Tranny Fluid and Problems

[Tate Myrick]

This weekend I took on the task on changing my tranny fluid and filter. I really had to crank the bolt into the transmission to get the new Purolator filter to fit. I put the gasket on the pan once it was cleaned and I used some grease on the extreme edges to hold it in place. After tightening all of the bolts I added 3 quarts of fluid to the tranny. I drove it and 1st did not engage until 1500 RPM. I added another quart and 1st engaged and then let go at 1500 RPM. Before I mess anything up I wanted to know if anyone has had these problems. I have added B&M synthetic Trick Shift fluid and I used a Purilator filter. Do I just need more fluid? Is the filter okay? Is the B&M fluid compatible with the A4LD? Thanks for the help.

Tate Myrick
'94 4.0 OHV
A4LD
BW 1354 (or whatever number)

 

[jimmiecakes]

Can't say why anyone would want to use Trick Shift.... it's basically the same as the old Type F fluid. What bolt did you have to "crank on"???

As for fluid level, try looking at the dipstick...

 

[Tate Myrick]

I had to crank the filter bolt. It seems that the Purilator filter is thinner than the previous filter. I have looked at the dip stick, but I put fluid in and then measure. Since I have usually just filled it, there is always some fluid on the stick.

I wanted to get an idea of how much fluid to add. I do not have a drain plug and if I overfilled the tranny I am not sure how I would drain the excess.

Will the Trick Shift work in my Explorer? I have already added 4 quarts. Am I looking at adding just 1 or 2 more or should I plan for ten.

Is it necessary to flush the cooling lines and drain the torque converter?

Thanks for all of the help.

 

[01EB5.0]

I would not use the track shift stuff...i dunno what it is and i would only use regular transmission fluid. Use synthetic of you want the best. i use Amsoil and it performs excellent. as for the filter, what do you mean you had to crank on the bolt? Did you buy the right filter? There should be o-rings on the filter also wher eit meets the tranny. If i were you, i'd buy regular tranny fluid, see how full it is (the propor way to check it is with the engine running in park) fill it enough to drive and bring it to a shop and have a full tranny flush done, provide them with 14 quarts of synthetic fluid if they don;t offer synthetic, and get it flushed out totally. The filter should have fit on tightly without tons of force on the bolt.
I hope your trans is ok, and next time don;t drive it until it has at least 4 quarts in it. Also check the dipstick before driving.

 

[jimmiecakes]

The filter that you put in shouldn't have any physical differences to the one you take out. When it comes to checking fluid level after adding, patience is indeed a virtue - take your time and do it properly. If you were paying me to do it, you'd want it done right...... at least give yourself the same service you expect someone else to give you.

 

[rjc]

I think your bolt was missing the little spacer on the bottom. The one I took out of my used explorer was an all mettle screen filter made in Germany and it had the spacer the new one was a fiber type Fram filter and I don't think it had the spacer. There are slight variation in the differnt makes of filters. Here is a little tip.

Get transmission line from the auto parts. About 2 to 3 feet in 1.5 ft lengths. Then, unhook the transmission oil cooler lines up front. Turn on your car and bleed for a minute or so to lower the level of fliud in the transmision. Drop your pan and change your filter like normal. Add 3 or 4 quarts and then start your engine filling about 6 to 8 more quarts from the top while your old fluid gets pumped out the transmission oil lines and down into your oil pan. When you think you have cleared all the old fluid from your torque converter rehook your lines get your fluid to register on your dipstick. Drive it a bit to get any air pockets out of the torque converter and then finish topping off when hot in park with the engine running as normal. This will clear out all 11 or 12 quartz that your transmission has rather than the 4 or so you get when you just drop the pan. rc

 

[Robert]

If your B&M fluid isn't Mercon compatible, then you will need to get all of the fluid out and refill it with the proper fluid. See your tranny dipstick for the correct type of fluid. My '97 calls for Mercon V, Yours probably calls for Mercon III or just plain Mercon. Regarding your filter, when I replaced my filter a few months ago, a new bolt was included with the filter that was shorter than the original and a piece of paper that instructed to use the shorter bolt since the filter design has changed from the original. I ran into the same thing when I changed the filter on my Wife's '93 Sable a couple of years ago.

