Transmission fluid change

[FireRedFiesta]

I was looking for maintenance diagrams and found the costs of a whole new tranny. Talk about sticker shock! Don't skimp on maintenance on these things or you'll be looking the cost of a new tranny. DOH!!! Most people I know never bother changing tranny fluid. Man, that's like the worst thing you can do next to not changing the oil in your car. That's just insane. Any time I buy used, I always have to buy with the miles low enough so that I know I can do the fluids on the tranny and I'll be safe.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^THIS!!

I've NEVER EVER heard of a transaxle failure from OVER-maintaining it (which is what I've always done with mine), and changing out the fluid every 10-15K miles/or annually.
There were some 'fines' on the Dimple drain plug's magnet after only ~7K miles on the Gear 300 which I drained out (and replaced with the Ravenol MTF-2) about two weeks ago.

The only 'hit' is to your wallet, but it would take A LOT of those 'hits' to add up to a new, out of warranty, replacement on YOUR OWN dime.

 

[redmoe]

Just made a video for the transmission fluid change last night:
https://youtu.be/VyghVFbn9FE

 

[jtehh]

Just made a video for the transmission fluid change last night:
https://youtu.be/VyghVFbn9FE

So strange. You only drained a bit over 1.6 liters, but when I changed mine I drained right about 1.9 liters. I have a 2016 and you have a 2017, so maybe they changed something? Oh well, I put the same amount back in and haven't had any issues.

Nice video and I totally agree with your finding - it isn't out of reach for anyone to change their trans fluid themselves.

 

[redmoe]

So strange. You only drained a bit over 1.6 liters, but when I changed mine I drained right about 1.9 liters. I have a 2016 and you have a 2017, so maybe they changed something? Oh well, I put the same amount back in and haven't had any issues.

Nice video and I totally agree with your finding - it isn't out of reach for anyone to change their trans fluid themselves.

It’s possible they overfilled at the factory? The spec is 1.67L dry fill. The amount I drained out was very close to the spec. One thing I noticed is that the graduations on the motorcraft bottles is not very accurate.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

It's not under copious amounts of pressure here people....I think if it's off by .30 litres the transmission isn't smart enough that it would be fine..its just a set of gears...synchros and bars. Just fill it up and let er rip!

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[redmoe]

just for reference:

 

[M-Sport fan]

It's not under copious amounts of pressure here people....I think if it's off by .30 litres the transmission isn't smart enough that it would be fine..its just a set of gears...synchros and bars. Just fill it up and let er rip!

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

...and it's vented as well

 

[Ford ST]

It's not under copious amounts of pressure here people....I think if it's off by .30 litres the transmission isn't smart enough that it would be fine..its just a set of gears...synchros and bars. Just fill it up and let er rip!

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

Yep just put two bottles in it, and call it a day easy.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Yep just put two bottles in it, and call it a day easy.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

That's what I'm saying...

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[cxwrench]

Yep just put two bottles in it, and call it a day easy.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

That's what I did. I still have all 4 doors so it must be fine.

But I did get the cylinder head recall notice in the mail today...finally. Just not sure whether I trust my dealer to do the work properly.

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

Head recall?

 

[redmoe]

Too much oil could lead to the gears “whipping” it up and increasing the temperatures. The heat increase could raise the pressure enough to drive a leak in already weak seals (seen this on Jeep axels in the past). I agree that .3L would not likely cause an issue, however it’s a 17% increase in volume. Ford is pretty specific about the fill level most likely for a reason.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Too much oil could lead to the gears “whipping” it up and increasing the temperatures. The heat increase could raise the pressure enough to drive a leak in already weak seals (seen this on Jeep axels in the past). I agree that .3L would not likely cause an issue, however it’s a 17% increase in volume. Ford is pretty specific about the fill level most likely for a reason.

Just drained my factory fill in a new trans after it got replaced....2L came out....that's what it got back in.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[redmoe]

Curious what you used to measure it? This could all be a moot point depending on the accuracy of the measuring device.

 

[Ford ST]

There was a thread on here a while back about a Ford master technician recommending to put over 2 liters in it due to input shaft bearing failure. Apparently if your original transmission input shaft bearing failed Ford Motor Company had a bulletin for the techs to put over 2 L in it.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[dmb]

er, oh,oh,

 

[redmoe]

That would be a good TSB to get ahold of. It would be good to see what years were impacted. It’s strange that they would only increase the fluid volume for units that have failed. I wonder if there was a casting variation that reduced the flow or level near the bearing?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

There was a thread on here a while back about a Ford master technician recommending to put over 2 liters in it due to input shaft bearing failure. Apparently if your original transmission input shaft bearing failed Ford Motor Company had a bulletin for the techs to put over 2 L in it.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

That would explain why my replacement came with 2L of fluid in it ! Very noice....I'd love to see the TSB also...

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Ford ST]

Jeff, FWIW, I lost my original trans running the OEM Ford DCTF at 6,000 miles due to output bearing shaft failure. 4,000 miles later on the new trans, I switched to Motul 300. I’m currently sitting at 70k miles with zero issues, and you know how much power I’m putting down, so I’d say you’re pretty safe with the Motul 300. I changed it for some fresh Motul at 50k, and noticed it had sheared down some.

Side note: When I drained to DCTF to put in the Motul 300, I actually drained 2.2L out of the trans. I called Ford and spoke to the master tech, who told me that when a FiST came in with a bad output bearing, they’re instructed by engineering to overfill the new trans. Apparently, the standard fill spec is a suspect in causing the bearing to fail. In any case, he told me to put at least 2L in, so that’s what I did. 2 full liters of Motul 300 went in, and again later when I put fresh fluid in. Like I said, zero issues all this time later, not even a leaky axle seal. Shifts smooth and quiet.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk