Transmission Service

[TheJackal]

It's that time again. Yep, time to change the ol' transmission fluid in the '99 Ford Explorer 2WD. I've seen one method posted on here where you effectively "flush" out your trans. with two buckets and some hose; connect hoses to cooler in/out lines, put hoses in buckets, put required amount of ATF in the intake bucket, and let 'er rip. The issue I'm having with this is, I don't think that all of the fluid ends up circulating through the cooler, so you'll just end up with a mixture of old and new ATF. That being said, you don't get it all out with the drop & fill method either.

I've read that the above method isn't best for high-mileage transmissions, either. I've got 130,000 miles on the trans., and I know that places that have the expensive machines for this don't use them on transmissions with that many miles on them.

So, here's my question: Should I use the flush method, or simply drop & fill? (And I know if I choose the first option I'll still need to drop the pan to change the filter.)

Transmission fluid is a bit brown but has no strong odor or particulate matter.

Also, any suggestions on how to drop the pan without making a royal mess? I'd like to not get soaked in old ATF.

 

[BrooklynBay]

They make a manual vacuum pump which has a plastic tube you could put down the dip stick fill tube to siphon the ATF. This would allow you to evacuate enough fluid before you drop the pan. Install a drain plug after you drop the pan. Your transmission uses a thermostatic set up which cuts the cooler's flow when it's cold. You might have a hard time evacuating the old ATF through the cooler line.

 

[TheJackal]

Where'd you get the pump at? I looked at Advance Auto Parts but didn't see anything like it. They didn't have anything like that.

 

[TheJackal]

The enthusiasm on this thread is overwhelming...

So I've decided to just go ahead and do it the old fashioned way. As soon as I get the time (been getting my butt kicked with homework, and it's raining almost every day) I'll be doing this job, then I've got to save for the balljoints.

I don't know when the last time this has been done on the truck, the way my dad is it was probably done once when it hit 100,000, who knows even if it was done then. So hopefully this doesn't #### anything up. I've heard I can get a siphon from O'Reily so I'll check that out, maybe I can keep the mess to a minimum.

And who voted "don't do it" and didn't say why...:

 

[aldive]

I use the flush method.

 

[jimbo74]

do both..... but not all at the same time..... its recommended to do a few pan drops before soing the full on flush

 

[HR57]

I don't care for the flush method because the filter isn't changed. I would think that if there is any trash anywhere it would have a good chance of getting in the wrong place with a flush. It did in my trans.