What is the BEST transmission fluid for a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT???

Hi. I'm a young lady trying to learn the best care for my vehicle. I know the 2002 had lots of issues with the transmission so I'm wanting to do my best to keep it in the best shape possible.

Anyway, in just learning about proper transmission care I've heard about the connection between fluid having a high heat cutting the life of the transmission and fluid having a low heat being one of the best ways to extend the life of the transmission.

Out of everyone's experience, what is the BEST transmission fluid for a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT so I can keep the transmission in good shape for as long as possible? The manual says MERCON or MERCON V ... but is that really the best one for it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated because I love driving my Explorer and I would hate to have to have a transmission rebuild b/c of not taking care of it properly.

mercon should be just fine for it...its not what kind of fluid you put in the trans..it's more of how you treat it. heating the fluid excessivley will cause it fail you early, damaging the trans. Overfilling it too and even underfilling it can cause it to fail on you. As long as you dont put it under greats amount of stress for long periods of time it should be just fine on the mercon fluid. and either way the trans is going to heat up to the normal operating temp, which is somewhere around like 200 degrees farenheit. making it go over that is what will cause it to burn up and fail.

synyster said:

mercon should be just fine for it...its not what kind of fluid you put in the trans..it's more of how you treat it. heating the fluid excessivley will cause it fail you early, damaging the trans. Overfilling it too and even underfilling it can cause it to fail on you. As long as you dont put it under greats amount of stress for long periods of time it should be just fine on the mercon fluid. and either way the trans is going to heat up to the normal operating temp, which is somewhere around like 200 degrees farenheit. making it go over that is what will cause it to burn up and fail.

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What is considered "treating it" well? Would driving long distances on the freeway be bad for it, or something else? What is an acceptable amount of "stress" in general? What are things that I can do as the driver to keep if from going over that temperature?

Sorry for so many questions. This is very new to me.

Driving it on the freeway and long distances are just fine. Try not to punch the throttle hard or try to do burnouts. Normal driving will ensure that you get the longest life out of the trans before you have to overhaul it. If you don't put excessive stress on it them you could probably get 200k and even 300 k on one trans

Excessive stress can be from towing a trailer or boat etc. up a long grade or mountain roads which would cause trans to be more heated. Just a FYI, if you are going a long grade and find it keeps shifting from Overdrive and the next gear, click the O/D button off so the trans does not hunt for gears. Not sure I would power flush the transmission. Inclined to drain the pan instead. See the transmission section for procedure. There's a post there if I remember correctly.

xlt03 said:

Excessive stress can be from towing a trailer or boat etc. up a long grade or mountain roads which would cause trans to be more heated. Just a FYI, if you are going a long grade and find it keeps shifting from Overdrive and the next gear, click the O/D button off so the trans does not hunt for gears. Not sure I would power flush the transmission. Inclined to drain the pan instead. See the transmission section for procedure. There's a post there if I remember correctly.

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What exactly is "O/D" and is it on automatically? Should I just keep it off in general?

And I should drain pan & check for shavings, etc. correct?

Thanks for your help guys.

O/D (overdrive) is the little button on the end of your shift lever. Leave on for regular driving. If trans has been recently serviced I'd leave it alone. Why create issues.

Put some Amsoil tranny fluid in it and run it for 75k to 100k between flushes. CHange the filter every 2nd flush. Take care of that tranny and it will take care of you.

D

Look into your Explorer manual. It'll say what type to use. When to inspect. When to change. When to flush.
Pending on you amount of highway travel you should check the fluid more often.
The more highway travel the more often to check and the better the fluid to use.

Look into getting a manual our you already do not have one.

^

OP mkewitsch was last seen: February 12, 2011

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2002 Scheduled Maintenance Guide does not show transmission/transaxle fluid and filter change until 150,000 miles under "normal" driving conditions. As we know, ANY 5R55 series transmission is prone to serious issues if not serviced frequently. According to CarComplaints, the 2002 Ford Explorer is "hands-down our worst vehicle on record." with the transmission being the most frequent failure. 5R55 service interval is debatable, but most recommend before 60,000 under normal driving conditions. When towing probably half that.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/2002/

What is a Transmission Flush? | Cost & Process
www.transmissionrepaircostguide.com

My car has 180k miles on the original transmission.
I had one tranny service, by Ford, at 100k, he said it looked good.
It's still good, although it's been shifting a bit clunky lately.
I never towed, or maybe I'm just lucky, but I'll take my good luck!

Answer to OP's long-ago question (for others who find this thread): Motorcraft Mercon V is great (thought to be semi-synthetic); Redline D4 is probably the absolute best (full syth.), but may be overkill (and spendy!).

or you could just buy Supertech Mercon V in walmart...

I recall getting a notice from the dealer that stated that they had changed the recommendations. if the vehicle was used for significant towing, to have the transmission serviced every 30,000 miles. I have changed the fluid ( Mercon V ) and filter every 60,000, and currently have 220,000 without issues so far and it still tows fine.

Erich Ognjan said:

Look into your Explorer manual. It'll say what type to use. When to inspect. When to change. When to flush.
Pending on you amount of highway travel you should check the fluid more often.
The more highway travel the more often to check and the better the fluid to use.

Look into getting a manual our you already do not have one.

Click to expand...

Manuals are readily available online in pdf form. I just recently got another one.

A compatible full synthetic is best.

3rd Gen Ford Explorer Fluid Recomendations for Noobs -
http://txnj.net/Explorer/ExplorerFluids/

Amsoil ATF or Mobil 1 ATF full synthetic. If you use Motorcraft V pour in a red bottle of lubegard.

Also just do drain and refills, not flushes as those can cause transmission issues down the road.

So how do all of you check your fluid levels and add if there is no dipstick or fill plug?