haul or abbreviation for Tow/Haul, it's 5R. The button will be OD Off or something like that for 4R110. Or, Drive It. In T/H the 5r will downshift on closed throttle as you apply brakes. The only change in 4R is it doesn't use OD.

How can I verify it's a 5R vs a 4R ?

Bryan called it correct:

http://www.certifiedtransmission.com/ford/e450/