Maybe it is just me, but I would at least follow the maintenance scheduled. Depending on the type of service the vechicle is used in and the type of transmission you may need to have it changed every 30,000 miles. I would at least ask ford what they would do on a car with amount of miles as yours.

I know for sure that proper maintenance will save you a bunch in the long run. And yes it is sometimes it costs, what seems like to be a lot. But find out what it costs to replace a transmission and you will stay on top of it.

Like I said before, "Have it flushed and do the filter change the first time you do it if the truck is not new. It is the best way to keep it in good shape." Then do what the book says. That way you know for sure you started out with a clean trans.

But, hey that is what I would do.

 

I dont understand how these horror stories are made up

The truck is circulating the ATF troughout the system all the time.. whats wrong with just letting the old fluid drain out on one end of the cooler and just put in fresh fluid in the other end of the line.

Theres no difference in doing a flush and just driving your truck while the fluid is recirculating except nice fresh fluid is being put in. Unless some doorknob
doesn't know what hes doing

I dunno.... if you wait till you see a problem it might be too late

 

I'm not on a different page by any means. I have just been going down my list of maintenance and that happened to be next. The mechanic I spoke to is a friend of the family and has been doing that line of work for about 20 years, so it just scared me. I knew nothing about the horror stories even until I mentioned flushing it. I wouldn't trust asking the Dealership mechanics....like they would really turn down business.

 

Nothing wrong with flushes, as long as they have been done on a regular basis on a vehicle! Now if you do a flush on a vehicle that has never been flushes before with 80+K miles on it, yeah you might run into a problemo...

 

If a complete fluid replacement (NOT a chemical flush, just a pump out/pump in) causes a problem, you had a problem to begin with.

 

Okay, so when it stops running fine, like when it breaks, then a transmission shop will ask you why you never serviced the transmission.

Makes me wonder......if your engine is running fine, then don't change the oil?

 

I have heard the stories too. If you leave it you will without question kill your transmission early. If you change it now and have no problems you will extend it's life. It is the old pay now or pay later problem.

 

The pressure from the flush system knocks dirt/containments loose

 

Here's what pisses me off with dealers. I have found and seen at Advance the tranny filters for both my 05 F150 and 04 Expedition. They aren't a metal screen as my local dealer just told me. The dealer said no need to drop the pan to change b/c it's just a screen. I told him to his face he didn't know what he was talking about. After a little change in his tone, I explained to him that I had just purchased the tranny filters for both vehicles and they are "FILTERS", not some dam- wire mesh/screen as they want me to think. This makes me so mad that the dealers are saying this just to keep from having to drop the pan. They just want to circulate some cleaning agent and flush it out for new fluid. It's lazy and it's a lie. I'm going to a local tranny shop here who "tells the truth about my trucks".

 

The machines I've seen, and maybe I haven't seen all of them, use the transmission's pump to move the fluid. They don't have a pump and don't add any pressure. So they don't knock dirt/contaminants loose. The new fluid flows in as the old fluid would. Same path, same pressure, just new fluid.

 

Flushing a tranny = problems is an old wives tale. pure fantasy, plain and simple.

If your mechanic says otherwise, I would look around for a new mechanic. Ask him what his qualifications are... I would be ammused to see that !

 

The Flush System is using the same pressure that the tranny pump is putting out.

The rate of flow coming out from the transmission is the same going in from the Flush Machine.

 

If the people with the flush machine want to add chemicals, that's when you run. You want a simple full fluid exchange using the tranny pump to do the work, not the machine. The first time I ever had this done was about 10 years ago on a Taurus. The guy at the quick lube where I had this done was pretty sharp. He explained exactly how it was done - he told me it could be done 2 ways, either let the tranny pump do the work, or let the machine do it. He said that he did NOT like the machine doing the work, too much likelihood for problems. I stood there and watched the new red fluid go in and the old nasty black fluid come out with the power switch on the machine in the OFF position and the engine idling in Park.