5R55W Fluid Fill

[amxrick]

Mine also has a drain plug on the torque converter. Has anybody drained it along with the pan? If so do you fill the pan up, start engine (go through the gears) stop the engine and repeat the filling a couple of times?

 

[CDW6212R]

It's good to drain the TC if you can, the more clean fluid you can get swapped the better. Never add more than about 6 quarts to start with. After it's running you add one at a time and check the fluid after each, and go through the gears slowly.

 

[Gumby3791]

I suggest that you research the valve body kits and parts available for that trans. Likely your trans needs those things done, upgrades which help any trans of any mileage. Do those and the fluid/filter change, that takes care of 95% or more of those issues.

anyone got more info on this???? wondering if this will help with my problems at this post here http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2468262#post2468262

 

[CDW6212R]

The VB kits made for the 5R55 Ford transmissions are not "shift kits", they are all correction kits of some kind. They were all made to help improve the existing trans for normal use, they should not create harsh shifting(big part of why I like TransGo). Don't be afraid of them for any 5R, and most of the problems people have are in the VB, stock issues.

Do a VB kit at the very least, the tough part is figuring out what other parts to replace, as preventative maintenance or for a problem you do have. That's why all of these threads keep mentioning EPC, shift solenoids, accumulators, gaskets, and band adjustments. Each of those is a good thing to do, any trans with 30-50k miles on it will benefit from those since you are going into the VB anyway.

Labor is a prime concern, not everyone can or should do VB work if they have not before. If you can find a reasonable labor cost to do it, say under $200, do that if you trust them. I wouldn't pay much over that for labor, the total work should be less than about four hours, depending on which parts and how slow a person is.

Most trans parts shops carry most of these parts, and/or can help you select them. Don't rely on them completely, but some can guide you quite a bit. Regards,

 

[bigben0906]

I know that this is gonna sound silly, but has anyone done a step by step of the fluid change on this? I have a 02 EB V8 with 5R55w tranny and I need to make sure that I done this correctly. I changed out the filter and started refilling the fluid and I ran into a few questions. One, how do I drain out the torque converter? As I add fluid into the pan, will the old fluid come out, or am I just mixing the new and old and just banging my head against the wall? I am sure I will have more questions in the future

thanks for the help

 

[jdemacko]

Thanks.A simple solution.

 

[donstevens]

Fluid Change

Is the procedure the same on 06 and up 6 speed trannys?

 

[theabsinaz]

What a difference a little fluid makes...

So about a month ago I bought a '04 Explorer Eddie Bauer with the 4.6L at an insurance auction. It was clean, in good shape and looked like it had been taken care of and the Carfax came up clean. I wasn't able to drive it, but all the electronics worked and no codes showed up on a scan. Being that this is my first Ford, I was hoping I didn't buy an acronym - Fix Or Repair Daily. Needless to say, I get it home and the first thing I notice is the tranny slipping and occasionally shifting hard. After doing some research and looking at the carcomplaints.com website I realize that this is a common problem. I bought a Haynes manual and found out that I need a special tool to check and refill the tranny fluid since Ford and their brilliant engineers decided to create a 'sealed' tranny. Not having the adapter, I took it to the local Aampco to have them replace the filter and fluid to see if that would make a difference. That was a waste of time. ******** customer service guy tells me its shifting hard and slipping, the fluid smells burnt and there's no point in changing the fluid. And they wanted $600 to do a 'diagnostic' tear-down. Where are my keys! So I realized I had to get dirty and finally ordered that fluid fill adapter ($20 for screw with a hole in it) and got some fluid and replacement filter. Drained the pan, got maybe 3 quarts out. Replaced the filter, put it all back together and started pumping in new fluid. Started by pumping in 2 1/2 quarts cold to get some fluid back in the pan before starting. Followed the Haynes manual to the letter, starting it up, running through the gears and checking the flow. At first nothing, so I added another quart. Pan is now warm to the touch, so the temp should be close to the right range. Still no drip. Added another quart, still no drip. In total, I put in about 6 quarts before it started to drip, which according to the manual is the tell-tale sign that it's at the right level. I'm guessing that whoever owned this previous, must have checked and added the fluid cold. When I replaced the engine oil, it had the cheapest filter I've ever seen...might as well had just said 'oil filter' on the side. Maybe the quick lube guys the previous owner took it to didn't know how to properly check the fluid and let too much out. It now shifts just fine. Fluid was not burnt, just the normal stinky tranny fluid.

 

[jc5205]

2002 Explorer XLT 4.0 Auto - 149,000 miles
Well I replaced my transmission filter and fluid........this post was a huge help.
New Mercon V fluid

When I dropped the pan, the only fluid was in it,no excess is this normal ?

