transmission fluid - flush or not?

zjazz · #1 November 5th, 2009, 12:00 PM

Hi,

I have a question and hope I can find answer to my situation.

My TC is almost 30K now. According to the book tans fluid needs to be flushed every 30K. So I went to a Lincoln service today, but they warned me that even though the car is below 30K it is 12 years old and if fluid haven't been changed for all these years I might have a problem if I flush it now. Basically they say if the fluid is 12 yrs old then it's better not to touch it, but if it was changed at some point, then it's safe to flush it. I don't know if it was changed by previous owner before I got the car or not. Is there any way I can investigate it or what should I do, take a risk and change it or drive it as is?

ericpmarkIII · #2 November 5th, 2009, 12:16 PM

I'd drop pan and change the 4 odd qts. oil and filter. Note any metal. You may find plastic plug from assembly line- don't panic, toss it. May not need to change- cheap insurance, easy job.

Dereck · #3 November 5th, 2009, 04:37 PM

Hi Zjazz

If it were my car I would change the transmission fluid/filter staright away and not worry about a thing.

Regards

Dereck

no0c · #4 November 5th, 2009, 06:01 PM

Ditto with Dereck.

Changing the fluid includes draining the torque converter as well. There is more fluid that can be drained from the converter than via the transmission pan.

I personally do not care for the flush approach. I prefer to drain, CHANGE THE FILTER, and refill. Easy job.

BTW, the Ford Stealership is blowing white smoke at you. How can clean fluid possibly hurt a transmission. Absurd to say the least.

The plug mentioned above is a plug that was used to plug the fill tube bore. When the fill/dipstick tube was installed on the line they just pushed the tube in and the plug falls in the pan.

Good luck.

zjazz · #5 November 5th, 2009, 06:22 PM

Thanks for all replys and info. I appreciate it.
Actually Tim, they said that new fluid will be much thinner than the 12 years old, and transmission may not perform same way. Also they said that it may leak from seals again because new fluid it thinner. So I don't know if that's true or not. But the thing I didn't like is that they said they don't change filter. So possibly I will have to go somewhere else to do this job. Because I want to change filter as well.
Ohhhh I hope it's gonna be ok. Will have to go to Jiffy lube or something like that. Any suggestions or precautions I need to know and take care?

no0c · #6 November 5th, 2009, 08:01 PM

In my opinion, all of the mentioned stuff from the dealership is nothing more than hogwash.

Another opinion, a Jiffy Lube or any of those other chains give me the willies. I would avoid them like the plague. I have heard too many horror stories from the home of a bunch of pimply faced, adolescent gearheads that you will find working at most of them, in this area anyway.

I would look for a reputable independent garage to perform the work, if you can't do it yourself, and evidently you don't have that available.

Good luck.

KStromberg · #7 November 5th, 2009, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by no0c

In my opinion, all of the mentioned stuff from the dealership is nothing more than hogwash.

Another opinion, a Jiffy Lube or any of those other chains give me the willies. I would avoid them like the plague. I have heard too many horror stories from the home of a bunch of pimply faced, adolescent gearheads that you will find working at most of them, in this area anyway.

I would look for a reputable independent garage to perform the work, if you can't do it yourself, and evidently you don't have that available.

Good luck.

Don't forget Walmart.

They're not ASE certified either and put their hands on WAY too many things in my opinion and even approach the simple things like tightening lug nuts in the improper manner. Like NOOC said, find a reputable mechanic, someone who actually went to school for it and didn't just go through some "Certification Program" like at Walmart.

Chevyguy · #8 November 6th, 2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by no0c

Ditto with Dereck.

Changing the fluid includes draining the torque converter as well. There is more fluid that can be drained from the converter than via the transmission pan.

I personally do not care for the flush approach. I prefer to drain, CHANGE THE FILTER, and refill. Easy job.

BTW, the Ford Stealership is blowing white smoke at you. How can clean fluid possibly hurt a transmission. Absurd to say the least.

The plug mentioned above is a plug that was used to plug the fill tube bore. When the fill/dipstick tube was installed on the line they just pushed the tube in and the plug falls in the pan.

Good luck.

