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Tranny flush question.....

ok I have to drop the pan on my 92 cause I think the z-link became disconected. it had a flush about 2 years ago and it hasn't been driven much maybe 15k miles since then. should I flush it and change the filter since I have to drop the pan anyway and when I drop the pan should I replace the gasket?
 



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Fluid Change Frequency Question

Hi,

I'm new to this site, and if I'm posting this question in the wrong spot please feel free to tell me where to start.

My question relates to the 5R55(?) transmission. It is in a 2004 Explorer XLT with a 4.0 litre. I want to know if anyone has a concrete answer as to when the fluid is to be changed. I downloaded the ford manual, and the only reference to changing the fluid is at 30K intervals for the 4R100 transmission used in the larger trucks.

I have 90K on mine, and short of a power flush, I would like to just drop the pan and change as much as that allows. From reading this thread, you can remove roughly 5 quarts. By the way, some of you have done some great engineering in making your own refill rigs. I just opted for the $8.00 NAPA fluid pump. If this goes well, I may have to upgrade to something a bit more sophisticated.

Thanks,

Gmben
 






This is a common practice. I've done it countless times on various makes and models. Some cars, like Honda, don't even have a pan. But on the Ford, order an aftermarket Mag Hytec pan & filter. Increased capacity, cooling fins, built in gasket, and a magnetic drain plug. Some cars are better off with OEM spec fluid (Honda ATF-Z1), and some are better off with aftermarket synthetics. In my Fords, I've successfully ran Lucas Oil, Red Line, and Royal Purple. Ford has issued a TSB that all prior models that were spec'ed for Mercon should use Mercon V. At my local Ford dealership, Mercon V is $4 a quart, compared to $15+ for brand name synthetics. Try to avoid Wally World's multi-grade ATF. Your vehicle should have a transmission fluid capacity of 14.5 quarts (17.5 w/ Mag Hytec upgrade). It is a good idea to have 2 cases of fluid on hand. I have seen up to 20 quarts used before clean fluid came out.

Drop pan, remove filter, then replace with Mag Hytec upgrade.

Fill from dipstick tube with new capacity (up to 8 quarts) of ATF.

Disconnect line to cooler and run into a 5 gallon bucket.

Turn on engine.

Pour ATF into dipstick tube until fluid coming out to bucket is clear.

Turn off engine.

Reconnect transmission cooler line.

Turn on engine.

With vehicle in "PARK", check dipstick, top off to fill line if necessary.

On my vehicles, I perform this procedure to replace the OEM fill with Royal Purple at 10,000 miles. Then I drain the pan & clean the magnetic drain plug every 10,000 miles. Overkill? Perhaps. But there's no such thing as being only a little pregnant. You can decide on your own intervals to suit your driving habits.

Quoted just so I can find this again next weekend...
 






I'm wanting to do a complete flush as suggested in this thread to my 2002 Ford Explorer. Problem is that I've got 140,000 miles on this vehicle and have original ATF in there. I've also done some occasional towing.

Is this one of those situations where I should just leave it be as I could do more damage than good?
 






This is a controversial subject. I'm sure that the fluid is black by now. You should replace the internal filter even if you don't replace the fluid. New transmission fluid has strong detergents so use caution.
 






What about using a gravity feed system? Get a funnel that allows a hose to connect to the bottom.

So, you'd take the top hose that goes to your tranny cooler and put it in the disposal bucket. Then, you'd take your funnel's hose and feed it to the top connector on your tranny cooler.

When 1 qt gets pumped out, you add 1 qt to the funnel. Repeat until fluid pumped out looks clean.
 












You should replace the internal filter even if you don't replace the fluid. New transmission fluid has strong detergents so use caution.

I thought ford didn't offer a filter for this vehicle as it was a cleanable mesh filter. Am I wrong?

Are the detergents what cleans up all the sludge deposits allowing the tranny to suddenly start leaking as some people claim? If so, what fluid can you recommend to minimize this threat? I was thinking of going with a Mobile 1 Mercon V ATF.

