The controversial question of when to change the fluid in the 5R55E automatic trans

[aldive]

6 months I change the fluid that comes out via the pan.
at 12 months i do a change and also filter change...

But you are still not changing ALL of your tranny fluid.

 

[davidmmm69]

once a year I do change the fluid via a flush..

 

[project92]

ALDIVE and others here is my question first my 93 ate tranny's 3 I know they wern't that great my 97 bought it with 128,000 on it and 236,000 miles later with no fluids changed (tranny ) had no problems... now I swapped for a 00 e.b sweet ride had all warrenty done on the sohc no records of maintance with truck...
no problem with tranny... has 82,000 on it I want to keep this thing for a LONGGGGG time ..... now I am wanting to change the fluid and filter on the tranny(good ideal or bad) and try your ideal of sythentic in the tranny what would be the best sythentic and how will I get all the fluid out of the torque converter? does it have a drain? or should I take it to a tranny shop that I trust???

 

[bustergonad]

Let's see....
I just clocked 160,000 miles and in that time I have changed the filter once (at 70K) and had the fluid flushed once at 100K apart from that......nada.

 

[stubborn1]

I change my tranny fluid every 30k miles because I tow/off road. If I didn't, I would probably still change every 50k miles because I don't believe in a "lifetime" fluid. Ford's definition of lifetime and mine are different. Lifetime doesn't mean just past warranty.

Tranny flush and fill = $80
or
Rebuilt tranny = $2,500

I'll take a gamble and change the fluid.

 

[mynameisaric]

$80 from a service shop or is that to do it yourself? if its a shop, which one do you go to?

 

[davidmmm69]

on my 2002 i did the flush at the dealer and it was about $139.00
about 16 quarts i think it said..

 

[mynameisaric]

how hard is it to do the flush at home? or do you need special tools? (ie. a pump or sumthin)

 

[davidmmm69]

would think it would be kind of messy to do at home..

 

[mynameisaric]

its not my garage...

 

[davidmmm69]

that is bad lol

 

[aldive]

how hard is it to do the flush at home? or do you need special tools? (ie. a pump or sumthin)

A complete flush takes about 20 minutes and there is no mess whatsoever.

I can't imagine paying someone to do it.

Good luck ....

 

[aldive]

ALDIVE and others here is my question first my 93 ate tranny's 3 I know they wern't that great my 97 bought it with 128,000 on it and 236,000 miles later with no fluids changed (tranny ) had no problems... now I swapped for a 00 e.b sweet ride had all warrenty done on the sohc no records of maintance with truck...
no problem with tranny... has 82,000 on it I want to keep this thing for a LONGGGGG time ..... now I am wanting to change the fluid and filter on the tranny(good ideal or bad) and try your ideal of sythentic in the tranny what would be the best sythentic and how will I get all the fluid out of the torque converter? does it have a drain? or should I take it to a tranny shop that I trust???

A tranny flush in my opinion, is a very good thing; can't imagine not doing it.

I am a big fan of Amsoil ATF.

To remove all the fluis, you need to do a flush.

Good luck ....

 

[jkexplorer]

As stated in other postings here Ford recommends a transmission fluid change every 30K miles. I assume they are talking about a complete flush and not merely dropping the pan. The first time I had it done, was at the dealership and they used 12 quarts of fluid. At first I thought this service included a filter change, but recently I found out that that was not the case. Should I be concerned? My Explorer is heading towards 60K miles and I am getting ready for the next transmission fluid change which I would like to do myself. Should I go for a pan drop, filter change, and complete flush at 60K or is just a flush sufficient? I am only asking because the only mention of a filter change in the manual is at 150K miles. If a filter change is recommended what brand of filter (filter kit) should I use? I've already decided based on advice here to use Amsoil synthetic ATF. Any advice will be appreciated!

 

[davidmmm69]

As stated in other postings here Ford recommends a transmission fluid change every 30K miles. I assume they are talking about a complete flush and not merely dropping the pan. The first time I had it done, was at the dealership and they used 12 quarts of fluid. At first I thought this service included a filter change, but recently I found out that that was not the case. Should I be concerned? My Explorer is heading towards 60K miles and I am getting ready for the next transmission fluid change which I would like to do myself. Should I go for a pan drop, filter change, and complete flush at 60K or is just a flush sufficient? I am only asking because the only mention of a filter change in the manual is at 150K miles. If a filter change is recommended what brand of filter (filter kit) should I use? I've already decided based on advice here to use Amsoil synthetic ATF. Any advice will be appreciated!

I have been using the filters that i get from from the local ford dealer..
actually just bought a filter it was Ford Motorcraft for my Windstar off of ebay it is new. and for $9.50 shipped...
anyway would recommend the Motorcraft filter.

 

[Lazzman]

Explorers have a trany cooler which helps things out quite a bit, but believe me you would rather spend $50 on a flush and filter that $1200 on a rebuild. I have an exceptional family owned Transmission and axle service facility near my home (Trans Medic) they know everything and they fix and rebuild transmissions for the 5 Ford dealers in the area- they also do all the mods & repairs on the Ford police cruisers. It is the cleanest, best run facility I have ever seen. It looks like a Nascar garage that you see on TV.

They told me once a year or every 35,000 miles- I did not touch mine till 60,000 or so and mine is fine, though in my opinion I did push it a bit. I would highly recommend those service intervals for long life and piece of mind.

Be clear as Funkmaster Flex says: and do whats right.

 

[jkexplorer]

Thanks for the info. I have one other question. Does your shop recommend changing the filter every time you do a flush - 35K miles interval, or can you change the filter say every other time? Dropping the transmission pan doesn't sound appealing to me unless absolutely necessary.

 

[davidmmm69]

Thanks for the info. I have one other question. Does your shop recommend changing the filter every time you do a flush - 35K miles interval, or can you change the filter say every other time? Dropping the transmission pan doesn't sound appealing to me unless absolutely necessary.

Make sure when you drop your pan buy and install a drain into the pan.. it makes for very clean filter and fluid changes...
I have one on my vehicles. and it cost maybe $10.00 at Autozone..

 

[Katmandu]

A complete flush takes about 20 minutes and there is no mess whatsoever.....

How do you do it so fast ??

 

[aldive]

Its not magic, its a simple flush. I have described the procedure on these boards.