60k miles, ??should I change the tranny fluid??

[SteveBarker]

MOST vehicles do not have a TC drain plug. You change what's in the pan and it refreshes the rest. If it's real bad, then you do it several times in a row. If you start them up with the pan off, some of the TC fluid will come out, but not near all of it.

 

[rumpledoll]

I changed my 2002 V6 4WD transmission oil at ~60,000 miles by:

1) Open the drain pan plug and getting out ~4 quarts.
2) Drop the pan and getting out maybe ~1 more quart.
3) As long as it was open, changed the filter and cleaned the magnetic capture ring.
4) Put the cleaned pan back on, pump in 4+ quarts into the pan.
5) Open up one of the transmission cooler lines running into the lower radiator.
6) Turn on the engine and let the transmission pump pump out dirty oil until air bubbles heavy.
7) turned off engine.
8) pump more clean fluid into pan, equal to the amount that came out.
9) repeat until fluid coming out was a nice clean ruby red rather than a dirty deep red/black.

I used almost 12 quarts of Schaeffer's ALL TRAN supreme synthetic ATF. While there is some used/new oil mixing with this method, you can get out a large fraction of the old fluid judging by the colour of the fluid coming out of the cooler line.

I figure that as the truck does not get heavily used any more (perhaps 3,000 miles a year now) that this is the only change that I will ever need do to it as it is likely to rust out long before I get to 120,000 miles at this usage rate.

Rumple

So, "changing the fluid" is a moot point, since draining the pan will leave several quarts (at least) of OLD OIL in the converter, to partially contaminate the new oil.

How should we address that fact? imp

 

[imp]

Class Idea!!

Rumple, you are a wizard, for sure. Like your idea! It even beats my considering drilling & tapping a drain hole in the periphery of the TC, which I reconsidered doing, not so much out of fear of drill chips entering TC, but rather forces acting on the plug trying to unscrew it.

The old converters having plugs on their front face were a much better idea.

I guess no matter how we get the oil out of the sealed converter, it is a costly deal, if Mercon V is used. imp

 

[rumpledoll]

Wish I could claim the wizard prize, I was just following in the path of others here who did this before I did. It is a bit of a pain to do, but I think that changing the ATF is a good thing for a long, trouble free transmission life.

Rumple

Rumple, you are a wizard, for sure. imp

 

[ajaake]

I bought my 05 Ex (V6) with 60k on it.(almost 2 years ago now) I called the dealership where the previous owner had it serviced regularly to ask about the trans oil change. The service manager told me there was no need to change the oil till 100k!!! I thought this was BS so I called another dealership that is about 1.5 hrs away and they told me the same thing. Discuss.

 

[EasyRhino]

I bought my 05 Ex (V6) with 60k on it.(almost 2 years ago now) I called the dealership where the previous owner had it serviced regularly to ask about the trans oil change. The service manager told me there was no need to change the oil till 100k!!! I thought this was BS so I called another dealership that is about 1.5 hrs away and they told me the same thing. Discuss.

Recommend starting another thread with a title to the effect of questioning the 100K mileage interval. Given the failure history of these trannies, I'll bet that you get lots of interesting (and some emotional) responses.

 

[ajaake]

Somehow I get the feeling that I would be setting myself up for a verbal trip to the woodshed. Not sure if I'm that spunky at the moment.

 

[EasyRhino]

Somehow I get the feeling that I would be setting myself up for a verbal trip to the woodshed. Not sure if I'm that spunky at the moment.

You bet you would!

But as you may be a UT fan, you're probably used to it.

 

[thebrakeman]

I'm in the process of buying an '07 Mounty (V6, 6-sp) with 102,000 miles. 100,000 miles went on during the original 3-year lease (!!). The a second owner had it for 1 month (2000 miles) before it went to auction. Since the first 2 "owners" used the same Sec. of State office in Chelsea, I assume that they were the same person. The guy simply bought it from the lease company to avoid the mileage overage charge, then sold it at auction.

Anyway, the truck has checked out well at a shop. The Merc. dealer I'm buying it from is repairing a few things before I take delivery (spark plug coil, paint scuff, noisy heater fan). This has to be all highway miles. The class III/IV receivers has never been used, and the wire harness is still in the plastic bag. So I'm sure it's never seen any heavy use.

My question:
I assume the trans has never been touched. At 102k miles, but only 3.5 years, would you touch it? I don't like the idea of a flush, since it's never been done. Too many stories about freeing up junk. But I'm considering a regular trans service (drop/clean pan, reseal, end up replacing maybe half the fluid.

Since there is no dipstick, is there a way to simply check the fluid for color & odor?

 

[rumpledoll]

When the 2002 came out, Ford made a bit of a big deal out of the fact that the transmission was "sealed" and that the fluid should last 150,000 miles. My maintenance booklet that came with the truck states that at 150,000 miles the ATF should be changed, so 150,000 miles is the factory interval, not 100,000 miles as the dealers claimed.