My old fluid is on the brown side, and there was a bit of sludge on the magnet....cleaned it up hope it helps it go another 50k...
I have had some slippage on start up when I first put it in drive,then its fine....and if I stop fast there is a little slippage when i start to go..

 

[xlt03]

Replaced my transmission fluid and filter at 88,000. Trans started to have delay shifting into gear and when it went into gear you can feel a slight chugging / dragging sensation. Fluid was still reddish and slight grayish film on bottom of pan and some minor gunk on magnet. My driving is city driving (70%) with hills and the remainding 30% is freeway.

Got 5 qts out and 5 back in. Used the brass 1/8" NPT barbed fitting from local OSH along with the quart bottle sized hand pump made by Pennzoil ($7.00) for refilling. Trans is much peppier and smooth again. Only problem a slight leak at the big drain bolt. Tighten it up a bit after a few days and it seems to have stopped.

Ignore owners manual on the sealed for life and no service till 100,000 miles comment. I am inclined to change fluid and filter at 50,000 miles intervals. Oil and filter is cheap and transmission is not.

 

[mrnextel]

2002 Explorer XLT 4.0 Auto - 149,000 miles
Well I replaced my transmission filter and fluid........this post was a huge help.
New Mercon V fluid

When I dropped the pan, the only fluid was in it,no excess is this normal ?

My old fluid is on the brown side, and there was a bit of sludge on the magnet....cleaned it up hope it helps it go another 50k...
I have had some slippage on start up when I first put it in drive,then its fine....and if I stop fast there is a little slippage when i start to go..

How is it now? Is that your first fluid change on this trans? I hear servos tend to go after long mileage and no changes.

 

[mrnextel]

So about a month ago I bought a '04 Explorer Eddie Bauer with the 4.6L at an insurance auction. It was clean, in good shape and looked like it had been taken care of and the Carfax came up clean. I wasn't able to drive it, but all the electronics worked and no codes showed up on a scan. Being that this is my first Ford, I was hoping I didn't buy an acronym - Fix Or Repair Daily. Needless to say, I get it home and the first thing I notice is the tranny slipping and occasionally shifting hard. After doing some research and looking at the carcomplaints.com website I realize that this is a common problem. I bought a Haynes manual and found out that I need a special tool to check and refill the tranny fluid since Ford and their brilliant engineers decided to create a 'sealed' tranny. Not having the adapter, I took it to the local Aampco to have them replace the filter and fluid to see if that would make a difference. That was a waste of time. ******** customer service guy tells me its shifting hard and slipping, the fluid smells burnt and there's no point in changing the fluid. And they wanted $600 to do a 'diagnostic' tear-down. Where are my keys! So I realized I had to get dirty and finally ordered that fluid fill adapter ($20 for screw with a hole in it) and got some fluid and replacement filter. Drained the pan, got maybe 3 quarts out. Replaced the filter, put it all back together and started pumping in new fluid. Started by pumping in 2 1/2 quarts cold to get some fluid back in the pan before starting. Followed the Haynes manual to the letter, starting it up, running through the gears and checking the flow. At first nothing, so I added another quart. Pan is now warm to the touch, so the temp should be close to the right range. Still no drip. Added another quart, still no drip. In total, I put in about 6 quarts before it started to drip, which according to the manual is the tell-tale sign that it's at the right level. I'm guessing that whoever owned this previous, must have checked and added the fluid cold. When I replaced the engine oil, it had the cheapest filter I've ever seen...might as well had just said 'oil filter' on the side. Maybe the quick lube guys the previous owner took it to didn't know how to properly check the fluid and let too much out. It now shifts just fine. Fluid was not burnt, just the normal stinky tranny fluid.

Hows the trans now? still shifting fine??

 

[rdlsz24]

I did the change a couple months back on my wife's 06 Mountaineer and everything seemed fine at first but now I have a question. I got out about 5 quarts and put 5 back in, but now on very cold mornings (below 0), the tranny makes an awful whining sound until it warms up. It shifts normal all the time but I'm wondering if it is still low?? The fluid drips out fine when the engine is warm. Is there a certain gear you are supposed to check for the dripping? I know on "normal" cars with a tranny dipstick you have the engine warm and running, then go through all the gears and then stop in neutral and check the level on the stick. I checked for the drip with it warm and running in park after going through the gears. Any help is appreciated.

Rob

 

[ddanieltyler2003]

Fluid check link

http://www.charlietranny.com/5R55Nfluidfill.htm

Fyi the 2WD transmission is actually for Lincoln LS 5R55N.

Still need 2003 Ford Explorer transmission picture. not 100% sure what model of that transmission is.

