Changing trans filter

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Eric08

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I was in the parts house the other day and was thinking about changing out my transmission filter and when I spoke to the guy at the counter he asked how many miles I had on he truck. I told him it had 155k on it, and he told me that if I did it would cost me more in the long run. That changing it at such high mileage would release all the goo that’s already in there holding the thing together. I do believe he is overreacting a bit but to air on the side of caution. Has anyone had any major issue after changing their transmission filter
 

Trainmaster

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Back in the old days, transmission fluid would turn to varnish over time which would encourage the clutches to slip. That would further burn the fluid. The upside was that the varnish would seal leaks in the horrible quality seals. Then someone would come along, change the fluid and the fresh fluid would clean up the varnish and make the case leak.

I haven't had that problem with modern transmissions, and I've changed plenty of fluid at 100K miles, which is what Ford recommended on many transmissions. If I were you, I would go for it, but I'd use Ford Motorcraft fluid, filter and make sure it's the type recommended for your truck.

If you drop the pan you're only going to get a handful of quarts out of the case anyway. The rest remains in the torque converter, most of which don't have a plug to drain them.
 
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Eric08

Eric08

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Thank you for the info. Yeah everything will be factory spec when I change it. I just haven’t been too sure since I was told the info on possible damage
 

mjp2

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*snip*
If you drop the pan you're only going to get a handful of quarts out of the case anyway. The rest remains in the torque converter, most of which don't have a plug to drain them.
This right here was my motivation for an aftermarket pan with a drain plug. I dropped the pan, replaced the pan and screen at 150k miles, drove a week, drained and re-filled the fluid again. At this point it's *mostly* fresh fluid running through the system.

It got rid of a slight shudder my truck had, which was nice. I try to stay on top of maintenance items (I bought this truck used) but rarely do a I see a marked improvement from something as simple as a fluid change.
 

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