However, given some of the discussions of the 5R55W transmission in the transmission section of these forums with the solenoid and servos both being sensitive to wear/particles and having tight clearances, it seems wise to change the ATF out at an accelerated schedule to try and reduce the likelihood of any transmission issues. To me, changing at ~60,000 miles made sense. Given the low miles per year I am now putting on the truck, I will not have to change it out again before the truck rusts out.

I also changed the ATF oil in the transfer case and the gear oil in the two differentials at about the same time.

Rumple

...no need to change the oil till 100k!!! I thought this was BS so I called another dealership that is about 1.5 hrs away and they told me the same thing. Discuss.

 

[ajaake]

You bet you would!

But as you may be a UT fan, you're probably used to it.

Born and raised in GA, so hating UT is in my blood.

When the 2002 came out, Ford made a bit of a big deal out of the fact that the transmission was "sealed" and that the fluid should last 150,000 miles. My maintenance booklet that came with the truck states that at 150,000 miles the ATF should be changed, so 150,000 miles is the factory interval, not 100,000 miles as the dealers claimed.

However, given some of the discussions of the 5R55W transmission in the transmission section of these forums with the solenoid and servos both being sensitive to wear/particles and having tight clearances, it seems wise to change the ATF out at an accelerated schedule to try and reduce the likelihood of any transmission issues. To me, changing at ~60,000 miles made sense. Given the low miles per year I am now putting on the truck, I will not have to change it out again before the truck rusts out.

I also changed the ATF oil in the transfer case and the gear oil in the two differentials at about the same time.

Rumple

I think I'll plan on changing mine before it gets to 85k. I'm not to worried about it. I only drive it to work 24miles round trip. Not many long trips in it.

 

[imp]

Well, I'll throw out a few more 2 cents worth. Looking at "Car Complaints.com" shows up about 10% of complaints tranny-related. Under '04 Explorer, there were a couple-dozen.

Knowing folks are quick to complain, slow or totally reluctant to give praise, of the maybe thousands of complainants, given the hundreds of thousands of 3rd. gen Explorers on the road, did the 5R55-series do as badly as the forum seems to indicate, or is the problem barely statistically significant?

Just wondering, as we have seen damn few Explorers beached along the highway, as compared to General Misery-built vehicles!

Yeah, I know, they build more than Ford, so more fail. Blah, Blah, Blah! imp

 

[EasyRhino]

Born and raised in GA, so hating UT is in my blood.

Must be tough living in Knoxville, then. : Bulldog or Yellow Jacket?

FWIW, the tranny prefers highway miles to city miles. Fewer shifts and less heat soaking.

 

[EasyRhino]

Knowing folks are quick to complain, slow or totally reluctant to give praise, of the maybe thousands of complainants, given the hundreds of thousands of 3rd. gen Explorers on the road, did the 5R55-series do as badly as the forum seems to indicate, or is the problem barely statistically significant?

That is a question I would love to know the answer to; however, I doubt that the available data is any more than anecdotal.

 

[ajaake]

Must be tough living in Knoxville, then. : Bulldog or Yellow Jacket?

FWIW, the tranny prefers highway miles to city miles. Fewer shifts and less heat soaking.

I bleed red and black.

 

[EasyRhino]

I bleed red and black.

Always liked them 'dawgs. We always got treated well when we went to play 'between the hedges' (UK Wildcat), maybe it was sympathy. Athens was a fun town back in the day, suppose it still is.

 

[NHarris]

Coming up on 60k miles. I had the 30k mile service done at ford and I dont believe they changed the tranny fluid.

Everyone I can remember changing tranny fluid/ mainly getting it flushed with higher miles has had the tranny crap out on them.

So my 04 explorer I am TORN on what to do. Go ahead and get the tranny fluid/filter changed, or just leave it. No way am i going to get it flushed.

jake

Well my explorer hit 60K miles. I had the transmission flushed. I don't care what ford says about not needing one until 100K (thats what I was told), but I would have it done every 30K miles. So go for it, get the fluid changed and the filter.
My 05's transmission sadly has the transmission bump

 

[jakedrew]

does that bump thing (please explain more)happen after or before you did the fluid.

 

[Joe Dirt]

When the 2002 came out, Ford made a bit of a big deal out of the fact that the transmission was "sealed" and that the fluid should last 150,000 miles.

Ford was right- the fluid would last for 150k easy. However, the tranny that it ran through wouldn't...

I've always been a fluid-changing fan for transmissions. I changed all of my new cars at about 30-35k and at a similar interval after that, for the money it was cheap insurance to make sure things didn't get out of hand in there.

 

[NHarris]

does that bump thing (please explain more)happen after or before you did the fluid.

-Its not a all the time thing. Some days its more often than others, and it can be a slight bump to a severe bump. It will have to be fixed, eventually, but for now I will live with it.
-Its happened since the day I bought it. I bought the 05 used with 60K miles, and I got it flushed about a month after I bought the X, and it did it then, and still does it now. Its not any worse than before, but its not any better.