If the fluid is burned and old, if you put new fluid in and do not reset the PCM then the transmission will burn up due to low line pressure. The adaptive learning had slowly reduced the line pressure as the clutches had exhausted the friction modifier, then putting in fresh fluid suddenly makes things slippy again.

Also FLUSHING is a bad choice, this can dislodge all sorts of residue etc..

IF the fluid is clean, red and smells OK I would do the following.

RESET THE PCM, Drain the torque converter, Drain the pan, change the filter, refill with proper Mercon V. Good to go...

wewsnu · #9 November 6th, 2009, 04:17 PM

I agree that the dealership is lying, should be avoided, and possibly reported.
I also agree that you should drop the pan and replace the filter. I have however, never understood why people are so against "flushing". I understand that if someone dumb is running the machine that harm could be done. I understand that the filter should be changed out every so often. Perhaps some of these flushing machines work different than others, but the one at my buddies barn has no pressure of its own. People I ask always say stuff like oh things will get dislodged. That could be true with some machines, I don't know. But if the machine they're using introduces no pressure of it's own, nor decreases pressure or available fluid, I fail to see how this could possibly be an issue. Fluid normally is pushed at a relatively high velocity from the transmission to the radiator, if that fluid is allowed to drain into a container, and new, fresh fluid introduced to the transmission at the same rate at which the old fluid is expelled, then there is nothing occurring that doesn't normally happen every time you start the car. The realistic downside to flushing is that the old fluid contacts the fresh fluid, so much so that that when I use the machine I typically use twice the fill amount, basically flushing it twice, which gets pricey using mercon 5 :-(

SignatureSeriesOwner · #10 November 6th, 2009, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wewsnu

The realistic downside to flushing is that the old fluid contacts the fresh fluid, so much so that that when I use the machine I typically use twice the fill amount, basically flushing it twice, which gets pricey using mercon 5 :-(

Especially Mobile 1 Synthetic Mercon V

dickwells · #11 November 6th, 2009, 04:48 PM

Mobile is a town is southern Alabama.

zjazz · #12 November 6th, 2009, 05:31 PM

Thanks everyone for valuable suggestions!
I will look for an independent shop who does this instead going to dealership. As far as I understand draining is better than flushing. So I'll do that including draining torque converter and changing the filter.
Chevyguy, only one thing I did not understand is how to RESET THE PCM and what's that actually? I don't know this procedure. You are saying that if fluid is burned then transmission will go bad after putting new fluid if I will not reset PCM or it will go bad anyway? I did not understand this part and will be grateful to you if you could shed some light on this, as I'm not a technician and not completely understood what you mean. Thanks in advance!

SignatureSeriesOwner · #13 November 6th, 2009, 07:27 PM

I've never heard of what ChevyGuy said about resetting the PCM before, but in order to do it, you would remove the negative cable from the battery for about a minute.

Chevyguy · #14 November 6th, 2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zjazz

Thanks everyone for valuable suggestions!
I will look for an independent shop who does this instead going to dealership. As far as I understand draining is better than flushing. So I'll do that including draining torque converter and changing the filter.
Chevyguy, only one thing I did not understand is how to RESET THE PCM and what's that actually? I don't know this procedure. You are saying that if fluid is burned then transmission will go bad after putting new fluid if I will not reset PCM or it will go bad anyway? I did not understand this part and will be grateful to you if you could shed some light on this, as I'm not a technician and not completely understood what you mean. Thanks in advance!

If the fluid is burned already, then just start saving for a new trans. Many trans on their last legs got killed by changing the fluid. This is probably why the Dealer chickened out from touching the trans.

Resetting the PCM requires pulling the Keep Alive memory fuse, or just disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes.

It is always a good idea to reset the PCM after a Trans fluid change.

Dereck · #15 November 7th, 2009, 12:31 AM

Hi

Whats the matter with you guys? The car has done 30,000 miles, Ford's recommended fluid change interval is 30,000 miles, I would allready have fresh fluid an a filter in that car.

Regards

Dereck

zjazz · #16 November 11th, 2009, 10:31 AM

I got good news!

I spoke to the service manager at the dealership who serviced the car and transmission fluid was changed with filter and gasket at 27K!!! So I'm good to go another 30K and don't need to change it now. Thanks everyone for very helpful replies! Have a great day!