This method replaces all of the original fluid. The filter inside the pan still has to be replaced.

So, are you thinking my gravity feed idea will work then?

I can drop the pan to replace the filter, but I'd still like to do a complete replacement of this 140k mile fluid.
 






The filter is an assembly in the bottom of the transmission with part of it acting like a sump. A clogged or dirty filter will make a mess inside the transmission if you decide to power flush it. The add one quart while draining one quart procedure will leave all of the dirt on the filter, so it should be replaced. As for the type of fluid, any good quality fluid will have strong detergents. These detergents are designed to keep the system clean.
 






Damage your truck by servicing it? That's an old wives tale. Like synthetic oil making your engine leak.

Your transmission will not get better with old fluid and crud. You will only cause further damage, and eventual total failure.

Flush your tranny. Look for leaks. If leaking, have your tranny inspected, and/or rebuilt. At the very least, leaks will indicate that your seals are bad. Drop the tranny to replace the rear main seal, have the torque converter looked at. Drop the pan, and look up inside. See what kind of wear you have. Clean off the magnet in the pan. There is bound to be metal shavings floating around in there. Leave those metal shavings with the old fluid, and you're just asking for failure.
 






Okay, I stuck my head under my explorer to see what I was getting myself into. I followed the two tranny lines to the cooler.

Wow, Those two lines look like they're awfully hard to access. Not only is the location bad, looks like they also use the type of clamps that require special tools.

Am I missing something here?
 






The transmission line going to the top of your radiator is the cooling line. Hot fluid will come from that line. The line on the bottom of your transmission is your return line. Fluid cooled down by the radiator will return to the transmission on this line.

The line you want to disconnect is the top line. On some cars, there are a couple of nuts that you can use wrenches on. On other models, there is a release tool. It's just like the release on the fuel filter line.

You will need a few feet of 3/8 transmission hose. Disconnect the line to the radiator, and connect the hose with a hose clamp. Run the other end of the hose into a 5 gallon bucket. Remove your dipstick, and put a transmission funnel into the dipstick tube.

Drop the pan. Clean out the inside of the pan. Remove the filter screen. Look up into the transmission and inspect for signs of wear and damage. Install a new filter screen. Re-install the pan. Your pan should have a re-useable gasket. But that shouldn't discourage you from using a new gasket. It doesn't hurt to use a new gasket if you don't mind spending the extra six or eight dollars.

Now fill the pan through the funnel in the dipstick tube with about 4 quarts of Mercon V. Turn the car on for up to 20 seconds. The transmission pump will send a couple of quarts of dirty fluid out through the cooling line, and into your 5 gallon bucket. Add a few quarts through the dipstick tube. Repeat this until clean fluid is running out.

Re-connect your cooling line to the radiator. Remove funnel and replace dipstick.

Turn on vehicle. With the parking brake set, and your foot pressing on the brake pedal, shift your car in and out of all the gears several times. Then shift into park, leave the engine running, and check the dipstick. Top off fluid to proper level in crosshatch area of dipstick.
 






Fifty150 huh. Now that is a hoot. Great name.
 






Hopefully someone sees this soon enough. I was stupid and should have posted sooner. ANYWAY.....I'm hoping to do a tranny flush today. I have the v6 4L SOHC with the 5R55E tranny. I'm going to drop the pan first and change the filter and then replace lost fluid with new then do the full flush.

My question is, I see quite a few people talking about pulling the line off the top of the radiator and emptying from there. Wouldn't it be better to do it from the lower line on your radiator so the tranny cooler gets flushed as well? I haven't crawled under there yet to look at the lines and maybe I'm missing something simple? It just seems to me that if you disconnect the line before it gets to the radiator that all that old fluid (not sure how much it actually is? Maybe that's why people don't care?) will still be sitting in the radiator.

