cliffyk

It is 3.0L or 3.17qt per this TSB from Ford. The recommended fill was lowered to reduce hydrostatic locking of the shift rod detents and the gears and synchros...

You could be +/- 1/2qt from that amount and drive 700 miles at reasonable loads and speeds with no problems--oil levels in automobiles (engine/tranny/differential) are really not all that critical--+/- 15% is fine...

jrp1588

My bad, I was just going off the above post and didn't bother to do the unit conversion, and couldn't remember what the old fill level was. *slinks off into corner and feels dumb*

cliffyk

The '02 and '03 owner's manuals say 3.8L (4.0qt), the '04 manual says 3.7L (3.9qt); the TSB 3.0L (3.2qt).

I have run my '03 with 3.2qt for 100k miles now with no issues except smoother shifting than when I got it with 30k miles and what was most likely the factory 3.8L fill.

zero2005

I used to swear by RP both before, and after having my 3650 rebuilt, and while it was great (maybe a placebo effect?), on a recommendation i saw on the forum and because RP was a pain to get, i swapped to M1 ATF and i noticed it was noticeably smoother, not only on the shift, but on my wallet too!

trailor

Mobil1 ATF is definitely superior. Filled mine to almost 3.2qts exactly and haven't had a problem since.

Another recommended product to solve virtually all your problems is a switch to the MGW short throw shifter -- definitely a "must have" to eliminate ALL notchiness of these specific TR3650's. The 04's got a slight improvement, while the 05+ got even more. 2001-03 seemed to be the more "experimental" years... The next solution to fix everything would be to get the TSB-recommended rebuild kit, which is hardly justifiable based on the price for the parts and labor.

cliffyk

My experience has been that short throw shifters make any "notchiness" (which is in the transmission) more noticeable as they increase the amount of force required to move the lever between gears. The increase in required force being the payoff for the shorter throw--that's just plain ol' laws of mechanical advantage in action--read more about STS's here.

Repzard

Use M1 ATF and be done with it.
Why use something else not made for the tranny?

I use M1 ATF in my T45's and its like a new tranny.
Shift nice and smooth with no grinding.

TRUEBLUE3934

This is exactly right!
I would still suggest upgrading to a STS, but don't expect it to SMOOTH out the notchy feeling. The MGW will make it "feel" more notchy(personal experience).

trailor

perhaps i misrepresented the term "notchy." i was describing the feeling when, with the stock shifter, i would feel several "grooves" of sorts when going into second and third gear. they were very unpredictable, and made shifting a real pain. that has gone away with the MGW. shifting now feels, although "notchy" i suppose, very deliberate.

cliffyk

Ah, now better I understand. That's part of what I describe as "monkey-motion" in the stock shifter. The rubber NVH isolation makes it jump awkwardly and unpredictably over the shift rod detents, and into gear.

With the MGW the notches are still there but shifting through them is smooth and predictable--like a well-tuned rifle bolt...