Hey everyone,
Over the weekend I had the dealership service the tranny with just a pan drop and fill. Based on all the discussions its the safest so there is no tranny failures. After looking at the invoice , its only removing 5 quarts. When we got home I swapped out my magnafine tranny filter too. I guess my question is , should I be doing the pan drop and fill more often cause its only removing 5quarts?

 

I personally recommend a complete exchange with a machine.

 

So do I. There's an old urban legend that changing all the fluid will cause the trans to fail. It's not true.

 

Even on an 05 with 180k on the clock?

 

If it fails, it was going to fail anyway.

 

I agree. Have all the fluid changed. You can definitely trust Mark on this.

D

 

Yes.

Exactly! New fluid won't hurt it, but if it is damaged, new fluid won't fix it.

 

This is good info. I have a 2002 FX4 with 85K miles. I am ready to have the trans serviced but, a couple questions first.
1. It has always hesitated when put in reverse, 3-5 seconds, is this normal?
2. Sometimes it seems to slip when shifting from 1st - 2nd, or when take off (sort of a shudder, more like a shutter).
3. Is there anything else to service while the fluid is changed?
4. And finally, I plan to use the original Motorcraft fluid, is there a better fluid for these trans? Like Royal Purple?

I do plan to tow a small trailer in the near future, I know a trans cooler is recommended. What else?

Thanks

 

I bought my truck with 69k miles on it. I've been dropping the pan, changing the filter and adding 4 or 5 qts to refill every 20k miles. It's something I can do easily myself. I added a drain plug to the pan to help facilitate this procedure. My previous truck, a 2000 4x4, had a drain plug in the torque converter and I drained everything and refilled at 60k miles.

 

No. Anything over two seconds is too long.
I understand a shudder. A shutter covers a window. How did we get to windows?

A shudder at take off is usually a problem with the driveshaft angle, not the transmission.
No.
Any fluid with a MERCON V rating will work fine.

 

As a side note, with these transmissions, I would specifically exclude Royal Purple as an option. Use a fluid that has a true Mercon V spec.

D

 

Thank you for your opinions.

 

Just curious, but, every time I read a post about a pan drop on the 4R70W or the 4R75E, the fluid added back to fill is 5 qts. I have had several F150's with both of these transmissions and I have only had to add 4 qts. of fluid. It brings the fluid up to the center hash marks of the dipstick fill area and I think that's appropriate.
A Ford dealership once had to change some solenoids and the wire harness in my current 07 F150. They filled the pan back with 5 qts. of fluid. I had to go to a meeting about 25 miles away from the dealership and when I returned home afterwards I checked the fluid. It was almost 3/4" over the full line on the dipstick. I returned to the dealership the next day and they stated they had added 5 qts. of fluid. The tech just drained enough to bring it back down to just below the full line, a bit less than a qt. Am I the only one that can't add 5 qts. of fluid without it overfilling my trans.?