2005 expedition transmission oil change

[PAPARAZZI]

OK Guys here's the deal

I have a 2005 ford expedition an i have never changed the transmission fluid since i bought it brand new with 11 miles on it in 2005,, all i have done was add 1 quart of transmission fluid last year,,,,,,

My expedition has 115,000 miles an my question is, when should i change the transmission fluid, the car runs good an the fluid looks good still nice red color on the dip stick,,,,, i know that many of you might think WTF i'am i doing, but this is why i'am asking sorry

How much does a complete transmission change cost, THANX"s

 

[Stoned06]

The manual has the maintenance schedule in it, so i would check there. Could very likely be wrong, but I believe it is 100K miles.

 

[ELVATO]

I think it's something like 100k miles, as well, though a lot of ppl don't change it until it starts to turn color, or give problems.

You can drop the pan, but that only changes 5 of the 14 quarts, since a lot of it stays in the torque converter. Since 2001 (I think) they stopped putting drain plugs in the torque converters, so you have to "exchange" the fluid in order to chage it all. You could do a couple of pan changes (drop the pan, fill 5 qts, drive a little, drop the pan, fill 5 qts, drive a little, etc) until you think enough of the fluid has been mixed.

There is also another procedure where you disconnect some of the hoses going to the cooler, and fill with new as the old fluid comes out. I think it involves starting up the truck a couple of times.

Or, you could do the easy way out and take it to a shop where they have an exchange machine. Not sure on cost, but you could ask around.

 

[Franklie]

You need to drop the pan & change filter & fluids! Go to Jiffy lube $75-85. It's time after 75K

 

[PAPARAZZI]

Finally took it to AMMCO today the guy there told me it recommended evry 50,000 miles an that my car was really over due, He told me that it was going to be about $160 because the 2005 ford exp have mercon transmission oil an that it was a little more,, after the service he said the the transmission oil still loook good n that it had a nice bright red still ?????? but he still changed it,,,

so i had it done an that was the end of that,, thanx's guys

 

[ELVATO]

So did they change the filter, or was it only the exchange? If not, you need to get that done as well.

 

[PAPARAZZI]

Yea they did it all

 

[CSVT#49]

Hmm well this is good news. I just bought my expedition and it has 71k on it. My only concern with the truck was that there are no maintenance records with it. Most people forget about the transmission fluid and just drive it until there is a problem. When you do this you run the risk of basically killing the trans because it starts to rely on the wear materials in the fluid to engage. If you change the fluid, no more wear material, and then you can't get into gear anymore. Whole trans rebuild to fix that lovely issue.

So anyway so what is the real verdict here... does the manual say 75k for a trans filter change and oil flush? I have not picked up my truck yet from the dealer and I'm debating whether I should try and make a filter & oil change part of the purchase agreement.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

At 60k I had the dealer do a complete flush and refill, not just a dump the pan and fill. I do some towing every now and then and I don't want old oil in there...

 

[CSVT#49]

Well I was actually able to pick my truck up today. I looked through the service schedule guide and it says the transmission fluid should be flushed every 30k. So the 75k was way off, by that time you should have already flushed it twice. Now I'm a bit concerned... guess I'll have to drop the pan, replace the filter, and flush the system. Hopefully I won't be left with problems after doing this... guess I'll find out. Oil still looks and smells good so hopefully that shows that the previous owner did the routine maintenance and I'm just repeating something that was only done just 15k before