here in the next tousand miles or so, when i do my oil change i plan on replacing the transmission fluid and filter. so heres what i got.

I have an 06 5.4l and i wanna know does this model have a drain plug on the torque converter and if not is there anyway i can get all the fluid drained as apposed to just dropping the pan and replacing the filter and the 5 quarts in the pan? i know the transmission was last serviced at about 40k and im at 78k right now so id like to keep up with it. my tranny temp is normally 156 is this ok? and also what brand of filter and brand or tranny fluid should i go with and how many quarts will i need.

Thank you for all and any help you can give me

 

No TC drain - take it to a shop that has an exchange machine.

 

i thought there was a hose you could disconnect and let it pump out

 

You can, but you have to understand a detailed procedure and it can get pretty messy.

 

Go to a big box lumber store and get a plastic tub used to had mix tile grout/cement (about $6 -size 2 x 3 feet). Stop by the auto store and purchase 5 qt. of Mercon VI and a "add a drain" plug ($2.50). Drop the pan over the plastic tub (about 17 10mm bolts) drop the back first and leave the last bolt as the center one in the front. The back of the pan will drop down 2 inches and catch on the cross member bar keeping it from falling. This drains out half of the fluid. Drop the last bolt and dump. Remove the plastic plug that is floating in the pan (left over from the factor) clean the magnet (The main reason I drop the pan) and wipe out the thin film of sludge. Drill a 1/2" hole (Check your plug exact dim) on the angle side of the sump bump, install drain and reinstall pan. The pan has a reusable gasket!

add about 4 1/2 quarts. Trans fluid (The pan only holds 4.5 not 5 like most manuals state) Recycle your old fluid by dropping it by your quick oil change place (They like this as they get a few more $$ when the oil recycle truck stops by to drain their big tank)

No mess by using the big flat tub. Now with the drain plug it's simple to drop out 4.5 quarts of old oil and add new every 10 to 20 K miles. Drop the pan every 100K to clean the magnet and sludge. Total time including installing the drain - 30 minutes.

 

That does not address a complete change, that's just a pan drop.

 

that is useful for a quick change of fluid in the pan but like glc stated im looking to do a complete exchange without having to go to a shop and pay 150 bucks

 

150 bucks may not be so bad - price out about 16 quarts of fluid..........

 

this is what you need to do. Drop the pan, replace the fluid, clean magnet. Pop off a cooler line. Fill the trans with approx 5 quarts of fresh fluid. Have friend to start truck for you, run it till it stops pumping shut truck off. Fill with another 5 quarts and repeat the process till the fluid starts pumping clean. Shut truck off, place cooler line back on. Let truck run to make sure it is up to temp and top off fluid to correct level.

I use this method on a lot of vehicles. yes it can get messy but you know it is done and done right. Depending on which hose you take off you may want to get another chunk of hose to put over the line you took off to help direct the fluid into a suitable container. Make sure you cycle through the gears when you are topping off the fluid. Take it for a nice casual drive afterwards to let the fluid temp stabilize and give you a more accurate reading for the final fluid level.

 

Thanks thats what I was looking for. I've done them with a machine before at a shop I worked for using those lines but was a little unsure how to go about with out it. thanks for the write up.