I'm also wondering if you need to plug the other end of the line that's not going to be connected to anything? Or do you just leave it open? I know this has been explained a thousand times on this and other boards but some people (like me) need it explained a thousand and one times before it actually sinks in.

Thanks for the help guys.
 






You could disconnect the line coming out of the cooler before it goes back into the transmission. You don't have to block the opposite line. You could attach a hose to the opposite line, and have it draw fluid directly from the container with new fluid.
 






You don't have to block the opposite line. You could attach a hose to the opposite line, and have it draw fluid directly from the container with new fluid.

I'm going to be doing this soon too and want to understand the process better.

BrooklynBay, have you done this yourself? I thought I read earlier in this thread that the tranny pump wasn't powerful enough to suck in new fluid and you had to manually add new fluid in intervals.

I had envisioned a gravity feed system, but is this unnecessary?
 






The suction should be the same rate as the amount that is coming out of the transmission. The flow might vary a little because it has to go through the cooler but it's still drawing & expelling fluid either way. The only problem with drawing fluid through the line is trying to get a nice flow without pulling air into the line at the same time. You don't have to worry about that if you are pouring fluid into the dipstick fill tube. You could make a gravity feed to pour fluid into the inlet line or the fill tube to eliminate the need to prime the line first.
 






Tranny cooler vs Aux. Tranny cooler

...On the cooler lines, which side is which? Return is driver's, pressurized is passenger's or vice-versa?...

I am prepping for the VB overhaul & a flush, so I've been reading up. There seems to be some confusion regarding the tranny cooler (mounted inside the radiator - drivers side) and the Aux tranny cooler (a 'mini-radiator' mounted in front of the radiator) - note that not all gen 2 vehicles have the Aux cooler, but all have the tranny cooler - I don't have info re. gen 1 or 3 vehicles.

Following info is from the Ford shop manual for gen 2's:

"All vehicles with automatic transmissions [spuddy: gen 2's have either the 5R55E or the 4R70W] are equipped with an integral transmission fluid cooler (7A095). The integral transmission fluid cooler is contained inside of the radiator outlet tank (8054) and cannot be repaired separately. All (AWD) vehicles are equipped with the transmission auxiliary fluid cooler (7K177) which is mounted in front of the radiator (8005). In operation, transmission fluid travels from the transmission to the integral transmission fluid cooler to the transmission auxiliary fluid cooler then back to the transmission. The integral transmission fluid cooler transfers heat from the transmission fluid to the engine coolant. The transmission auxiliary fluid cooler transfers heat from the transmission fluid to the outside air."

Here's a the diagram from the manual:
5r55e_tranny_cooling_system.gif

1 = Aux Tranny Cooler; 2 = Tranny Cooler (hard) Lines; 3 = Tranny Cooler

Here'a a diagram showing the layout of the cooler hard lines from the manual:
5r55eTranny_cooler_lines.gif


It should be noted that the cooler lines attach to the tranny right next to the dipstick/filler tube.

I hope this helps clarify things for someone else - I know I was more than a little confused... :confused:

PS - It seems to me that the best place to drain from would be the output of the Aux cooler - if you have one. It is on the passenger side and there are rubber hoses that connect the aux cooler to the hard lines with regular hose clamps! Thiis would flush both coolers and leave just a short section of hard line with old fluid that wouldn't be flushed, unless it blows out backwards from there anyway...
If no aux cooler, then from the output (the bottom) of the tranny cooler.

Someone (BrooklynBay?) please correct me if I'm wrong here...

Also, (@BrooklynBay) I thought it had been determined that thee 5R55E doesn't suck... fluid through these lines, it just blows (or pushes)...? :dunno:
 



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BrooklynBay said:
You could disconnect the line coming out of the cooler before it goes back into the transmission. You don't have to block the opposite line. You could attach a hose to the opposite line, and have it draw fluid directly from the container with new fluid.

This is what im planning on doing. So it just flushes itself. Seems like an easier plan.
 






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