What are the most likely Donor vehicles for the A 500 4 speed automatic?

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moparmarks said:
Had the big multi-pin connecter, not the 2 or 3 pin and no mech K/D. Looked to be a pretty stock plain jane van.
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I wonder if the reason the rig was there was because someone swapped an RE trans into it not knowing there was a difference and when they got to the point were they found out, they just junked the whole rig rather than pull it and look for the right transmission.
 
Interesting. The documentation from Gary in the link above says the 46RH was introduced in 1990 and did not have LU. And then in '91, LU was added.

So a '90 46RH looks to be your huckleberry if you want OD but do not want LU.
 
DionR said:
I wonder if the reason the rig was there was because someone swapped an RE trans into it not knowing there was a difference and when they got to the point were they found out, they just junked the whole rig rather than pull it and look for the right transmission.
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Maybe so. It looked like it was all factory and all the wiring was connected.
 
DionR said:
Interesting. The documentation from Gary in the link above says the 46RH was introduced in 1990 and did not have LU. And then in '91, LU was added.

So a '90 46RH looks to be your huckleberry if you want OD but do not want LU.
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My 91 A518 was a non-LU. It's in my friend's Cuda and I now regret letting it go.
 
Jackpot! I think.

Further reading of Gary's documentation shows that the 42RE was actually introduced in '93 for the GC 4.0 inline six and came with a stand alone TCM.

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While I'm not suggesting someone try and use the transmission, it does mean there is a controller for an RE transmission. Probably still needs TPS.

And it would be JY prices.
 
moparmarks said:
Maybe so. It looked like it was all factory and all the wiring was connected.
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Interesting. Did you notice what PCM it had? One big plug or 3 smaller ones? PCM would have been black or silver, black for SBEC or silver for JTEC.

Maybe it had a GC TCM wired into it. No idea that there was a TCM for an RE until just now.
 
DionR said:
Jackpot! I think.

Further reading of Gary's documentation shows that the 42RE was actually introduced in '93 for the GC 4.0 inline six and came with a stand alone TCM.

View attachment 1716149897

While I'm not suggesting someone try and use the transmission, it does mean there is a controller for an RE transmission. Probably still needs TPS.

And it would be JY prices.
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Here is the TCM pinout:

42RE-TCM.jpg
 
DionR said:
Jackpot! I think.

Further reading of Gary's documentation shows that the 42RE was actually introduced in '93 for the GC 4.0 inline six and came with a stand alone TCM.

View attachment 1716149897

While I'm not suggesting someone try and use the transmission, it does mean there is a controller for an RE transmission. Probably still needs TPS.

And it would be JY prices.
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I've read references to this before--that certain jeeps had stand alone controllers and allegedly can be used for an RE swap into something else
 
67Dart273 said:
I've read references to this before--that certain jeeps had stand alone controllers and allegedly can be used for an RE swap into something else
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Looks like late '93 to '95 Jeep ZJ's with the 4.0 inline six? Trick is the early '93 used an AW4 trans which is completely different.

Seem to be pretty simple to hook up if someone wanted to do an RE in an OBD1 rig.
 
DionR said:
Name only. They changed the nomenclature about '91(?) to better indicate what the transmission was.

4 - number of forward gears
2 - torque capacity
R - Rear wheel drive
H - Hydraulic control

Based on that, makes sense that an 46RH matches up with the A518 since the "6" indicates a greater torque capacity over a 42RH which is an A500. There is also a 47R_ and 48R_, not sure if they are "E" only nor if they bolt to a 5.9 since (I think) they are diesel only.

The "E" means they changed to an electronic governor control. Functionally, it removed the weights (governor) in the tail housing and the PCM monitors hydraulic pressure in the governor circuit and controls a solenoid to cause the pressure to rise as required.

BTW, I've gone looking to find out if there is a 43RH/43RE or 44RH/44RE, but never found anything conclusive. Maybe it is a Grand Cherokee trans? Not sure. Either way, I thing the generally excepted nomenclature is 42RH or 42RE.

