Ive heard several rumors saying that if you haven't changed your tranny fluid by a certain amount of miles, dont even bother because it could make things worse. How true is this? Was just wondering because my mom's mountaineer has 82k on it and has yet to be flushed. I was thinking of just dropping the pan and changing the filter, I guess that's better than nothing eh? Thanks in advance.

 

well doing nothing you are guranteed slipping sooner than later. just drain the converter, new fluid and filter. once it starts slipping than you are in trouble.

 

Thats BS, the first time the fluid in my Cougar was changed was 13 years after it was built. When I dropped the pan the factory plug was still in there, putting in new fluid didnt hurt anything, hell it shifted alot firmer afterwards.

Putting in new fluid will not damage anything. The only thing Ive been told with older trannys is to not do a power flush, that could cause damage. Just changing the filter and whats in the pan is all you need to do.

 

if you change filter and fluid every 30-40K you should never need a flush anyway.first thing i check when buying a truck is tranny fluid condition. if it looks like it was at least changed, especially on high mileage trucks. chances owner took care of her all around. be suprised how many people dont realize tranny fluid had to be changed.

 

Trust me this is know rumer lol -

I had mine on the bench in pieces, cleaning everything because I follow some one else flushing techniques and compromised my trans with contaminants. Not Fun!!!
I'm not sure what trans you have I have a 98 E4OD. What ever you do , don't flush the way some have described in the tranny forum. Just do it in three different stages - do not pump out any thru the line with truck running , this is not safe , with the 97 you do not need to do this. Two old timers told me the proper procedure and it's helped my problem ton's. I have a drain bolt on my pan, so I drain that first. I have a dual core radiator and two coolers from the factory - one is an oil cooler and the other a trans cooler. As soon as you drain the pan , pull the pan and then the filter, that's step 1. Step 2, unbolt the supply and return lines from your trans. Just unbolt for now. The get you a large ratchet and correct socket that fits your crank bolt. Line up your converter drain plug so that it's straight up and down. Pull the bolt and let your converter drain.
Step 3. With compressed air join the air hose to the supply line - dial in 40lbs of pressure only and let it run thru your lines (NOTE: WHEN DOING THIS PROCEDURE IT IS ADVISED THAT YOU HAVE A WATER SEPERATOR ON YOUR COMPRESSOR , YOU CAN ALSO RUN A CLEANER OR SOLVENT THRU YOUR LINES FOR BETTER RESULTS)
After about 10 minutes hook your air hose to your return line and do this for 10 minutes. Most of the contaminants are now flushed out of your cooler , but you need to re-hook to the supply line once more for 10 more minutes @ 60lb's max pressure to clear foreign matter and then the return line as well.
Install your new filter and bolt your cleaned pan and re-usable gasket back in place - crank the bolts to 120" lbs . Put your converter bolt back in. Reconnect your supply and return lines to the transmission.

That's it for draining and flushing.

Add 8 quarts threw your trans fill tube. Start truck , go threw the gears slowly and shut it off. Add 4 more and do the same. Add 2 more and do the same . Now check your fluid and add accordingly.

This is the fail safe way for a high mileage transmission. I never started my truck while draining - you don't need to if you have a torque converter drain plug- I got it all out too !! It took 16 quarts of amsoil to fill it and used 8 ounces of modifier along with that.

jbrew - Good Luck

 

i heard the 07s will have lifetime tranny fluid. i think it was ford, maybye chevy.anyway tranny fluid that never needs changing this i have to see.

 

Would that be the same process for the 01? As far as the cleaner solvent are you meaning spray it in the line then hook up the air hose, I'm asking because if I did this I would be using the auto hobby shop on base so don't know if they run a water sep on the compressor.

 

I think the 96 Model year was the last year for extended oil change interval. In days of old you just kept it topped up. When it blew you rebuilt it. Maybe Ford is going back to the old way.

JMC

 

01 still has the convertor bolt. After that year, no. So an 01 you can still do it that way.

 

Hi!!

The water separator is the green tube thing in the middle - Look for something like that. If the compressor being used is in an environment 50 degrees and above and if the water is drained from the tank AND if the air being swallowed in not TO humidified - (how's the weather?) Then you'll most likely be okay and won't need a separator - that's a precaution tho. If you kinda understand how it works now , you can make a judgement call.
Since I put mine inside a heated environment - The winters result in extremely dry air , my separator doesn't collect any moister if that helps.



I don't feel using an additive is not necessary , but may help (personal opinion) The way it's done is threw a solvent tank itself - actually , you can fill the top of your stove with pans of solvent and heat it to safe temps - add it to your solvent tank and run it thru your trans cooler real quick to open it's pores cleaning them LOL Nah, you prolly won't be able to do that ..

Heres how I've done it- This method works in the same fashion as a power washer that sucks cleaner through a separate hose attached inline thru the valve after the pump. Same principle but your the pump creating suction threw a fitting designed for this - It's simply a hose ported in a blower accessory you can purchase for 10-20 bucks at a Home depot or something. You stick the hose in whatever solvent your using and attach your blower accessory to the air hose. About the easiest I can explain it..
When you start to blow air into the lines the hose that's in the can of solvent will come with..

Now You have an 01 - I don't think you have a plug in your converter so the only way to expelled the oil is threw the return line while the trucks running - I can't advise how to do that , my instructions are for people who have a plug - It can be done , I know how NOW - I would do it if it was mine , I can't and won't instruct you because anything could happen .

With all the info here - you could figure it out fairly easy . -

Good Luck

 

01's do have a tc drain bolt. 02 and up do not.

 

Okay thanx , wasn't sure - then it will be fairly easy to get just about all the fluid out. I'm not sure of his set up - I know being an 01 he has the smaller trans (4R70w) - I have the E4OD+ dual core radiator and seperate coolers as well as 4WD - Hope it works for him.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll have to look at my set up again, but I think it has a small tranny cooler in front of the radiator including the one in the radiator since it's 4x4. I just don't have the larger tow package cooler. Then again I could be wrong. I'm currently at 55000 miles, and had a little bit of tranny slipping when I moved to cali. It hasn't slipped since, and I towed a 20ft car trailer with a vw bug in the back. I just want to flush it out and refill before I go buy a car hauler to tow my bug around in.

 

There is a possible 2 coolers up front. One above the black rubber splash guard. That would be the trannie cooler. The other would be below the splash guard and is smaller. That would be the power steering cooler. You can easily trace the line to make sure which is which.

 

Well I looked as best I could with it being dark, and not moving the skit plate and all. On the driver side their is a small cooler that I'm guessing is the power steering cooler, and on the passenger side is what I'm guessing is the tranny cooler. these are both in front of the a/c cooler that is in front of the radiator.