OH MY GOD - THOSE FARKIN' A$$MOLES... - I would be screaming like my ***** were on fire - money - money get money...

 

Thanks Factory Tech and everyone else,
I'm at work right now 8:00 am saturday and unfortunately the conclusion that we came to in the middle of the night last night and that Factory_Tech just verified is correct.

I called Ford first thing this morning (when I say Ford, I don't mean the dealership, I work at a dealership, I mean the Ford Tech Hotline) and everyone wasn't there yet so they couldn't tell me which fluid the truck is supposed to use. I told them about the other 03 in texas that had the Mercon and that my truck wasn't slipping or acting up even though it appeared to be nearly 4 quarts low and they said yep is sounds like the wrong dipstick but that they would call me back at 9:00 to be sure when a trans person got there

anyway, not satisfied with that I went to the parts department with my dipstick in hand (no jokes ) and had them look up the part number for an 03 lightning and the part number on my dipstick doesn't match or crossover.

So I had them look up the part number from my dipstick and SURPRISE! My dipstick is supposed to fit a 5.4 with a 4R70W transmission, not a 4R100! Yippee.

So I came out here to post the info and I see that Factory Tech has already verified this info.

So anyway, I'm doing a transmission flush as I type this.

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all

have a nice day everyone.

later,
chris

 

I hope I won't see on this thread..."At our next meet we should take out our dipsticks and compare them"

 

bad luck man, but consider this, at least you work for a dealership. If it was any old Joe, or Don, in my case, the dealership probably would have told us that it's the correct stick and the 03's us Mercon V since they upped the horsepower and torque to 400hp and 500lbs for the new models. Probably ending with, hey, be sure to engage the 4x4 once a month to keep things moving!

Sorry, but I haven't had a great experience with a dealership yet!!!!

My dad actually found one decent guy at our dealer when it comes to SVT's and he's not event he SVT tech, he's a front end man!!!

They ripped the side mirror on the passenger side off his truck, when he picked it up and saw it he pulled in to the service writing area about 30 mph and slammed on the brakes. Guess you need to do things like that to get some of these people's attention.

 

well, I finished the transmission flush and have been searching the lot for a new F-150 to pirate the dipstick out of so I could check my fluid level and make sure it's on the money, unfortunately all of the trucks I found are equipped with 4R70Ws.

There is a used L on the lot though, I'll go and borrow that one to check it.

Frankly I feel like a dumba$$ about this. I mean hell I work on these things everyday, but it was a stupid missbuild.

I checked the fluid level, found it low and topped it with the product specified on the dipstick. honest mistake I guess. I just assumed that since the truck is brand new that they'd switched fluids for 2003. just like the yellow coolant. that seemed more likely than the truck coming from the factory with a dipstick for an entirely different transmission

oh well at least I only drove it home and back (only 2 or 3 miles) hopefully it didn't hurt anything. I guess I'll jerk it out and overhaul it at 33,500 miles just to be safe .

later,
chris

P.S. thanks again for all of the help from Factory_Tech, 03LightninRocks, and everyone else.

I guess I should make a new thread so that all the people who never read the old threads know that the '03 tranny DOES NOT use MERCON V.

have a good weekend all.

 

Superfords

I hope you dont mind I changed the title of the thread to make it clearer..

Sorry to hear about the trouble

Doug

 

Glad to hear you got it back to normal

Chris, you might want to check into that yellow coolant, maybe it aint suppose to be yellow. Whats differant about that if you don't mind me asking ???

 

Are you absolutely positive you have the 4R100 transmission?

I mean you have confirmed this? Stranger things have happened.

NOT to assume that you merely just have the wrong dipstick because Ls are supposed to come with the 4R100 tranny, heh.

 

So basically, Ford made you overfill your tranny with 3.5 quarts of the wrong fluid. (how's that for the new post's title?)

 

The wrong transmission would take a lot of extra efforet to install, no 4R70W comes with a 6 bolt converter, so even though the bell housing will bolt up, the transmission won't.

G

 

There will be no dipstick comparisons anywhere NEAR me. LOL

Chris,

Glad to see that you finally found the prob. I can't remember
where I read about a similiar problem, but I mentioned it to
you right away because I was afraid that was the case.

Kinda like the .22 hunter that goes through 50 shells plinking
at the same d a m n squirrel, cussing his aim, only to go over
to the tree and find 49 squirrels at the bottom ... When all
the possibilities have been eliminated, the final answer no matter
how bizarre, MUST be true! <Occam's Razor, I believe!>

Cliff

 

Mind in the gutter . Copareing dipsticks. LOL.

 

Don't mind at all Doug, I'd rather everybody be clear on the facts. The title reduces confusion, and eliminates the need for another confusing post to clarify.

thanks,
chris

Although, I was a little surprised at first to see this "new" thread started by me that I didn't recognize

 

Sorry to hear about your transmission woes Chris, did you get the bedrug? I shipped it to your home address. You should have it today.

Tim

 

Superfords here:

sweet! No, I am not at home and haven't been all day. I went to work this morning to do the trans flush, then spent most of the day waiting at the tint shop to get my windows done, then I had to work on a friends Saleen in trade for him putting a few coats of Zaino on the L. Actually thats where I am now www.performanceautosport.com to return the S281 and pick up the truck, thats why I'm under the wrong screen name. I posted before I remembered to log him off and "superfords" on.

what a pleasant surprise that will be if it's at home when I get there.

thanks Tim!

later,
chris