Going to replace my tranny fuild..need help

[ghoster]

Going to replace my tranny fluid..need help

Ok b4 i get slammed by people sayin do a search...i did but couldn't find the answer i was looking for

I bought my 04 explorer about 2 months ago. its a 4WD V6 currently 32,050 miles. Dealer said they replaced all the fluids but i don't belive them. So my question is..which fuild do i need to replace it w/? the mercon v or the mercon III?
From what i have read the mercon V is more expensive since its synthetic.

Also do you guys think..should i do a flush or just drain it? I really rather do it myself instead of going to jiffy lube.

One last question..if i could just drain it..should i replace the filter? and could i buy the tranny fluid in any auto store like pepboys or autozone?

Thanks alot

 

[L4CX]

Is the Fluid bad? If it's not that bad you wouldn't have to flush it. Just drop the pan and change up the filter. That doesn't change all of the fluid though. Don't know if you knew that or not. If you do change filter make sure to get it seated in all the way. If you don't, the tranny won't work and then you'll have to pull everything down again. I did it on my old truck and it would go about 5 MPH and didn't make it out of the driveway

My dad has a 02 and he says his Tranny is completely sealed and doesn't need to be serviced intill 150,000. If you don't have a dipstick you have one of those tranny's as well. I'm not sure if that was just an option or if Ford did that to all explorers. If that's the case, you can't change the fluid. I think

Here is a link to a thread on how to change the fluid and filter
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=144226

I'm not completely sure about ford ATF, but you can get most from Autozone or someplace like that.

 

[ghoster]

thanks for the info..i do have a tranny dipstick so i'm guessing i can change it
main reason i want to change it is to keep the servicing up to date. Manual saids to change the fuild at 30,000 miles. On my prev. truck i never really paid attention to the tranny, i sold it w/ 90k miles and it had the fluid changed 1 or 2 times.
So w/ this truck i want to keep everything up to date like i said
Thanks for the link

 

[FilLaB0NGo7]

Yeah I've noticed VB search feature sucks balls. I never use it anymore on any vb site, I just use google and it finds it better.

I love you spelled 'fluid' wrong every single time you typed it man, that **** just cracks me up. lol

Good luck.

 

[ghoster]

Yeah I've noticed VB search feature sucks balls. I never use it anymore on any vb site, I just use google and it finds it better.

I love you spelled 'fluid' wrong every single time you typed it man, that **** just cracks me up. lol

Good luck.

 

[JasonF]

Ghoster, you don't have a tranny dipstick. Sorry to break the news to you. Welcome to the wonderful world of sealed transmissions.

 

[ghoster]

i'm pretty sure i do!
i'll take a pic of it tomorrow. But you might be right..maybe i'm getting confused w/ the engine bay of my 01 sport
hopefully not.
but in the case that it is sealed..how would i change the fuild? i've read that in seal trannies u can go up to 100k mile but not sure if that true or not
Thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

Don't believe the manufacturer's recommendation to keep fluid for 100k miles. Mercon V semi-synthetic should be used.

 

[jrford]

When i did my xfrcase, fr/r diffs I checked on the price of a transmission flush $140 with MerconV which is what you use for a '04 and there is no dip stick for it.

I'm thinking of doing it too now that I saw the condition of the other fluids, black at 35k. Also too in '04 they filled the transmissions with the wrong fluid at the factory there was a recall to add a friction modifier to upgrade the fluid from III to V.
Not sure how well its going to work in the long run, just as soon swap it all out now rather than find problems later. No way 150k between changes, maybe with the correct fluid . . . .
Jim

 

[ghoster]

how do we go about changing the tranny fuild..that is what has me confused!?!?!
I mean do we have to drop our tranny?

 

[BrooklynBay]

The pan is the only thing which gets dropped.

 

[ghoster]

ok and how do i fill it again? sorry for asking such a stupid question..never got under the truck to c and b4 doing it i want to make sure what i am doing

 

[BrooklynBay]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118654