Transmission Fluid on 05 explorer

[NHarris]

So I recently bought a 2005 Ford Explorer XLT, 4.0L V6. I noticed it doesn't have a transmission dipstick. I couldn't beleive what my eyes were seeing. So I have to say, great move ford... So I'm curious at when I'm supposed to change out my transmission fluid. The old chrysler deal I bought this car from said it had a full synthetic blend of transmission fluid and doens't have to be changed until 100K miles. Is that right? Or when should I get this changed out?

 

[CALDWELL]

people will give you different answers. some people say every 30K, and some day 40 or 50K...

My X just hit 52,000 and I will be changing mine in the very near future to fully synthetic ATF...

 

[miker104]

I think Ford recommends a transmission fluid flush at 60k on those transmissions. It should be in the maintenance section or the owners manual. Mine is not in the garage now to check.

I have heard that the reason Ford removed the transmission dipstick was to reduce the possibility of the owner overfilling the transmission as that was a common cause of damage. I'm sure it saved them a few bucks in the manufacturing process too. Ford Specs Mercon V for the transmission. There are lots of alternatives out there, your choice.

Here is a link to a thread that discusses "how to" check the fluid.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118654

The special tool isn't really needed check your local hardware store for a 1/8" NPT to Hose nipple fitting and that should do just as well

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

I have the same transmission you do (5R55W) and I have flushed mine twice now, usually at 25-35k mile increments for me. I now have 75k miles on my transmission and have had nill problems.

 

[03explorerL]

I went to the ford dealer to have the back hatch recall thing fixed recently, and i asked the guy about that actually. I asked how am i suppose to drain and fill the transmission to make it last longer. He said you can't. I said why and he went on the explain that ford wants you to come back to them at around 100,000 miles with a broken tranny and have them fix it. Those were his exact words. Pretty crappy. I would rather just fill it through the dipstick tube if it had it rather than having to hook some little tool up to it and risk not filling enough or too much.

 

[NHarris]

I went to the ford dealer to have the back hatch recall thing fixed recently, and i asked the guy about that actually. I asked how am i suppose to drain and fill the transmission to make it last longer. He said you can't. I said why and he went on the explain that ford wants you to come back to them at around 100,000 miles with a broken tranny and have them fix it. Those were his exact words. Pretty crappy. I would rather just fill it through the dipstick tube if it had it rather than having to hook some little tool up to it and risk not filling enough or too much.

To be honest thats messed up. Like hell I'm going to do that. I'll go and have my damn transmission flushed. I can't beleive the guy would say that. Sad day when it comes to that.....:thumbdwn:

 

[imp]

Working on my '04 Trans......

Easy now! Not to fret over this fluid fill issue (#***&%(!!) (that's what I said, too, when I found no dipstick present.

Ford Owners Manual states no fluid change for life of vehicle (may have meant transmission, but did not want to say it that way), except under severe duty conditions (which they do not define), then every 30K miles.

Dropped pan on mine yesterday, 100K, never changed oil, pan is clean as a whistle inside! No metal particles, magnet had caught a slight bit of fine ferrous sludge. But I disagree with never changing fluid, and since the damn trans. has other issues, which may require several drains & fills (to clear the old fluid out of the converter), I am installing a fill-tube and dipstick! I brazed a steel 3/4" compression tube-type elbow to the pan, and will form a tube to reach up at rear of engine on passenger side, room enough to snake it past the cooling lines and O2 sensor. Once the correct fill level is established on the little standpipe fitting provided, I will inscribe my homemade stick with a "full" mark. imp

 

[NHarris]

Easy now! Not to fret over this fluid fill issue (#***&%(!!) (that's what I said, too, when I found no dipstick present.

Ford Owners Manual states no fluid change for life of vehicle (may have meant transmission, but did not want to say it that way), except under severe duty conditions (which they do not define), then every 30K miles.

Dropped pan on mine yesterday, 100K, never changed oil, pan is clean as a whistle inside! No metal particles, magnet had caught a slight bit of fine ferrous sludge. But I disagree with never changing fluid, and since the damn trans. has other issues, which may require several drains & fills (to clear the old fluid out of the converter), I am installing a fill-tube and dipstick! I brazed a steel 3/4" compression tube-type elbow to the pan, and will form a tube to reach up at rear of engine on passenger side, room enough to snake it past the cooling lines and O2 sensor. Once the correct fill level is established on the little standpipe fitting provided, I will inscribe my homemade stick with a "full" mark. imp

Post up a "how to" thread on that I would definately like to know how to put a dipstick on my X

 

[imp]

Post up a "how to" thread on that I would definately like to know how to put a dipstick on my X

Glad to do it, eventually, but please be aware we are talking some needed equipment to pull it off which I figger most average contributors do not have at their disposal.

Way I'm doing it, I punched a 3/4" hole in the side of the pan where it looked like the clearest shot up above to run a 3/4" OD tube, which will fasten to, seal leakage, and be removable from, a 3/4" steel hydraulic service compression fitting elbow brazed to the pan. Sounds like more work than it really is, but not for the squeamish. Any failure of this scheme to withstand the vibration during use, possible rock hitting it, means all the fluid will puke out of the transmission! imp

 

[NHarris]

Yeah, those automatic transmissions are fragile, got to be careful and make sure that doesn't happen. I'd hate to have that happen to me. I've noticed my transmission isn't shifting smoothly. I think a flush with a filter will do a lot of good for it.

 

[imp]

The Fill Tube

Here is a couple pics showing where/how I brazed the ell to the side of the pan, and the bends needed for the tube to clear the O2 sensor lead, and wind up at a reachable place for filling. I did not want the tube to be real long; Ford always had a bracket up at the top of the tube which caught under a bolt at the rear of the cyl. head. That I have not done, and may not, although I may regret it if that tube cracks off!

