Tranny Fluid Change suggestions - Diesel Forum

Yardbrew · 03-10-2003, 10:05 PM

Changed tranny fluid today on my 2002 E350 PSD. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Here are some of my experiences:

Bought 10 feet of clear 1/2 inch poly tubing at Ace Hardware.
Bought two SS hose clamps (screw type.

Needed a 5/8 open end wrench to remove the return line at the very rear of the transmission.

Did not plug the hole in the transmission body and it did not leak.

The half inch poly will slide past the tubing flare rather easily and it can be clamped adequately by screwing the clamp on top of the flare.

I bought 5 of the gallon jugs of Mercon at WalMart.
I saved two empty milk jugs (1 gallon size).

The second screw clamp is screwed down snugly about 8 inches from the end of the poly tubing. Then you can clamp a pair of vice grips onto the screw and use that to anchor the free end of the hose to your oil change pan.

From that point on, I followed the FAQ's on this web site that were written by Mark K. I used the option suggested by Larry M. to pump out the pan first before dropping it to replace the filter.

Although Mark's FAQ's suggest about 30 seconds of pumping with the engine running, I found that it took me almost a minute to get the bubbles to start coming in the line. I kept waiting and looking at my stop watch wondering if I was not seeing the bubbles. Don't worry, you can see them if you have clear tubing.

SUGGESTION: Measure everything !!! When you do the first pump out, measure how much fluid you have pumped by pouring it into the two gallon milk jugs (I got about 7 quarts out). After you've added fluid and done the second pump out, continue keeping track by filling up the second milk jug and the first of the empty trans fluid jugs.

By keeping track of how much fluid you've pumped out, poured in, and have remaining, you can be sure that you end up with about 18 quarts in the transmission.

When you do the final top off and check the level, trying to read the dipstick isn't the easiest thing in the world because the filler tube is coated with fluid on the inside and it wipes off on the dipstick making it hard to read. If you've measured the fluid, you can be pretty sure that you are close to correct and won't hurt anything by letting the engine run and warm up a bit before checking the level again.

Thanks Mark, this is absolutely the only way to change tranny fluid.

Larry M · 03-11-2003, 07:50 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks Mark, this is absolutely the only way to change tranny fluid.

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img]

Only other hint here is to get your significant other involved and have him/her do the engine cycling thru the gears thing while you watch the tubing/bubbles. Then after it's done you say WOW with your help we saved a bunch of $$$$ ... so where do you want to go out for dinner tonight at [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img] My first time I didn't do that since me and another member got together and did both our trucks at the same time, but still came home and did the dinner thing [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I also agree on keeping track of the fluid pumped out and just do it until you get 18 qts pumped out. When we did ours I had a stick in the 5gal pail that I had premeasured and marked every 2 qts. as a quick check.

Larry

msnunes · 03-12-2003, 10:16 AM

Could a guy expect a tranny shop to do this kind of flush? Or the better question, IS this the technique done by a tranny shop that would do a complete flush?

And how many quarts does a tranny take for a simple drain and filter change (non-flush)?

Larry M · 03-12-2003, 10:30 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Could a guy expect a tranny shop to do this kind of flush? Or the better question, IS this the technique done by a tranny shop that would do a complete flush?

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img] I don't know [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
And how many quarts does a tranny take for a simple drain and filter change (non-flush)?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure exactly what you mean, but the pan (ours doesn't even have a drain plug and is a real mess to drop full of fluid) holds around 7 qts. Now if your torque converter has a drain plug (sometime in either 2001/2002 Ford removed the drain plug [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ) in it you can get somemore out, but with the above procedure you get 17Qts or so out and all the stuff in the torque converter, coolers and internal passageways of the tranny and only have to disconnect one fitting and dropping the pan w/o any fluid in it is a huge advantage if you going to change the filter in the pan. I just really can't see why anyone wouldn't want to save the $$ and make sure it's done right. It really is that simple.

Larry

msnunes · 03-12-2003, 02:21 PM

I meant how much could you "get out" without doing the complete flush. Sounds like maybe 7-10 quarts, assuming you can drain the TC?

I had a shop tell me that they don't drain TCs. Gave me some BS about not always being able to thread back in the TC drain plug... I didn't appreciate it -- and they HAD done it for me before (on the same vehicle) a few years before.

**Mark Kovalsky** · 03-12-2003, 02:36 PM

If you drain the pan and torque converter you can probably get 14 or 15 quarts.

Larry M · 03-12-2003, 02:43 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I meant how much could you "get out" without doing the complete flush. Sounds like maybe 7-10 quarts, assuming you can drain the TC?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know the exact #, but the whole system holds a little more than 17qts and if you can drain the converter then there is probably only 2 qts or so left in the coolers and tranny internal passageways. So I would think you might get 15qts or so out. But again I'm just not sure [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

Larry

Yardbrew · 03-12-2003, 08:23 PM

Yeah,

If you just drop the pan and clean it out, replace the filter, bolt the pan back up again, you will be looking at about 7 quarts. That's a little over 1/3 of the fluid in the transmission.

If you happen to have a TC with a drain plug, you can get another 6 or 7 quarts out....no more.

I just can't imagine anyone passing up such a simple procedure which will allow you to pump out ALL of your old tranny fluid.

Yardbrew