Trans fluid- yes or no

[Joe Dirt]

Well, I'm at a crossroads. My new (to me) X has 180,000 on the clock.

I have no way of knowing if the trans has been serviced, or even fluid changed. Or the transaxle. Heck- I don't know if anything has even been lubed in the 4WD system...

The trans shifts awesome, crisp, easy shifts, not jarring, but a normal shift, felt just like my new Explorers did. It's a ControlTrac, so I don't know if it comes on or not, (just got it a week ago) but the 4LO came on fine when I checked it out. I'm not interested at this time in the brown wire mod...

Sooooooooo...

Should I change the trans fluid, or leave well enough alone? I know that sometimes upsetting the apple cart is a bad idea, and it's so good right now, I'd feel like crap to change everything and screw it up in the process.

Thoughts?

 

[BrooklynBay]

How does the fluid look, and smell? The filter, and fluid have to be replaced eventually, so if you don't know how long it has been in there, then it's a good time to replace it. This chart is # 34 in my list of useful threads:

 

[aldive]

If it were me, I would change the tranny fluid as well as all the other fluids.

Good luck ....

 

[dogfriend]

I agree with Tom and Ray:

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2007/August/07.html


If the tranny fails because you change the fluid, it was about to fail anyway. If you don't know when it was changed last, its time to change it.

 

[UtahX]

Right, to be on the safe side change them all and then go from there for the next change.

 

[bp1506]

Its always a good idea to change the transmission fluid since heat is what deteriorates it. If you are in to heavy off roading or towing frequently you should change your fluid more often.

When i bought my explorer i thought the transmission was going on it but i had it power flushed and then i drove it for a little while. Then i also changed the transmission filter too. seems to run fine now.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Cool- well I guess the clear consensus is to change it. I wasn't totally clear on if changing a non-changed fluid that may or may not have been in there forever was a good thing, or if I was better off to leave it alone. Thanks for the advice, I'll be changing the fluids next weekend.

How about the pass-thru flush that the dealer does? I did it on my '04 Taurus, and it shifts a lot better now. If I do a pan drop, etc., I'll do it at home. If I do a hook-up flush, the dealer will do it- I'm not interested in taking it to a quickie place for the flush- I want the dealer behind the work...

So next question is: Flush, or pan drop? I know the benefits and risks of the flush, but I'm more interested in past experience of some other X drivers...

 

[aldive]

So next question is: Flush, or pan drop? I know the benefits and risks of the flush, but I'm more interested in past experience of some other X drivers...

Do both.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Thanks Al- I was thinking would a pan drop and change be enough or should I do a complete flush after the pan drop/filter change- I guess I wasn't clear, my fault, I get muddy sometimes. I think in the interest of keeping an awesomely clean Michigan X on the road for a long time, I'll schedule her for a dealer system flush this week coming up.

Thanks for the interest/advice!

 

[nscarnati]

Do both.

I need to do this as well, to convert my trans fluid to synthetic.

Which order should these be done in?
Pan drop/filter change, then power flush (or flush through the trans cooler lines)?

I'm trying to do a complete changeover to synthetic, and buy the least amount of synthetic fluid as possible since it's not too cheap.

 

[410Fortune]

drop the pan and change the filter and fluid, drive a bit.
flush the rest of the fluid using the cooler line method, drive a bit,
then drop the pan change the filter and fluid again after 500 miles...

thats what I would do if my auto had 180K
Also I would skip synthetic in there after this many miles, just use the correct Mercon and the Lube Guard addative and you will be golden!

Good time to install a drain in your pan to if you plan to keep the truck and rebuild the trans when it does give up the ghost....

If you dont have a cooler add one

 

[nscarnati]

drop the pan and change the filter and fluid, drive a bit.
flush the rest of the fluid using the cooler line method, drive a bit,
then drop the pan change the filter and fluid again after 500 miles...

thats what I would do if my auto had 180K
Also I would skip synthetic in there after this many miles, just use the correct Mercon and the Lube Guard addative and you will be golden!

Good time to install a drain in your pan to if you plan to keep the truck and rebuild the trans when it does give up the ghost....

If you dont have a cooler add one

Thanks, I'm at 174k miles now, I figured synthetic now is better than never. I think I'll just use regular mercon for the 1st two changes, then use synthetic on the last.

Any recomendations on a cooler? also, about how long do the tranny's last before they need rebuilt (and how much will a rebuild set me back)?

 

[Joe Dirt]

Thanks for the good info everyone...

 

[BrooklynBay]

The stacked plate cooler is more efficient than the tube & fin cooler, but either one will be better than nothing. A secondary filter is a good idea too.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Update:

Well, I feel a bit better, called the guy I got the truck from becasue the fluid was suspiciously clean- like really clean... His wife answered the phone- told me that she had the fluid changed three days before I picked up the truck- she didn't tell her husband that because she thought he would be mad if he knew that she changed the fluids and did some other service for four hundred bucks after selling the car. "I didn't think it was right to not change them before selling it to someone who was nice about waiting a week for the car, and even giving us $100 more than we were asking for the car." Who cares if he was mad, I was happy... She faxed me the receipt at work this morning...

Still checking on the aux cooler, and going to change the transfer case fluid because it is leaking, wasn't changed, and better safe than sorry.

I knew I was getting my $100 worth...