Transmission Fluid
#1
01-15-2002, 01:27 AM
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Wheelersburg Oh
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Transmission Fluid
I have a question for everyone.........I had to take my truck in last week for the "famous" head gasket leak; but that is a different story and I was asking the service manager about the way my transmission was acting and he told me that I needed to change my fluid. I have the transmission that has to have the Mercon V, sorry I can't remember exactly which on that is. So I asked him how much they would charge and when he told me 150 bucks I just about fell over. I asked him just how much the transmission fluid cost and he said that for enough fluid to do the change out would be 75 bucks and the filter was 30. So actually the dealer was only charging 50 bucks to change it, but man that is expensive. So what I was wondering is this......when I went out and started to see if I could get the fluid cheeper all the parts stores told me that Mercon V was a dealer item only and that I would just have to grin and bear the cost of the change out. So I stopped at a transmission shop just to see if they could get the Mercon V the shop told me that they could change it but what they used was Mercon and then added another kind of fluid to it to make it compatable to Mercon V and I was just wondering if anyone had done this or had it done. I don't know if I should let them do it and use the other Mercon and add the extra to make it compatable or just go ahead and eat the cost of the dealer cost and have them do it. Thanks for any and all info...............Sorry so long to.
#2
01-15-2002, 06:38 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Rochester, MI, USA
Posts: 205
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bobby,
I am going through the same thing at the moment...
You could find some threads related to the issue right before your post.
Basically the problem is like this.
I found MERCON V fluid in Murray's shop. It is around $5 per quart. Regular fluid is around $2
Manual says that the tranny's capacity is around 13.9 quarts.
The pan itself holds around 6 and the rest is sitting in the converter. I am not accurate on this one but it's not that important.
The important thing is that you can do "fluid change" or "complete flush" (including converter).
When you do the former you just change what you have in the tranny's pan – 6 quarts. And I believe that's around $50
When you do complete flush you change everything – all 14 quarts. In general procedure is like this: you remove the pan, drain 6 quarts, clean the pan. Then using some pump (at home – tranny's pump; at dealership they use a special tool, sucking all the rest out through the dipstick hole) you flush the rest of the fluid. Check the link for complete details
http://www.ford-diesel.com/faq/1999f...ance-AutoT.htm
Dealer was talking about the latter procedure.
The filter kit – filter and new gasket (at Murray's) is about $20.
My shop was going to charge $200 for that so you're not that bad probably…
Hope that helps,
Alex.
I am going through the same thing at the moment...
You could find some threads related to the issue right before your post.
Basically the problem is like this.
I found MERCON V fluid in Murray's shop. It is around $5 per quart. Regular fluid is around $2
Manual says that the tranny's capacity is around 13.9 quarts.
The pan itself holds around 6 and the rest is sitting in the converter. I am not accurate on this one but it's not that important.
The important thing is that you can do "fluid change" or "complete flush" (including converter).
When you do the former you just change what you have in the tranny's pan – 6 quarts. And I believe that's around $50
When you do complete flush you change everything – all 14 quarts. In general procedure is like this: you remove the pan, drain 6 quarts, clean the pan. Then using some pump (at home – tranny's pump; at dealership they use a special tool, sucking all the rest out through the dipstick hole) you flush the rest of the fluid. Check the link for complete details
http://www.ford-diesel.com/faq/1999f...ance-AutoT.htm
Dealer was talking about the latter procedure.
The filter kit – filter and new gasket (at Murray's) is about $20.
My shop was going to charge $200 for that so you're not that bad probably…
Hope that helps,
Alex.
#3
01-15-2002, 11:29 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Lakeville, Minnesota, USA
Posts: 749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
#4
01-17-2002, 09:32 AM
#5
01-17-2002, 06:16 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Here's my opinion:
Try to find the Valvoline Synthetic Blend MerconV around me in SE PA it's about 3 something a quart. I used it in my tranny and there's a definite improvement over the Ford stuff new or not. I've changed the fluid twice in the past two months, first w/ dealer fluid then w/ the Valvoline, why is a whole other story. Anyway you can drain the converter on these things by removing the round rubber plug in the bottom of the converter housing and then rotating the crank until you see the little pipe plug in the converter. The Mercon and additive thing works but the additive is still 20 bucks and I've heard bad stories about it. GET THE VALVOLINE stuff.
Try to find the Valvoline Synthetic Blend MerconV around me in SE PA it's about 3 something a quart. I used it in my tranny and there's a definite improvement over the Ford stuff new or not. I've changed the fluid twice in the past two months, first w/ dealer fluid then w/ the Valvoline, why is a whole other story. Anyway you can drain the converter on these things by removing the round rubber plug in the bottom of the converter housing and then rotating the crank until you see the little pipe plug in the converter. The Mercon and additive thing works but the additive is still 20 bucks and I've heard bad stories about it. GET THE VALVOLINE stuff.