Tranny Service

[Vdubnick]

Mercon LV.

yes, even if you have to spend a couple bucks more a quart, stick with the LV fluid.... for some reason the 6R80 is picky, and the LV fluid is not compatible with the newer stuff. I was able to find it around 6-7 bucks a quart at oreilys... no other shop had it.

edit: it is SP that you cant mix, and have to pay a premium for

 

[inmanlanier]

Today I changed my tranny fluid. I used the Valvoline Multi-Vehicle ATF full Synthetic. It was a messy job - no matter how careful, you can't focus the pan drain in a small area. Even with 3 buckets, likely I lost close to a quart on the floor.

It was a little over 102K miles. The fluid had no odor but was somewhat brown. It appeared to be in OK condition. I tow a 6300# boat load to the FL Keys once a year and my Expedition did not come with a transmission cooler. I'll likely do more drains and refills based on the color.

Question - does anyone have an idea of the range on the dipstick min. vs. max and what it corresponds to regarding the difference in volume (e.g. ounces)? I ask because I follow the FordTechMakuloko youtube videos. I came around to determining that 7 1/2 quarts was the right amount.

In filling, once I was within 1 quart of that, I started checking level (paid with the Catalytic warming up right there!). At 7 1/2 quarts I was below the hash marks. I added maybe one pint and I overshot on the high side. I was a bit surprised. I was going to try and get to the bottom level since the fluid was not hot (he recommends bottom of the hash marks with warm fluid). I ended up draining a little less than a pint out and called it a day (I used the Dorman replacement pan with a plug). Unfortunately I don't have fingers made of asbestos.

So... anyone know how much volume is represented by a change from the low end of the tranny dipstick hash marks and the high end of the hash marks?

If I'm overfilled by a small amount (say as much as a pint?) is that of concern? Please answer the last question only if you have personal hard knowledge vs. old wives tales .

thanks

 

[Vdubnick]

i think it was 1/4-1/2... i remember overshooting too and sucking some back out, just used a siphon tube. not as bad as i was expecting.

 

[inmanlanier]

Drove for the first time today. All was well - a couple of early shifts firm (perhaps the learning phase someone mentioned). After cleaning up and looking at the old fluid in a clear jar, I'm going to change more.

I've run numbers with the feed and bleed approach. Since 7.5 quarts (out of 13) are new each time (57.7% new, 42.3% old), all you do is take the remaining (old fluid) fraction amount raised to the power of the number of times you bleed and feed and that gives you remaining old stuff. 2 bleed and feeds (.423 squared) results in ~18% old fluid remaining, 3 bleed and feeds (.423 cubed) leaves 7.6% old fluid, the 4th time gets you to 3.2% old fluid. I think 4 bleeds exceeds the benefit vs. risk factor. I think 2 is too low - so it looks like I'll bleed and feed a total of 3 times.

Thoughts?

 

[Trainmaster]

Don't knock yourself out if you're not using the Mercon LV. These transmissions are very picky and "universal" fluid can be disagreeable to them. Keep whatever Mercon LV's in there and hope for the best. If it's shifting with that stuff now and not doing anything bad, I'd leave it be. See what others think.

I use one of the plastic mixing boxes (pans) for concrete from Home Depot. It's big enough for the whole transmission and only costs about $6.

 

[inmanlanier]

The Valvoline Multi-Vehicle is explicitly Dextron VI, Mercon LV and DEX/MERC qualified as well as others.

The question was for how many bleed and feeds, but thanks for the tip on the pan.

 

[Vdubnick]

The Valvoline Multi-Vehicle is explicitly Dextron VI, Mercon LV and DEX/MERC qualified as well as others.

The question was for how many bleed and feeds, but thanks for the tip on the pan.

correct, i was mixing up SP.... if you have 6R75, you have SP, and as far as i know there is no compatible replacement for SP

 

[Trainmaster]

I still wouldn't do much more than you did, unless the stuff was contaminated somehow. The fluid coming out of there isn't burnt. And yes, the concrete mixing box is great for the job. You may want to save your money and energy to drain the transfer case. That chatters sometimes with old fluid.

 

[inmanlanier]

Thanks for the input gents.

Regarding the fluid, there was no smell, but it was a good shade of brown (hard to see any red in it). I agree, likely I'm fine, but with a lift in my detached garage, and now a drain plug in the pan - it's too easy to swap the fluid out especially considering the cost vs. alternatives. I've already ordered 4 more gallons ($76). When they come in, I'll put it in the air, drain and fill, run for a while until up to temp, then drain and fill one more time. After that I'll have an extra quart or so of fluid and hopefully never think again or worry about my transmission as long as I own the 'truck' as we call it in our family.

And I'm 2 wheel drive - no transfer case

 

[WrenchinBrit]

Hey Gotay
I pondered the same thing with 240 on mine so I did a lot of reading .. to just leave to transmission UNserviced is plain negligence.
I have put on now a few thousand miles with no issues .. as the TQCon
Holds so much your probably only getting yo change 30% ish when doing the drain pan and filter.
I’ll do another one in 3k.
At that point I can evaluate the color of the fluid having added 7 qts and the new filter.
I was cautious about doing an entire drain but to be honest there was so little on the magnet that after the filter and 5 ish qts on the next one I’ll probably wait 10k and do a complete flush.
So far I feel I made the right move.