Art161

The Scheduled Maintenance Guide for my 2007 says to change the automatic transmission fluid every 150,000 miles under normal operating conditions. It says to change it every 30,000 miles for special operating conditions, such as towing a trailer, extensive idling, using as a taxi, using as a patrol car, operating in dusty conditions, operating off-road, etc.

mdj89

Got the transmission fluid changed....the color of the old. Fluid was kind of pink almost white.

BrianK

Anyone have any idea on how to drain the torque converter as someone mentioned a few posts back? I had a Mercedes years ago and there was a drain plug in the TC which I could access through the bell housing but none of this on the Ford. I installed my own dipstick (courtesy of Ratstang - google it) and it makes refilling a breeze. Now every fall I drain and refill with 5 quarts of Mercon V. Yeah maybe too often but I do it myself so it's only the cost of the fluid. Been changing over to Amsoil synthetic rather than the Ford fluid. Every 3rd year I drop the pan and change the filter and clean out the pan. Not really anything there other than a little black stuff from the clutches but not a pile of filings so all good.

Derf00

30K is considered the norm unless you don't do any city driving or don't have hot temps during the summer. Otherwise, you are playing Russian roulette In my opinion with a very expensive piece of hardware. Tranny fluid is very susceptible to exponential degradation above 175-195F. That means when your fan kicks on to cool the radiator down, you are already in excess of that (close to 205/215F). Plus you get heat soak when you shut the car down.

http://myautomatictransmission.com/a...sion-fluid.htm

In reviewing Ford's maintenance guide they don't even mention checking the brake fluid except replacing it in Class A motor homes and only checking the PS fluid, never replacing it. These last couple of bits are off-topic but do go to show that the manual is not complete or accurate IMO.

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo.../08frdmg3e.pdf

BrianK

IMO - replacing the fluids at the recommended 'normal' intervals is not nearly enough and is basically designed to make the parts last until the warranty is over. Dusty conditions= severe? Ever drive on a gravel road or where there is some dust around? Not sure I know anyone who doesn't fall into the Severe Service category. It is cheaper to change fluids than parts.

Still waiting for someone to post how to drain the torque converter without flushing please. ( I doubt if it is possible but I remain hopeful)

SCCAGT

It is not possible. Unless you feel like dropping the trans to remove the converter.

Doing either a flush or drain and fill is way better than doing nothing at all. So don't stress about getting every drop of old fluid out. Transmission services have been done either way for decades with a longer lasting transmission as the only side effect.

Personally, I say do the drain and fill in order to change the filter. A flush will just help dislodge particles and they will in turn stay in the filter. If you don't change the filter, what happens?

BrianK

Yes I agree SSCAGT. Thanks for the "you can't drain the TC" comment. I didn't think so either.
I don't like the flush idea either and do a drain and fill every fall to keep the fluid clean and with the dipstick it is easy. It is always pretty clean and I change the filter every 3 years to have a look in the pan. I read in a Lincoln MKX repair manual that Ford actually recommends a fluid drain/fill 3 times which accomplishes the desired service. So - Drain, refill, drive for a bit and repeat twice. They don't discuss filter replacement because on that tranny, taking the pan off is a real PITA and involves an electrical connector and that pan is on vertically. So on our MKX, I change the Tx oil at oil changes also. Seems to be working so far.

Urambo Tauro

Depends on the condition of things inside the transmission.

The more particles there are inside a system, the more collecting the filter does. In theory, once a filter accumulates a lot of particles and starts to become restricted, it will actually filter better because those particles start to block off tinier and tinier openings in the filter media. The filter will be able to catch even smaller particles than before.

But too much restriction soon becomes a flow issue. As a last resort, an engine oil filter is equipped with a bypass valve to permit unfiltered oil to avoid oil starvation, but I'm not sure transmission filters have such a feature.

As far as I know, the only way to evaluate the condition of the filter is by checking the fluid itself. If it's time to change the fluid, it's time to change the filter.

SCCAGT

This is what I was getting at.

If a flush is done at a point well past its suggested interval, Whatever crud is inside will build up and clog the filter. I ran a shop for 11 years, and whenever someone came in with a car with somewhere north of 120,000 miles I would refuse to do the flush if the fluid was particularly nasty. It is almost a guarantee that if a flush is done, that transmission will die within a month. At which point the customer would come back and bitch to no end. Any GOOD shop would be wise to tell the customer to leave it alone at that point.

If the fluid is not changed, it becomes a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation.

Transmission filters do not have a bypass.

BrianK

Something like a furnace filter - once it's plugged, there is not enough flow keep things flowing and things overheat which leads to damage. I have never had a transmission flushed either because they don't change the filter so what is the point. Actually if I could only do 1 thing, I'd rather just change the filter. Too bad they weren't spin on like in some hydraulic systems. I took a car to a tranny shop once because the shifting was acting up and there was a pile of clutch material in the pan - and of course it needed a rebuild.
So now in the Mustang, a drain and fill every 10,000 miles (so easy with the drain and my dipstick) and a new filter with the D&F every 30,000 miles.

Ford has a TSB to install an inline filter in the transmission cooling line. I bought the filter but I am resisting that installation. I hate to restrict cooling flow. Any thoughts on a separate external cooler?