Speedometer recalibration question

[Shoe]

I just bought a 95 Bronco for my daughter. She is in the Coast Guard and is being transferred to Kodiak, Alaska in about a month and someone convinced her that a full sized bronco was the Ideal car for there.
The speedometer hasn't been recalibrated since the PO put the 33's on, so it is reading about 10% slow. It also hasn't been regeared.
My first question is about the recalibration. I've seen the "how to" on this and it looks easy enough, but then it sounds like it also changes the transmission shift points. Is there any affect on anything other than the speedometer? I don't want to go messing things up just before she leaves just to have a correct reading speedo.
The 2nd question is about the transmission. Will there be any harm in driving it 2500 miles with the OD turned off? With it off it runs about 2600 rpms at 70 mph which seems good but OD drops it down to 17 or 1800 and it really struggles.
Thanks for any help.

[Steve83]

Great - we love hearing about Broncos & welcoming their new owners!



But these exact questions have already been covered eleventy billion times. Calibrating the PSOM doesn't "change" the shift points; it "corrects" them. They got "changed" when the tire size changed. Follow the instructions in this caption:



The owner's manual explains when to use O/D, and when to turn it off. If you don't have one, download the closest year from Ford.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenan...ls/default.asp
But old used hardcopies are availabe on eBay & elsewhere. And if the engine is struggling, have a good mechanic check it out thoroughly before starting the trip. Masking a problem by downshifting isn't doing the truck or your daughter any favors.

[Shoe]

Hey I thought this was the flame free zone! Doesn't that mean I can get someone else to do my searching for me?
Actually I have read up on it quite a bit and I just wanted to be sure before I did something that would cause trouble. So I'll go ahead and recalibrate the PSOM. But as I read about the transmission, all I get is a bunch of people who sound like they know what they are talking about but none of them agree on anything!
I drove the Bronco 75 miles yesterday with the OD on, and then drove the 75 miles back with it off. It just felt better with it off, not having to downshift on every small hill. So unless I can find something that says that driving that far with it off is bad, that's what I'll tell her to do. I have seen some posts claiming that downshifting too much and "lugging" the engine is bad on the E4AOD, but of course someone else says it's fine.
Oh and it has been checked out by a mechanic and any problems he found have been fixed.
$50 for an Ebay owners manual! is it worth it? The link to ford only goes back to 96 is that close enough?
Thanks again

[JBfab]

Once your speedo is recalibrated take it for anouther test drive. With the 33's being put on it prob threw the od shift points off. The recal should fix that issue.

[sackman9975]

Shoe, Welcome to the site

As Steve said, it will correct the shift points. You'll probably notice a HUGE difference in the way it drives. Right now it has no idea that its off because it's set for a different setting that what it needs. I corrected my buddy's truck that has 33's and he was clearly amazed at how it shifts including on hills.

Once you got that corrected, don't be afraid to use the O/D

There are a lot of folks on here that can tell you a bunch of crap, but listen to Steve83. He's not flaming you, just telling you that this forum is a wealth of information. There's probably nothing that hasn't been covered. And if you can't find something, just ask

[Steve83]

Originally Posted by Shoe

Hey I thought this was the flame free zone! Doesn't that mean I can get someone else to do my searching for me?

No, but that's what most noobs think it means

Originally Posted by Shoe

...all I get is a bunch of people who sound like they know what they are talking about but none of them agree on anything!

Are you talking about FSB, or the entire interwebz?

Originally Posted by Shoe

...unless I can find something that says that driving that far with it off is bad, that's what I'll tell her to do.

It's not that it's "bad" on the transmission. It's that there's SOMETHING wrong, and driving that far with it "wrong" may cause severe problems for her in the middle of the trip, O/D on OR off.

Originally Posted by Shoe

Oh and it has been checked out by a mechanic and any problems he found have been fixed.

If he didn't find the shifting issue or its root cause, I recommend you find another mechanic. One who's more familiar with these older trucks.

Originally Posted by Shoe

$50 for an Ebay owners manual! is it worth it?

I give up - IS it?

Originally Posted by Shoe

The link to ford only goes back to 96 is that close enough?

There were no significant changes to the way the E4OD works between '95-96 (or any other year range), so: yes. And even if it wasn't - it's FREE. Download it, and read it. You're gonna find SOMETHING in it that applies to her truck, if only the unique feature of the Ford cruise control system. If you have insomnia, read this caption, too:

[Shoe]

Steve;
I think I had you for a teacher in 7th grade!
No really I appreciate all of the help. There's a pretty steep learning curve on these old trucks. Going to do my homework now.

[Steve83]

I didn't get over to Houston very often - they didn't let us out of Lake Chuck unless there was a flood. Orange & Beaumont occasionally, but they smell the same as we did.

[thin blue line]

re program the psom it makes a huge difference. its night and day.

[Shoe]

Ok got the PSOM reprogrammed today, piece of cake! Took it out for a drive and it did handle better, I don't know if it was "night and day" though. It is nice having the speedometer reading correctly and the shifting and downshifting felt good. Probably the only thing that would make a really big difference would be changing out the 3.55 gears for a set of 4.56 gears but that isn't going to happen any time soon.
I'm really starting to like this big ol' Bronco! I might have to try to talk her into taking my old Subaru instead.

[Bronco Colt]

4.10's are all you would need to change to running those 33's.

[Shoe]

Bronco Colt, I see you are running 33's on 4.10 gears. What rpm's are you running at 70 mph? Would it still be ok towing 2 to 3,000 lbs? I'm thinking of getting this Bronco back from her when she leaves Alaska and using it to tow a pop up camper

[Steve83]

You don't need to regear for 33s. I have an I6, NP435, 33s (metric), and I'll never give up my 3.08s again. I tried 3.55s for a few months, and they SUCKED. I can crawl slower than the speedo registers, and I can set the cruise at 110mph.

[TheUnforgiven]

to help be clear steves NP435 (manual 4 speed) transmission does NOT have overdrive.

[Steve83]

If it did, I could probably hit 140!

[TheUnforgiven]

i don't think that 300 has the balls for that.

[bdigby]

I have 35's. I just got it back today from putting 4.56 gears in it. I never adjusted the speedo after going from stock tires to 35's. Is it more difficult to do it now that I have put 4.56's in it?

FYI-I'm not mechanical, so I'll probably have to take it to a shop if its too difficult for my buddies.

[TheUnforgiven]

gear ratio doesn't matter with the 92+ speedo calibration, since it reads off the ring gear (tire rotation) not the t-case out put (driveshaft rotation).

you don't need to be mechanically inclined, just able to do basic math and press a few buttons.

[Steve83]

Can you read?

[sackman9975]

Originally Posted by TheUnforgiven

gear ratio doesn't matter with the 92+ speedo calibration, since it reads off the ring gear (tire rotation) not the t-case out put (driveshaft rotation).

you don't need to be mechanically inclined, just able to do basic math and press a few buttons.