Daniel

 

[si83]

is it possible to fill trans oil in that plug or not? (check plug on top of the trans pan)

Fyi the 2WD transmission is actually for Lincoln LS 5R55N.

Still need 2003 Ford Explorer transmission picture. not 100% sure what model of that transmission is.

Daniel

 

[Russtang03]

Thanks for the great instructions!

Took the pan off a couple of days ago and it dripped about half a quart overnight. In total, about 5 quarts of fluid drained.

I changed the filter yesterday. I poured two bottles of the lucas transmission fix into the pan,

http://www.amazon.com/Lucas-Transmission-Fix-ATF-Conditioner/dp/B0002JMLUQ

along with a quart of merc v. This added up to around 2.5 quarts. I was able to install the pan no problem without any spillage.

It just so happens that the filler top off the lucas bottles screwed on nicely to my castrol tranny fluid bottles. So I just squeezed the merc v straight out of the bottles into the fill/drain hole in the bottom of the pan. I was able to get about half a quart at a time out of the bottles before I had to refill them and start squeezing again. Worked great. A little messy when the pan got full, but not too much spillage at all. Just thought I'd mention it for the next guy. No need to spring for a custom tool if you're adding the lucas stuff.

Russ

 

[Mach 1 Pilot]

Hi Guys -

I have lurked on this site for a while.... lots of good stuff here! Yesterday I tackled a trans fluid change on my '02, which I picked up a few months ago. Thanks to the posters in this thread and my Ford service CD, I knew that I needed some way to put the fluid back in the trans.... so I made a trip to the hardware store and came back with parts to make contraption that allowed me to use shop air and blow it back in the transmission. Maybe this will help someone else looking for a way to do this job.


This photo shows the tool partially assembled. The clear tube laying on top goes inside the "y", and reaches the bottom (left in the picture) where the flat cap is installed. At the top (right in the picture) there is a threaded cap which allows me to pour in the fluid. In the cap is a tire valve stem, with the valve core removed. Air is blown into the tool via this valve stem. Anything could be used here, but I went with it because I had it laying around.

This is another picture of the item unassembled. The pipe diameter is 2", and the length of the long piece of pipe is 12"... obviously larger would get more capacity, but this size was chosen with price in mind...

This picture shows the level of the fluid with one quart of fluid in the tool.

Finally, a not so great video that shows how it works - note that I am trying to hold the air gun and tubing while trying to video this... so the air leaked a bit at the gun and the valve stem. This made the transfer slow as compared to normal.... When using both hands air leakage is minimal and the transfer of one quart takes about 10 seconds.

http://s1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc419/ryotspeedway/?action=view&current=IMG_0700.mp4

One other thing.... at the transmission end I used a simply $0.99 1/8" pipe nipple to thread into the pan.... and 3/8" clear tubing to join all of it together.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[lonestar]

FYI, I leanred teh 5r55W does have a fill plug..

http://www.ratiotek.com/5r55w-complete.pdf
page 7

remembered when I heard no dipstick, thinking what the heck, I guess pumping in from drain was the first DIY approach.

 

[03_exploder]

FYI, I leanred the 5r55W does have a fill plug..

http://www.ratiotek.com/5r55w-complete.pdf
page 7

remembered when I heard no dipstick, thinking what the heck, I guess pumping in from drain was the first DIY approach.

Great link! Is there a way to drain the torque convertor while trans is still in the vehicle? and when you fill the trans up with good fluid will it fill the TC as well or does that have to be done on its own?

This Thread has def helped me understand this process a lot with how to check level, and fill trans with new fluid. The only thing Im confused with is how to get the extra fluid remaining in the transmission out. So far I got that the fluid should be warm and and engine must be running, then shift through all gears allowing them to engage all the while the drain plug is out??

Also what do you guys think of additives for an older transmission such as Tranny Honey, Lucas etc. good?, bad? anyone of them better then the other?
I have 127,000 on mine. Trans was flushed at 70,000 (owners manual recom.)

I have a 03 X 4.0 AWD with 4hi and 4 lo (very fun in the winter!) does anyone know what transmission I have, the W or S?

Thanks!

 

[rocco123]

Just did mine on my 02Limited. No tq converter plug after turning it around twice to look for a drain. Filled with Valvoline® DEX/MERC ATF after checking two references that it is a replacement for Merc V. Filled with about 4 qts using a 1/8 in nipple (couldn't find a 1/8 in with a barb end) and pumped fluid in using a Harbor freight transfer pump http://www.harborfreight.com/multi-use-transfer-pump-66418.html . Update: Seems like I'm getting better gas mileage after a short 100 mile highway trip. It now hits 19MPG. Just did a 600 mi trip to Pittsburgh 7 back. Now hts 22 mpg. Haven't seen that for a long time.