The dipstick is an old one which I found hanging on my shop wall, believe it was from a Mustang 5.0L HO engine. A rubber grommet seals the stick when in the tube, against dust, etc.

Last effort of the day today I got the pan back on, installed the fill tube, and poured in 5 qts. of Mercon V, just as slick as could be, not a drop spilled anywhere, used one of those long skinny black transmission funnels.

Any other questions, feel free to ask! imp

 

[03explorerL]

Here is a couple pics showing where/how I brazed the ell to the side of the pan, and the bends needed for the tube to clear the O2 sensor lead, and wind up at a reachable place for filling. I did not want the tube to be real long; Ford always had a bracket up at the top of the tube which caught under a bolt at the rear of the cyl. head. That I have not done, and may not, although I may regret it if that tube cracks off!

The dipstick is an old one which I found hanging on my shop wall, believe it was from a Mustang 5.0L HO engine. A rubber grommet seals the stick when in the tube, against dust, etc.

Last effort of the day today I got the pan back on, installed the fill tube, and poured in 5 qts. of Mercon V, just as slick as could be, not a drop spilled anywhere, used one of those long skinny black transmission funnels.

Any other questions, feel free to ask! imp

That is sweet, now why couldn't Ford do that from the start!?
Post some pics of it in place if you could.

 

[NHarris]

I'd like to see how that would look on the car too, like a picture in the engine compartment to see how and where it sits, and maybe one from the underneath. imp, I appreciate the pictures you've posted. I think this is something I may just do.
And 03explorerL, on the recall thing in your signature, I would probably be one of the last, just like you, if mine had a recall...I take forever to get a recall fixed on any of my cars.

 

[03explorerL]

And 03explorerL, on the recall thing in your signature, I would probably be one of the last, just like you, if mine had a recall...I take forever to get a recall fixed on any of my cars.

Haha, ya i don't know why it took me so long. I just never use that glass hinge that the recall was on. And the only reason i did it was because i had to pick up a vanity mirror cause it broke. haha

 

[imp]

Here's a few more then! First 2 are from above, the pipe exiting the manifold just right of my fill tube is, I guess, the EGR gas pipe which goes up to the EGR valve. Lighting by my drop-cord lamp made it all look yellow, sorry, but proly not important to most viewers.

Next 2 shot from under vehicle. The pan is full of oil; note no leakage. The twisted wire visible in both was put in to keep the heat shield pulled away from the big nut far enough to allow easy wrenching. Used a 1-1/4" open-end wrench, "Fits-all" (Crescent) was too fat to work easily. Prior to taking pics, I had engine running, had started with about 5 qts., added another 3 after rowing the selector lever around a few times, that put it right on my "full" mark, which was "calibrated" to coincide with the height of the little stand-pipe of the drain plug.

BTW, while the eng. was idling, I checked the torque converter clutch lock-up by grounding the appropriate wire up at the computer harness just up above the fill tube area. This simulated a computer output to the TCC solenoid, energizing it, which should have stalled the idling eng. It did not. The little bitty arc created by grounding the lead from the solenoid was judged to be just about as expected. Earlier resistance measurement of the solenoid coil done from the same location turned out to be 10 ohms, same as measured yesterday right at the solenoid, when they were out of the trans. on my bench.

This test showed: The PCM is not the cause of TCC problem. The solenoid itself might be stuck open. The trouble might be in the control valve body. The trouble might be the clutch itself within the converter, in which case the DTC trouble code would prove to be B.S.! Persevere is my middle name, though I'm getting a little P/O.'d with this transmission! imp

 

[NHarris]

Looks great. Glad it all went together good.

 

[imp]

Looks great. Glad it all went together good.

Thank you! I only wish half the stuff I attempted worked out as well! imp

 

[cross6]

You need to make a stay for the top of that dipstick to mount to the engine somewhere (simple to do). Otherwise the constant vibration will eventually crack the brazing. (Vibration causes it to harden slowly until it becomes brittle and snaps.)

 

[imp]

You need to make a stay for the top of that dipstick to mount to the engine somewhere (simple to do). Otherwise the constant vibration will eventually crack the brazing. (Vibration causes it to harden slowly until it becomes brittle and snaps.)

Exactly what my nephew (certified welder) called to tell me! Thanks for the tip! imp

 

[imp]

Fill Tube Support Bracket

I took the warnings to heart and fashioned a bracket for the transmission fill tube. Thought about cable-ties, hose clamps, etc., etc., but the right way was a good bracket. I put this off several weeks, knowing it would not be as easy as one would think, due to the angle of the tube, lack of places to snag a bolt on the engine. Found there is a boss with an unthreaded hole in it at the rear of the cyl. head, 2" from my fill tube, so using 1/8" thick by 1" wide CRS strap, I fashioned the clamp for the tube first, then figgered out no bending other than wrapping around on itself would get to the boss, as the pic shows (I hope).

The EGR gas pipe, in the way, prevented tapping the hole in the head with a tap, but 10mm screw size was just right, so took a nice hard 10.8 10mm X 1.5 bolt about 1" long, ground 6 grooves in it's tip, to make it into a "tap", then wrenched it into the hole and out. Lately, I've been finding machine parts made without tapped holes, using special bolts which are sort of triangular at their ends; don't know what they are called, but ran over to NAPA to see if he had any, he did, but only 5/6" diam. BTW, Briggs & Stratton uses these bolts all over their lawnmower engines nowadays.

Overly long story curtailed, the bracket goes on this evening. Not knowing the actual integrity of my "threaded" hole, I will check the setup for looseness after a couple hundred miles; if it's holding OK, I hope to be able to "sleep on it", as my old friend Paul Gallo used to say.......God, how I wish I could have seen him just once more before he passed on.......imp