Ok, I've searched and cannot find any definitive answers on this. How often or when should I have my Transmission Fluid Changed? I was at the dealership today and they asked when i last had it done. I told them I hadn't - I am driving a 2006 that I got in August of 2008. I got it with 40,000 miles on it, and it now has 49,000 miles on it. The dealership told me I should have it done and that it was due at 30,000. I do not think it was done by the previous owner. I put about 4,500 miles on it each year under normal driving conditions - it is babied... Any advice would be appreciated on whether this should be done soon, or if I can or should hold off.
Thanks,
Steve

 

guy's are gonna tell you anywhere from 30K to 100K. i just turned 32K on my '07 and was wondering is i should do mine also since i pull my boat alot in the summer.

 

I've been doing mine every 3 years or 35k miles. My whole family does this schedule and have never had any trans failures. Even my Mazda 626 with the notoriously bad auto trans has never had work at 221k miles.

I'd much rather spend the extra $$ on PM than a rebuild.

 

i x-2 on what ian51279 says (preventative maintenance)

 

Put your details in.

https://www.flmowner.com/servlet/Con...k-service.html

 

My rule of thumb no matter what "brand" of vehicle is if you tow or work the truck hard, The trans should be done about every 35K. If it is a daily driver and just a daily driver, every 50-60K.

No matter what you drive, small amounts of clutch materials wears and collects in opening. This can have an effect on internal pressures which of course relates to shifting.

Service your trans but inspect the fluids you remove for excessive clutch material or worse, metal...... Take care of your vehicle and it will provide you with years of service.

 

I just changed mine at 50K...Ford Tech said do it early if you have bigger tires or drive it hard. Costly but worth it

 

Towing is "severe service" and you should do it every 30k.

To the OP - get it done, you don't know how the original owner treated it.

 

RTFM..... 30K under normal driving is for the Torqshift transmission (which are not in F150's), 30K is for vehicles that are driven under "Special Operating Conditions". 150K is what Ford recommends for normal driving. So, don't take it from the guys who aer gonna tell you one thing or another. See what Ford engineer's put together for you.

I changed mine at 96K after 4 years of hauling, towing and plowing. I only changed it because I occasionally have odd shifting. I did the old fashion pan drop for fluid and filter. And sent the fluid to Blackstone Labs for evaluation. The only negative was they found a little bit of oxidation and insolubles. (the cause for this was a failed fan clutch while plowing, trans fluid was up to 235) They commented that they saw wear characteristics similar to that of a trans with 26K on it.

Change it if you want for a little peice of mind, but I doubt it's necessary. Oh ya, your Ford service guy is going to recommend that you do this or that, it's not in your best interest. Part of his income is based on the services he sells.

 

It's certainly not going to HURT changing it every 30k - it's like the guys that change their oil every 3k and their coolant once a year.

 

Ford told me NOT to change at 30k.

 

Are you guys talking about a full flush, or just draining and topping off??

Anyone heard guys saying that they've had more issues after a flush?? Something about making it wear differently, thus accelerating wear/issues?? Sounds crazy, but I know I've read it more than a few times..

 

I DO NOT believe in flushes and hence never do one. I DO believe in changing ALL the fluid when I do change. I pull the pan, clean it and change the filter, then add about 4 qts. of fluid and pull the outgoing line (to cooler) and have someone run it til it starts to suck air and add another 4 and do it again. When I've used at least what it calls for on an overhaul (dry) I top it and I'm done. The problem with flushes is that it stirs up debris and gets it in the valves. Most of the time (maybe always!) when they do flushes they DO NOT pull the pan or change the filter. I'm not comfortable with that at all. I have read of MANY who have had trans failure not long after a flush, and I do mean MANY (all different brands)

 

From reading here and other Ford Truck sites, flushing is typically fine, if your transmission has NOT started to act funny. Once they start acting up a flush seems to speed up the failure.

I'm not sure that I buy into that concept. I think those transmissions that were acting up were getting ready to fail, regardless of the flush.

 

A FLUSH will remove clutch material deposits that build up here and there. A DRAIN will only remove the fluid. Regular maintenance will reduce these clutch material and other build-ups. If a trans is left for 100K miles and then flushed, it could lead to disaster. By this time, there are lots of build-ups and internal line pressures have changed but the FLUSH will immediately return these back to almost original by removing the deposits. Now, this is when a most weak trans will start to fail....

The old saying is if you have not done regular service, "let the sleeping dog lay" and leave it alone.