Transmission services

Was just at af Ford dealership and inquired about servicing transmission and dropping pan to change filter. I used to do it yearly but have not been hauling heavy loads for awhile so have not been having it done. He said that isn't done much anymore ands they recommend a flush with suction or vacuume or something like that as that would get to the torque converter. Any preferences out there or advice? It is a 97 f15o with 4.6, 4x4, and a Transmission cooler.

Thanks

Rick

That is in line with what I have read. I can't say that it applies to all vehicles, they all have their own recommendations.

Changing transmission fluid

I would go with what your owners manual says. We have a 1997 f250 HD 4x4 and have the trans fld. changed every two years. The most we tow in a year is three weeks and only put on maybe 10,000 miles a year. I hate Ford dealers and wouldn't trust one word they say!!. Caught them in lies with our F150. My friend was the service advisor at Ford and left the job because of the lies he had to tell customers. Look at it this way cheaper to change the tranny fld. than to have major tranny repairs.

I wouldn't go to a ford dealer if you paid me,go to a local service garage or transmission place and get comparason prices and go with synthetic fluid,doesn't break down like standard trans fluid and lasts longer

The Dealer don't want to drop the pan for transmission service because of the age of the truck, they assume if you have an older truck and you are in for that service its because the truck's transmission is having problems and it may quit at any moment, I used to have a repair shop and a good transmission flush machine can get 90% of the old fluid exchanged, just make sure they use the ford mercon atf.

The only down side to the flush is the filter is not cleaned or replaced, I have used a 97 F150 to do all my towing up till this year and I would routinely drop the pan every 15 to 20K and there is a noticeable amount of debris from the clutch plates and what have you in the bottom, it would be reasonable to say that the heavier stuff fell to the bottom the other sizes are caught in the filter and if the filter is restricting flow you get unnecessary wear and heat as a result The leading causes of trans failure ignoring abuse is dirty fluid or lack of and overheating. On my truck I picked up a huge trans cooler and swapped out the factory unit which was about 25% the size, to eliminate the one cause

More

Well, there is more.

I had truck in for a check engine light because the dealership could get it in and I was getting suspicious of my regular independent shop. Claimed it was an o2 sensor, changed it ($262.00---super yikes) and sent me on my way. I lent the truck to my nephew tonight who was going down the Interstate at 70 mph when he lost all electrical. Engine quit, power brakes gone, windows,steering----he got it over but it scared the hell out of him and I don't blame him. When I got down there the dash guages would go on and off as I turned ignition switch and all sorts of weird stuff. Finally, most everything went dead. When tow truck came we jumped it and got engine started for a second, was able to close windows ( raining) and noticed the votage guage was not registering that it was charging. So I don't know if something was not reconnected- though I can't imagine what-you don't need to mess with alternator to replace an o2 sensor--quite the coincidence that the alternator goes the day after it is serviced.....though I will never be able to prove it was the dealer's fault. Still- I had it towed there for $77.00. Be interesting to see what they say the issue is in the morning.

Rick

Alternators do not know the last maintenance you have done.

I am not totally sticking up for dealerships and that price seems a little high for an O2 sensor. With that said as someone who worked as a mechanic that was the worst part of the job. If I changed a window switch in a vehicle and two weeks later the transmission was slipping it was something I caused. Once you worked on a vehicle you were responsible for it for life. Older vehicles have things that go wrong and wear out unexplainably. With that being said regular fluid changes are of high importance. I don't think it matters if you use the machine and get all of the fluid or not. Definitely change the filter every other time and use a good fluid, I like synthetic but I don't know that it is necessary.