Fmx?
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Actually, your VIN won't well you what transmission you have, but the door data sticker will. A FMX has the trans code 'X'.
The FMX trans is (was) Ford's medium duty trans. The C-4 was the light duty and the C-6 the heavy duty.
The FMX was actually made by Borg-Warner. It has a cast iron case, with bolted-on aluminum bellhousing and tailshaft housings. One great feature of the FMX is that it has a center support bearing that supports the rotating internals. That, combined with the cast iron case make them pretty much indestructable. In fact, my one buddy is still running his original 71 Mach 1's 351C-2V FMX behind his 514 cubic inch race motor and it is running 11.0s in the quarter mile! It has never failed!
The biggest problem with the FMX is there is a very limited aftermarket support for these transmissions. Shift improver kits, high-stall torque converters and other such parts are almost non-existant. Most manufacturers still have the parts, they just don't advertise them any more since the FMX was last used in 1979. You really have to hunt around to find what you need.
The FMX trans is (was) Ford's medium duty trans. The C-4 was the light duty and the C-6 the heavy duty.
The FMX was actually made by Borg-Warner. It has a cast iron case, with bolted-on aluminum bellhousing and tailshaft housings. One great feature of the FMX is that it has a center support bearing that supports the rotating internals. That, combined with the cast iron case make them pretty much indestructable. In fact, my one buddy is still running his original 71 Mach 1's 351C-2V FMX behind his 514 cubic inch race motor and it is running 11.0s in the quarter mile! It has never failed!
The biggest problem with the FMX is there is a very limited aftermarket support for these transmissions. Shift improver kits, high-stall torque converters and other such parts are almost non-existant. Most manufacturers still have the parts, they just don't advertise them any more since the FMX was last used in 1979. You really have to hunt around to find what you need.
As usual you are correct, on the door tag. We have a Borg Warner here, wonder if they would have parts. Not that there is a problem . . . . .yet. We have got quite used to stripping down our C3 on the Sierra, would the FMX be the same sort of thing?
I've got a book here "Automatic Transmissions' by M Brejcha, American Technical Society which goes into detail about the C4 and C6, but nothing is mentioned about the FMX, did it have another name, or else what do the initials stand for, its got the Borg waner 3 speed Studebaker gearbox, 195something in it, thats all I can find re BW.
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Yes, FMX is also called 'cast iron cruise-o-matic' The only thing is that they changed the positioning of the shift pattern to the more common or standardized 'P-R-N-D-2-L' instead of the earlier 'P-R-N-2-D-L' or whatever. My 1966 Comet (also a Mercury) has the earlier shift pattern on its cast iron cruise-o-matic. I have to read the manual every time I try to drive the thing to make sure I'm putting the gear selector in the right position for 'Normal' Drive! (I really haven't driven it all that much since we got it back in 1988. We've probably put less than 500 miles on it since then!)
Internally, the FMX also does not have a conventional neat and tidy valve body inside the trans like a C-4 or C-6. It has a bunch of metal tubes running all over the place that makes the inside (pan view) look like brains or some 1950s demented sci-fi creation.
I'm surprised that you know about C-3s. Here in the States they were mainly used on the smaller 4-cylinder economy cars like Pinto, Mustang II or other such. Even the 2.8 litre V-6 Pintos got C-4s.
Then there is the C-5, which I'm told is basically a C-4 with a provision for a lock-up converter.
When we get to the AOD, AOD-E, E4OD, A4LD and all of the front-wheel drive transmissions I tend to get lost. The AOD is the 'normal' overdrive automatic trans used from 1981-1991. The AOD-E is electronically controlled, but basically an AOD, used from 1992 to the present. The E4OD is the heavy-duty piece, really an overdrive C-6, and many of the C-6 internals were carried over.
There are a few transmission specialists here on MercuryCougar.net that can answer your transmission questions better than I.
Internally, the FMX also does not have a conventional neat and tidy valve body inside the trans like a C-4 or C-6. It has a bunch of metal tubes running all over the place that makes the inside (pan view) look like brains or some 1950s demented sci-fi creation.
I'm surprised that you know about C-3s. Here in the States they were mainly used on the smaller 4-cylinder economy cars like Pinto, Mustang II or other such. Even the 2.8 litre V-6 Pintos got C-4s.
Then there is the C-5, which I'm told is basically a C-4 with a provision for a lock-up converter.
When we get to the AOD, AOD-E, E4OD, A4LD and all of the front-wheel drive transmissions I tend to get lost. The AOD is the 'normal' overdrive automatic trans used from 1981-1991. The AOD-E is electronically controlled, but basically an AOD, used from 1992 to the present. The E4OD is the heavy-duty piece, really an overdrive C-6, and many of the C-6 internals were carried over.
There are a few transmission specialists here on MercuryCougar.net that can answer your transmission questions better than I.
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2,144 Posts
FMX trans?
All the comments so far seem accurate -- mine is probably fluff.
The FMX is significantly different from its "C" cousins by the fact that it's a Raveneaux (sp?) gear train vs. a Simpson gear train.
Power is handled differently in the two types. AOD is Raveneaux and shares significant similarities to the FMX.
I have to second the opinion about the FMX -- it has held up to significant abuse from me in my car. I have had only one failure in my time with these trannies. They are finicky when it comes to line pressure too and thus had limited success in the aftermarket improvement department. I have had *no* problems finding the shift kits, converters, et al as was mentioned prior however.
Cheers,
Bill
All the comments so far seem accurate -- mine is probably fluff.
The FMX is significantly different from its "C" cousins by the fact that it's a Raveneaux (sp?) gear train vs. a Simpson gear train.
Power is handled differently in the two types. AOD is Raveneaux and shares significant similarities to the FMX.
I have to second the opinion about the FMX -- it has held up to significant abuse from me in my car. I have had only one failure in my time with these trannies. They are finicky when it comes to line pressure too and thus had limited success in the aftermarket improvement department. I have had *no* problems finding the shift kits, converters, et al as was mentioned prior however.
Cheers,
Bill
Cougrrcj said:
Thanks guys, I will now think twice before dismantling it on the coffee table like we did with our C3, trouble is there are no decent auto-transmission repair guys here, which is why we ended up doing the C3 ourselves, the C3 is on our Ford Sierra 2.3 V6, german Koln engine, gives us loads of hassles, will change it to manual one day.
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