 

[Tate Myrick]

Coolers too

Questions at bottom:

Thank you everyone for the help. I went by Pep Boys (sells the Purilators) and they felt that it did need o rings, but the filter they had didn't have the o rings NOR the gasket. Makes me wonder about Pepboys and Purilator. They did give me the o rings. I already had the system flushed so I have new Amsoil Synthetic ATF in my tranny. This weekend I will drop the pan and try to collect the fluid in a clean drip pan. I talked with a guy at a tranny shop and a mechanic at Pepboys. The tranny shop guy said that the o rings missing were not a huge problem, but it was something that I should take care of. In Chevys the filter is held in place by the o rings. I guess it snaps in place. The Pepboy guy also told me that FOUR quarts are lost when replacing the filter. The magical number I was initially looking for was FOUR. Started at three and ended at five before I had it flushed. I love learning. This has definately taught me a lot, but I did have a few more question:

rjc or anyone else- what kind of flow rate can you expect from the cooling lines?

how can you be sure that everything has been flushed?

what about the radiator? do you flush it, and if so how?

running the tranny completely dry is bad, and I know that a flush is still not going to drain everything but is there any way to do this quickly and effectively? I don't want to measure what comes out of the lines.

is there fluid that reamains in the upper part of the transmission? if my whole system takes 11-14 quarts...subtract the four dropped...7-10 remains in the converter, radiator and cooling lines?

last question:
have any of you upgraded the tranny cooler in your Explorers or is there one even available for the X?

are these cooler effective and do they actually extend the life of the tranny?

Thanks again for all of the help. I am now more comfortable and have a better understanding of the tranny system.

 

[01EB5.0]

First off, I will just say i personally have tried the procedure to flush it myself, but it's not worht the mess and the risk of running your tranny dry. It was pushing oil OUT of both hoses and I lost a bunch of fluid.
Since you already had your tranny flushed, you shouldn;t have to worry about it for a while. Amsoil fluid lasts longer that regular and when it comes time to have mine flushed again I am just sending it in. I would have had to pay for 3 flushes in the time when I only have to pay for 1 Amsoil flush to even though it is expensive, in the long run you still save money.

Second, I would check to see if you already have a stock auxiallry trans cooler. If not, I would definatly get one. If you have one and want to upgrade that might be helpful also. I have a B&M Supercooler that I installed on mine. It is a great unit. if you would like more information on the installation or what kit to buy, let me know.

 

[Robert]

I have performed the flush through my auxillary cooler and it worked great. I ended up using 19 quarts and taking an hour of my time, but I also saved the $100+ that the local shops wanted. See my write-up on how I did it in the "Under the hood" board. Search back a few months. I plugged the line going in to my transmission from my cooler and shut off my engine every time one quart came out the other line. I poored a new quart back in and repeated the process until my fluid coming out was about as clear as the new fluid going in. I am certain that I got all of my old fluid out. For about $50 in fluid and an hours time, it was well worth it. It wasn't even messy once I realized I needed to plug the one hose. I realized that as soon as the first time I started it when the fluid from the tranny started overflowing my new bottle that I was expecting to drain. I am definately going to make it a habit every 30K.

 

[01EB5.0]

Well, I still don;t trust those methods...plugging lines can;t be good for the tranny. i'd rather pay $70 to be sure that if for some reason something does go wrong with the process or with the tranny, then I won;t be the one paying for it. Trust me..paying $2,700 once is enough for me.

 

[vbtruk]

hey guys i am going to change my Tranny filter and flush the system tomorow i have a 98 sohc and it looks like the cat converter is in the way of the tranny pan so do i need to remove it completely as i dont think it to be easy to reach up to the top flange gasket???

 

[Robert]

You'll find that removing your front driveshaft is a lot easier than removing the cat from under the transmission.

 

[vbtruk]

Robert thanks for the help but i coudn't see how removing the drive shaft would help so i just removed the two screws from the flange on the bottom of the cat and loosened the top flange, it didn't come off completely but enough to get the tranny pan out.
i am doing the diff tomorrow and is it easier to pump the old fluid out of the front diff or remove the cover????

 

[Robert]

When you remove the front driveshaft, it gives you enough clearance to slide the pan out to the side. Usually the bolts on the rear of the exhaust are difficult if not impossible to remove. Both times I removed my pan, I tried removing my cat first. The bolt on top is frozen solid and I can't get enough leverage on it to remove it.

 

[vbtruk]

thanks robert but the cat was easier to move than the driveshaft in my case! I changed the Tranny fluid and did a full flush it worked really well and not much mess the old mercon v was really dirty but i put in AMSOIL universal ATF and seems to be great.
i changed the front diff fluid but not all of it came out as it was quite hard to remove i think i got most of it though will it matter if some of the old dirty stuff mixes with the new AMSOIL synthetic????
Also i have converted to Mobil 1 synthetic 5w-50 how often should i change it?
also i am goig to change the rear diff next week.
Vern.