'02 Exploerer Transmission Fluid Change

[aldive]

When you change ythe spin on filter, cut it open and see if anything is in it.

Further, since you saw particulate matter, I would chamge the spin on filter NOW.

Good luck....

 

[rgiles]

Opera House, You told me so I was beginning to think of the old saying "If it aint broke don't fix it!"

Aldive, I changed the filter, so I'm on my 2nd one. I didn't care for the Peram-Cool filter that came with the kit, so I'm using a K&N Filter now. How did you route the hose on your external? are there any changes in direction?

 

[aldive]

Both of my hoses bend in a failly tight radius. I have had no problems whatsoever.

 

[rgiles]

Aldive, I'm happy to hear that! I feel much better now, and think my problem was simply not a tight enough hose clamp. Using two is a good idea I think based upon my experience.

 

[aldive]

Using two clamosin reverse directions is a standard procedure in marine applications and is always a prudent thing to do in an auto application.

Good luck......

 

[HH1]

ahh...xmsn's!

Jumped into the truck and went to drive away but the truck just sat there and revved like it was in neutral! Then about 30seconds later CLUNK drive engaged. I was like you have to be ****ting me (thinking i havent even changed the hubs yet!). Drove to the top of my driveway and as soon as i took my foot off the gas the tranny switched back to neutral for another 30seconds!! Just got mine back from Lewiston Transmission. 177,000 miles on the original fluid. HAH, I musta saved at least $60 in fluid changes. The tech said that it looked like pond silt in the pan and that i had a bad modulater. So fluid/filter and one modulater later the truck shifted better then new! I cant even feel it shift through the gears...its soooo smooth..aaahhh. He only charged me $124. For that money who would want to do it themselves? Have you ever smelt that stuff! yuk and you know its going to run down your arm and if your lucky it will drip off your elbow but chances are that it will continue down to your armpit then shoulder blade and up the back of your neck only to soak your hair!!LOL then you have the Valdeze Duck look when you walk into the parts store.
Have fun changing it!!

 

[rgiles]

HH1 - Do I sense some pride in the fact you never changed the fluid in your Transmission? I think you should consider yourself lucky! You are even more lucky that your transmission shop didn't recommend a full rebuild, which I'm sure most would have. My rebuild cost 2500 and who knows if it could have been done for a fraction of that?

I wish you more luck in the future

 

[HH1]

yes. What i was trying to imply is dont fix something thats not broken. He did say $1000 to rebuild, and I said well if it comes to that then ill buy a junkyard xmsn and put it in myself. Im sorry you've had bad luck in the past. $2500 eeeaaaiiiii.

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by HH1
yes. What i was trying to imply is dont fix something thats not broken. He did say $1000 to rebuild, and I said well if it comes to that then ill buy a junkyard xmsn and put it in myself. Im sorry you've had bad luck in the past. $2500 eeeaaaiiiii.

The problem with the junkyard transmission is that the previous owner may not have changed the fluid at all either, and he isn't around so you can quiz him on his maintenance habits

At different times in my life, I have gone way overboard on maintenance or spent no time on maintenance at all. I think that now I'm probably somewhere between just right and slightly neglectful, but life's circumstances sometimes cut into car maintenance time.

Who are we to say whether someone is messing with something he shouldn't? Its his truck, he can decide when to change the transmission fluid and what type to use. By sharing his experience, we can all learn from his success (or mistakes).

Pioneers have often met derision and ridicule, but they blaze the path that others follow.

 

[rgiles]

Originally posted by dogfriend

Who are we to say whether someone is messing with something he shouldn't? Its his truck, he can decide when to change the transmission fluid and what type to use. By sharing his experience, we can all learn from his success (or mistakes).

Pioneers have often met derision and ridicule, but they blaze the path that others follow.

Thanks for the moral support! It sure helps to know that others are interested and care no matter the results. I went down this path because of others that went before me, and I'm sure I won't be the last.

Everything is running well so far since I recovered from my first mistake! I will be taking it on a 1800 mile round trip around thanksgiving so we'll see how well it holds up then.

 

[dogfriend]

I'm trying to figure out why you would have a hose blow off. The pressure in the cooler lines shouldn't be that high. I don't think that the tight bends would matter that much, although you are better off making large radius bends for the best flow through the lines.

I wasn't aware before reading this thread that the new Explorers don't have a transmission dipstick. I personally don't think that this is a good thing. I'm not aware how eliminating the dipstick will somehow make the transmission less susceptable to failure. I think that this is more of a marketing gimmick rather than a product improvement. "No need to check the transmission fluid level" is the marketing angle. "No way to verify the fluid condition" is my interpretation.

