Transmission fluid drain/refill and a filter change, and a t-case fluid exchange. 28,440 miles on it. I'd long planned on doing this 'refresh' around 30k miles, but I'm not driving as much as I used to these days, and I had a stretch of days off work, so I took advantage of them before the garage turns into a refrigerator.
Some thoughts on the process:
1. This isn't for the faint of heart. It's not complex, but it's not that straightforward, either. In all it probably took me about 5-6 hours, but I'm slow, was working at ground level, and spent a lot of time planning the next step. Yes, I watched some of the you-tube vids beforehand, but watching a vid and wrenching under your truck are truly different. I know a lot of you could have done it a lot quicker. Even raising it on jack-stands might have helped, I dunno.
2. Most if it is a one-person job (remove rear-most skid plate for the tranny, and the silver L-shaped plate for the t-case, heat shields, pan bolts, filter exchange, reinstall pan, refill, check level, and put it all back together.), but man, when it comes to actually dropping the pan, best to have a buddy with you.
2a. Some of the heat-shield bolts may take the entire stud out when you remove them. It's really not an issue for the two on the sides, but it's a bit of a pain for the two on the rear, since they're right over the exhaust crossover. Fortunately, the heat shields are little more than stamped aluminum, barely thicker than foil, so they can be re-shaped to wiggle the studs around the exhaust.
2b. It would have been really nice if Ford could have routed the lines to the transmission cooler just a half-inch further forward. As it is, the lines catch the passenger side corner of the pan, and when you 'pop' it past them, best to have your catch pan at the ready because the front of the pan will drop however far it can and the remaining 4+ quarts will come a-pouring out. This is where the buddy would help to either help you hold the pan steady, or manage the catch pan.
3. Mine was fully filled from the factory. I know some early gen2 owners had under-filled transmissions, but when cold mine was right up to the bottom of the "C" hashmarks on the dipstick. That was my goal when refilling it. I never had the courage to a check at full op temperature (until now, see below).
4. It took about 7-1/3 quarts to refill mine. I filled it with about 6 until it was between the "A" and "B" on the A-B-C dipstick. Then I started it and cycled through the gears like you would for a 'hot' check. When I rechecked it, the level was below the "A" so I added 1/2 quart at a time until it was just touching the bottom of the "C" range (cold). In total, I put in 7-1/2 and when I checked it at operating temperature, the fluid level was just above the 'C' mark, so I took about 1/4 quart out and that put it just at the top of the "C" range.
5. I put on a new gasket, but the old one looked perfectly fine. But, as long as I had the new one, and it's not too pricey, decided to just go ahead and use it for peace of mind.
6. The transmission fluid didn't look too bad, it was definitely darker then the new stuff, but didn't smell burnt at all. There was a very fine sheen of silvery metal in the bottom of the pan and along the magnet, but nothing close to what I would call a large amount.
7. The fluid from the T-case was surprisingly dark (see pics in the post below this one). Probably 10-15% of the miles have been in 4wd, including at least 20-25% of that in 4-lo, whether I really needed it or not. But I wanted to 'wear in' the underdrive gears as much as possible before this first change. I know the LV and ULV fluids have a reputation for darkening pretty quick but the darkness of the t-case fluid really surprised me. There also seemed to be a bit of a silvery 'sheen' to this as well as I transferred from the bucket into the disposal containers.
Pics:
Some thoughts on the process:
1. This isn't for the faint of heart. It's not complex, but it's not that straightforward, either. In all it probably took me about 5-6 hours, but I'm slow, was working at ground level, and spent a lot of time planning the next step. Yes, I watched some of the you-tube vids beforehand, but watching a vid and wrenching under your truck are truly different. I know a lot of you could have done it a lot quicker. Even raising it on jack-stands might have helped, I dunno.
2. Most if it is a one-person job (remove rear-most skid plate for the tranny, and the silver L-shaped plate for the t-case, heat shields, pan bolts, filter exchange, reinstall pan, refill, check level, and put it all back together.), but man, when it comes to actually dropping the pan, best to have a buddy with you.
2a. Some of the heat-shield bolts may take the entire stud out when you remove them. It's really not an issue for the two on the sides, but it's a bit of a pain for the two on the rear, since they're right over the exhaust crossover. Fortunately, the heat shields are little more than stamped aluminum, barely thicker than foil, so they can be re-shaped to wiggle the studs around the exhaust.
2b. It would have been really nice if Ford could have routed the lines to the transmission cooler just a half-inch further forward. As it is, the lines catch the passenger side corner of the pan, and when you 'pop' it past them, best to have your catch pan at the ready because the front of the pan will drop however far it can and the remaining 4+ quarts will come a-pouring out. This is where the buddy would help to either help you hold the pan steady, or manage the catch pan.
3. Mine was fully filled from the factory. I know some early gen2 owners had under-filled transmissions, but when cold mine was right up to the bottom of the "C" hashmarks on the dipstick. That was my goal when refilling it. I never had the courage to a check at full op temperature (until now, see below).
4. It took about 7-1/3 quarts to refill mine. I filled it with about 6 until it was between the "A" and "B" on the A-B-C dipstick. Then I started it and cycled through the gears like you would for a 'hot' check. When I rechecked it, the level was below the "A" so I added 1/2 quart at a time until it was just touching the bottom of the "C" range (cold). In total, I put in 7-1/2 and when I checked it at operating temperature, the fluid level was just above the 'C' mark, so I took about 1/4 quart out and that put it just at the top of the "C" range.
5. I put on a new gasket, but the old one looked perfectly fine. But, as long as I had the new one, and it's not too pricey, decided to just go ahead and use it for peace of mind.
6. The transmission fluid didn't look too bad, it was definitely darker then the new stuff, but didn't smell burnt at all. There was a very fine sheen of silvery metal in the bottom of the pan and along the magnet, but nothing close to what I would call a large amount.
7. The fluid from the T-case was surprisingly dark (see pics in the post below this one). Probably 10-15% of the miles have been in 4wd, including at least 20-25% of that in 4-lo, whether I really needed it or not. But I wanted to 'wear in' the underdrive gears as much as possible before this first change. I know the LV and ULV fluids have a reputation for darkening pretty quick but the darkness of the t-case fluid really surprised me. There also seemed to be a bit of a silvery 'sheen' to this as well as I transferred from the bucket into the disposal containers.
Pics:
Attachments
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