i have an f150 2004 heritage with the 4.2. i have 63k on the truck and have never changed the automatic transmission fluid. i went to a local ford shop and he quoted me $150 to hook a machine and flush it and to droped the pan and change the filter. i really want to know if thats a good price.

also i hardly ever tow anything with it maybe a 5x8 trailor with my atv maybe once a month and thats it. i should be okay to change it right???

 

Thats not a bad price at all considering the flush WITH a pan drop. Hell it's almost $70-$80 just for fluid if you were to do it yourself

 

thats what i was thinking. plus i dont have the machine to pump it out, unless i disconnect the return and make sure the pump doesnt completly run out of fluid in it.

 

That is an awesome price.

 

i would not even change it. i know people who have never changed it just add more when needed. they all got at least 150k plus and they never had any problems.

 

You do what you want, but if I had an automatic I'd take care of it and keep the fluid changed.

 

Try that with your engine.

 

I just got it done and it came out to 150. but my question is the fluid suppose to be right red? btw the ticket said 14quarts and a screen.

 

dflw_99,

The fluid is suppose to be whatever color comes out of the bottle. Royal Purple, for instance, adds a purple dye to their fluids. But in general, a lot of ATF comes in a pinkish to reddish shade.

The screen that you see on your service sheet is probably in reference to the transmission filter.

Motorcraft Mercon V is typically about $5 a quart. The transmission filter is about $20. I would say that you got a pretty good price. Some of us use aftermarket fluids such as Amsoil, Red Line, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, & Lucas Oil, which can run from $10-$15 a quart.

5150

 

i think all ATF has to be pink for warranty reasons or some stuff, we did a RP transmission flush and i thought it was suppose to be purple but it was pink i was like wtf and my boss told me warranty related

btw 150 is a great price for full fluid AND filter change, around here we charge 99.99 for a 20 qt flush and another 69.99 for the filter and gasket change

 

thanks for your reply

the reason i asked it because it wasnt that bright of a pink or red like i thought it would be. i still has a little brown tint to it, maybe its suppose to?? but anyway it still looked a lot better than it did.

 

after i flushed mine it still had a dark tint to it too, but i didnt change my filter out so that might have something to do with it, not sure what happened to yours

maybe you got screwed

 

You sir are a genius. Trans fluid should be changed every 25k/

Yeah it's usually red.

 

It sounds like they ran 14 quarts through the machine, because the book says that your tranny uses 14 quarts. Some tranny shops will simply run the machine to exchange enough new fluid with the old. Other shops will run the machine until clean fluid comes out. The last time I went in for a full flush, we used a full 21 quarts until the fluid coming out of the transmission was clear & clean.