I think it may be (somewhat) normal to have some metal debris in the first fluid change. After all, the trans pan comes with a magnet in the bottom as standard factory equipment

 

[Opera House]

No dipstick

I think it makes the engines easier to install and saves some real estate near the firewall. And they don't have to put in those knoclout plugs in the dipstick! The A4LD even had a little spring in the valve body they put in as an afterthought to catch metal debris. These transmissions are tougher than you think and can tolerate quite a bit of metal in them. I've had the internals fly apart twice and almost no damage was done to the other drivetrain parts.

 

[dogfriend]

Re: No dipstick

Originally posted by Opera House
I think it makes the engines easier to install and saves some real estate near the firewall.

I'm sure that Ford has their reasons for eliminating the trans dipstick, and I'm sure that this is good for Ford. However, I personally don't believe that this change improves the product; for someone who pays attention to the condition of their vehicle (a quickly dwindling subgroup of consumers) this change degrades the serviceability.

As an engineer, I realize that a lot of engineering decisions are compromises; you weigh all of the factors and choose the solution that best fits the criteria used to evaluate the different options available. I'm sure that one factor involved in this decision was the fact that a lot of people never pull the dipstick to check the trans. (design for the lowest common denominator) However, my personal bias is to design things which have as much serviceability as possible; I think that it is one of the keys to a good design.

Engineering and Manufacturing are both fields where continuous improvement is essential. Marketing is a field where any change (good or bad) is redefined as a product improvement.

 

[rgiles]

Dogfriend, as far as the hose blowing off, I think the connector was too loose, and having ATF on it made it easier to slip off. The tight radius certainly doesn't help since it is blowing 30psi or more into a turn in a hose places more pressure on the connection. Lesson learned, make the radius as wide as you can, and then add two hose clamps instead of one.

As far as not having a dipstick in the tranny I wished it did, because if you spring a slow leak, you might not notice until you are down a few quarts and the tranny starts stalling. The dipstick would give me more peace of mind since I could check it as often as my paranoia kicked in

Both you and Opera House have very valid reasons for why they probably decided to remove the dipstick. I would only add that it may have to do with forcing more people to get dealer service on the tranny because they want more control over what fluid goes in and the level. Even if you do the refill yourself, it is almost impossible to overfill based upon this design. As an engineer I can understand if you have a failure rate, you need to control the unknown variables, and two of these would be fluid type, and level. Of course it could also be that a certain percentage of transmissions failed because of a dipstick coming loose or something crazy like that

Once you get setup for adding some fluid then checking the level is actually quite easy. Removing a screw and checking for any fluid draining out is it. If none drains out, add 1/2 pint and recheck. Repeat until fluid drains back out the fill hole. I found a pump that is readily available in an Auto supply store that is an Oil suction gun that can be used for this purpose. It cost is around $10 and then all you need is a 1/8 NPT hose adapter to screw into the fill hole.

 

[HH1]

I was just trying to help....
You sounded like you didnt know what you were doing, so I thought by letting you know that I've never changed mine then your '02 with 30k would be safer if you let it be. Sorry if I offended you.

 

[dogfriend]

I think alot of people never change the trans fluid. Some get away with it, some don't.

When I bought my Explorer, I took it to a diagnostic station to have it checked out. The diagnostic station is run by AAA insurance; they don't do repairs, just evaluate vehicle condition and smog checks. Therefore you get an unbiased evaluation because they have nothing to gain by recommending unnecessary repairs.

One of the recommendations was that the trans fluid was starting to turn brown and should be changed soon. The truck had 32k miles at the time. The previous owner took very good care of the truck (like new condition & all service receipts) , no off roading other than one dirt road, but drove a lot of freeway miles at +70 mph.

My point here is that although you can skip changing the fluid if you follow the standard maintenance schedule (for my 97 changing the fluid is optional) , most drivers would be better off following the severe service schedule (change at least every 60k for my 97) and some drivers may want to change even sooner if the driving conditions warrent.

rgiles had problems with his last trans, so I can see why he might want to keep on top of it. This is also why I don't like the idea of no dipstick; it makes it more difficult to check the condition of the fluid.

 

[rgiles]

HH1, no offense taken and I'm happy to get feedback either way. In the end I have to live with the results of my decision so more points of view are better.

Originally posted by dogfriend
...This is also why I don't like the idea of no dipstick; it makes it more difficult to check the condition of the fluid.

Excellent point about checking fluid condition without a dipstick That's one more reason that the external filter is useful, since it will be very easy to check by spinning the filter off! I'll probably put on a fresh filter and top off the fluid every 15 or 30k. Since I went with Amsoil ATF ($$$) if the fluid looks good I'll keep it up to 100,000 miles but will probably have it lab tested at 30k intervals just to be sure.

BTW, all is going well with the external filter setup now, and gaining more confidence in it every day.