Not sure on the 2 pin and 3 pin thing. I wouldn't be surprised if a 46RH is always a 3 pin, but an A518 could be either. But that is only based on the idea that by '91 when the nomenclature changed maybe they always had LU? No idea.
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The way I understood it, all NLUs were two pin. I had a 518 and decided to go a different route. I was insistent on a NLU at the time because of the ability to get a better TC. Wasn’t too much choice with a LU. I built my own crap to run it. An adjustable NOS switch to control the shifting and a delay(I think someone mentioned that). Simple parts from summit.

The Shelby Dakota had those A500s I believe.
 
moparmarks said:
Just having to control the lock up is all. Yup a lock up will lower the rpm by around 200-300 rpm. The tranny guys that I've talked to said driving a lock up converter un- locked up on the highway for a while will burn up the converter. Just what I've been told. I'm not a tranny guy.
I have a A500 for my 78 D100 and a A518 with the Ulta BB bell housing and new converter for my 72 Satellite. Both are lock ups. The A500 will be going behind a 360 so I need the conversion flex plate or a A500 lock up converter balanced for my 360. Ya the A500 has a lower first gear which is find by me
Good to know on the A500 only being a lock up.
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I have a '79 D100. What alterations would be required to install an A500 in my truck? I have a 2.76 sure-grip I"d like to install. A 2.74 first gear would be helpful.
 
iScamp said:
I have a '79 D100. What alterations would be required to install an A500 in my truck? I have a 2.76 sure-grip I"d like to install. A 2.74 first gear would be helpful.
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I haven't done mine yet. The biggest thing I know of is the mount. Heard getting one from a 90-93 2-dr truck that had the OD tranny helps a lot. Getting hard to find those too.
 
O/T but..........I wish I was younger, smarter, and had more money. I'd LOVE to find a great solution

For awhile, I thought the answer "might" lie with something like a 45/ 545RFE, but John Cope does not seem to think much of them, and IN fact has a video about putting a 46/7/8RX backwards swapping where an RFE came out. Manual VB I think. Evidently the RFE is weaker in at least one gear than I was aware of.
 
DionR said:
Interesting. Did you notice what PCM it had? One big plug or 3 smaller ones? PCM would have been black or silver, black for SBEC or silver for JTEC.

Maybe it had a GC TCM wired into it. No idea that there was a TCM for an RE until just now.
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Well I don't remember for sure, it was a whole 4 weeks ago, lol. Just remember it had way more than 2 or 3 wires going to the connecter plug and no K/D. After checking the door tag I turned and walked away in disappointment.
 
Last year I bought an A518 3-pin from a guy on here. It came with this Jet controller. Has anyone used one of these? I don't think I care for the speedometer gear setup. Doesn't look like Jet makes this anymore. Also what is a 618?

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I would guess 618 is the diesel one. I'm used to referring to them as 4xRx AKA 47rE whatever
 
Maybe someone mentioned it and I missed it BUT regarding the manual toggle switch for lockup and overdrive, do these stay engaged as you slow down below a certain speed? I'd think that as you get below say...45 mph, the OD would disengage.
 
Kern Dog said:
Maybe someone mentioned it and I missed it BUT regarding the manual toggle switch for lockup and overdrive, do these stay engaged as you slow down below a certain speed? I'd think that as you get below say...45 mph, the OD would disengage.
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I tested in on a 518 retrofit and od didnt disengage until around 25mph. My 518 didnt have lock up converter so I dont know about that part. Either way i wouldnt recommend leaving them on that long. Basically my od was for hwy and was left off all the time for in town driving.
I have thought about using a B&M shifter with a line lock button on the shifter knob to control both both on the next one.
 
moparmarks said:
Well I don't remember for sure, it was a whole 4 weeks ago, lol. Just remember it had way more than 2 or 3 wires going to the connecter plug and no K/D. After checking the door tag I turned and walked away in disappointment.
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Early non lock up units have 2 pins, lock up RH have 3 pins and both have a similar rounded rectangular shaped plug. REs all have round 8 pin plug.
 
Kern Dog said:
Maybe someone mentioned it and I missed it BUT regarding the manual toggle switch for lockup and overdrive, do these stay engaged as you slow down below a certain speed? I'd think that as you get below say...45 mph, the OD would disengage.
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I had toggles in the old White Whale Dodge pu. No, it would stay locked up and would kill the engine at a stop light if you forgot.
 
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