96 explorer trans fluid change. 230,000 miles

[blazin_teg]

I bought a 96 explorer about a year ago. It had 217,000 miles on it. It now has just over 230,000 miles. I checked the trans fluid and it has plenty in it but its brown and stinks and needs changing. My question is, is it safe to have it flushed, filter, and new fluid. I have no idea if its ever been changed before. I have heard from a few people that if its not changed regularly that it will destroy the trans if you change it and its better just to keep the fluid level up til it quits. Is this true. It really should be changed if possible. I do alot of 80 mile trips, about 2 a month.

 

[stng_96]

Different people will answer this different ways. I for one, will say leave it be. I just changed the pan fluid and filter in mine a little while back, and it made it about 200 more miles before it quit.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! New fluid has detergents which the old fluid is lacking since it's so old. The filter gets stuffed with particles after a while. Some eventually tear apart, and provide no filtering. This is not good for the internal parts of the transmission. A compromise is to replace the filter, and keep the old fluid. Keep in mind that the old fluid will not work forever, and will eventually need to be replaced.

 

[mpraz]

Hello,

A friend has asked me to look into changing the trans fluid in their 96 Explorer, and this has me concerned and feeling responsible if something goes wrong by putting in new fluid.

It has 180,000 miles and slips a little during the first couple min, after a sitting for awhile in the freezing temps.

Is there a drain plug similiar to the oil pan , in which I can just drain, and fill back up through trans fluid dip stick? I haven't worked on this vehicle before, so, just checking to see what I should know prior.


Thanks

 

[96eb96]

Hello,

A friend has asked me to look into changing the trans fluid in their 96 Explorer, and this has me concerned and feeling responsible if something goes wrong by putting in new fluid.

It has 180,000 miles and slips a little during the first couple min, after a sitting for awhile in the freezing temps.

Is there a drain plug similiar to the oil pan , in which I can just drain, and fill back up through trans fluid dip stick? I haven't worked on this vehicle before, so, just checking to see what I should know prior.


Thanks

No drain plug.

If you want a simple way to remove fluid you could siphon it out of the dipstick, get a clean length of clean vinyl tubing and a hand vac pump, get a siphon going into a container. Add back the exact amount removed. For the old trans maybe take out 2 quarts and see what happens.

I do this every few oil changes, replacing a qt or so at a time with my cars.

 

[ranger7ltr]

My 2 cents on this...

I bought an Explorer with 151k on the clock which apparently had NO MAINTENANCE done to it during its lifetime before me...The oil drained out in clumps, the tranny fluid was brown and stinky, and the vehicle had been sitting for 2+ years...

I dropped the oil pan to clean it and change the dead oil pump, I dropped the tranny pan to drain the fluid and look at the debris in the pan[it was better than the engine oil pan], and dropped the gas tank to replace the dead fuel pump and clean out the tank[should have let a professional do this;I didn't do such a good job as I found out]...

If the tranny is working fine now with no slippage or clunky engagements, dropping the pan to change fluid and filter should not hurt it when you put in fresh filter and fluid...I have changed the fluid 3 times in the last year to cycle out the remainder of the brown fluid I had and I have cleaner red fluid throughout the system and a fully functional tranny still...

When you drop the pan, be realistic on what you find; if you find chunks of aluminum,brass or steel in the pan, the tranny has issues that fresh fluid will not fix nor hasten its demise...If the pan only holds the usual gray colored wear residue and no other debris, clean it, close it and drive it...

Yes I dropped my tranny pan and changed the fluid and filter...12k later I still have the same tranny I had when I bought the truck...It still needs servos replaced but the function of it has not changed...

Oh and when you drop the tranny pan, install a drain plug...Life doing maintenance on the transmission gets easier from that point on...Just remember that if changing fluid kills a transmission it was on its way out before the service you did to it...