I'm frozen in fear to even touch the transmission - sage advice please

[TJC]

Reinstalling the pan would be a great idea...before the refill...

You fellows are a hoot!

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[5thranger]

If you take it somewhere, be prepared to bend over and spell RUN cause it ain't a cheap service!

And the only lube that they will use is the used trans fluid. Hope there isn't too much clutch material in the that fluid. They are savages.

 

[JohnnyO]

Back story:
Had the fluid flushed three times over the years in my old Sport Trac (that I bought new) because like the Ranger, the tranny is a known weak spot. Trans crapped out and lost reverse at 132k anyway. Shop said the rest of the innards were toasted anyway and it was on borrowed time.
My take was that having the fluid changed didn't make any friggen' difference.

I went into this truck with the attitude of screw it, Ford says not to change the fluid until 150k so I'll change it if and when it breaks.
Last week I took the Ranger to the aforementioned shop I use for state inspections and stuff I can't do myself. He is primarily a transmission shop but does general repairs too. I replaced the DPFE sensor myself a month ago, it wasn't shifting bad but could be better, which it is. It's approaching 100k and we're renting a camping trailer in October, not a real long trip, so I asked him to change the fluid and filter. He calls back later and says he drove it, it rides and shifts fine, it's not leaking, his advice was leave it alone although he'd take my money if I insisted. He said the filter is probably flowing about 80%, now you put in fresh fluid and a new filter and it's suddenly flowing 100%, the fluid pressure is higher, and that is when things break. This is a guy who's been rebuilding transmissions for 30+ years. So Imma leave it alone.

 

[ctechbob]

Back story:
Had the fluid flushed three times over the years in my old Sport Trac (that I bought new) because like the Ranger, the tranny is a known weak spot. Trans crapped out and lost reverse at 132k anyway. Shop said the rest of the innards were toasted anyway and it was on borrowed time.
My take was that having the fluid changed didn't make any friggen' difference.

I went into this truck with the attitude of screw it, Ford says not to change the fluid until 150k so I'll change it if and when it breaks.
Last week I took the Ranger to the aforementioned shop I use for state inspections and stuff I can't do myself. He is primarily a transmission shop but does general repairs too. I replaced the DPFE sensor myself a month ago, it wasn't shifting bad but could be better, which it is. It's approaching 100k and we're renting a camping trailer in October, not a real long trip, so I asked him to change the fluid and filter. He calls back later and says he drove it, it rides and shifts fine, it's not leaking, his advice was leave it alone although he'd take my money if I insisted. He said the filter is probably flowing about 80%, now you put in fresh fluid and a new filter and it's suddenly flowing 100%, the fluid pressure is higher, and that is when things break. This is a guy who's been rebuilding transmissions for 30+ years. So Imma leave it alone.

Doesn't work like that.

There are pressure sensors in the trans. It knows what pressure is being applied to the circuits in the transmission and will adjust the line pressure accordingly to meet whatever shift timing target it needs to.

 

[dtech]

Back story:
Had the fluid flushed three times over the years in my old Sport Trac (that I bought new) because like the Ranger, the tranny is a known weak spot. Trans crapped out and lost reverse at 132k anyway. Shop said the rest of the innards were toasted anyway and it was on borrowed time.
My take was that having the fluid changed didn't make any friggen' difference.

I went into this truck with the attitude of screw it, Ford says not to change the fluid until 150k so I'll change it if and when it breaks.
Last week I took the Ranger to the aforementioned shop I use for state inspections and stuff I can't do myself. He is primarily a transmission shop but does general repairs too. I replaced the DPFE sensor myself a month ago, it wasn't shifting bad but could be better, which it is. It's approaching 100k and we're renting a camping trailer in October, not a real long trip, so I asked him to change the fluid and filter. He calls back later and says he drove it, it rides and shifts fine, it's not leaking, his advice was leave it alone although he'd take my money if I insisted. He said the filter is probably flowing about 80%, now you put in fresh fluid and a new filter and it's suddenly flowing 100%, the fluid pressure is higher, and that is when things break. This is a guy who's been rebuilding transmissions for 30+ years. So Imma leave it alone.

I wouldn't let a shop like that touch my transmission, estimating the filter is probably flowing at 80% ? Do you change the engine oil on a regular basis ? why - because the oil accumulates particles that over time increase engine wear and over time the oil begins to degrade . Similar things occur with ATF albeit at a much slower rate but the fluid collects tiny abrasive particles (filter collects the larger particles) from items that wear - like clutches, so unless you do mostly highway miles the ATF becomes dirty over time with abrasive particles so the effect is one of multiplying wear over time as the fluid collects more and more abrasive particles. I use color as an indicator of ATF condition - which is why a dipstick makes sense. And in closing having lived in Pittsburgh for 4 yrs I miss the state inspections as much as I miss my episodes of kidney stones .

 

[ctechbob]

I wouldn't let a shop like that touch my transmission, estimating the filter is probably flowing at 80% ? Do you change the engine oil on a regular basis ? why - because the oil accumulates particles that over time increase engine wear and over time the oil begins to degrade . Similar things occur with ATF albeit at a much slower rate but the fluid collects tiny abrasive particles (filter collects the larger particles) from items that wear - like clutches, so unless you do mostly highway miles the ATF becomes dirty over time with abrasive particles so the effect is one of multiplying wear over time as the fluid collects more and more abrasive particles. I use color as an indicator of ATF condition - which is why a dipstick makes sense. And in closing having lived in Pittsburgh for 4 yrs I miss the state inspections as much as I miss my episodes of kidney stones .

I would posit that transmissions make MORE particles than engines since there are many more sliding pieces as well as clutch disks that are, by design, shedding particles every time they engage and release.

Either way, that transmission guy is stuck in the 1980's with his thought process.

 

[JohnnyO]

I wouldn't let a shop like that touch my transmission, estimating the filter is probably flowing at 80% ? Do you change the engine oil on a regular basis ? why - because the oil accumulates particles that over time increase engine wear and over time the oil begins to degrade . Similar things occur with ATF albeit at a much slower rate but the fluid collects tiny abrasive particles (filter collects the larger particles) from items that wear - like clutches, so unless you do mostly highway miles the ATF becomes dirty over time with abrasive particles so the effect is one of multiplying wear over time as the fluid collects more and more abrasive particles. I use color as an indicator of ATF condition - which is why a dipstick makes sense. And in closing having lived in Pittsburgh for 4 yrs I miss the state inspections as much as I miss my episodes of kidney stones .

I get all that and I'm diligent about changing the other fluids but like I said, after my previous truck my take is that it doesn't make much difference. So my Sport Trac's tranny crapped out at 132k instead of 110k after spending hundreds of dollars on fluid changes, whoop-de-doo. Same shop rebuilt the Trac's tranny and I never touched it the rest of the time I owned the it and when I traded it on the Ranger with 212k on it the tranny was still fine.

Been on a lot of Ford Truck boards for a lot of years and I think that Ford builds good engines but their transmissions are often shit and you either get a good one or you don't.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

I get all that and I'm diligent about changing the other fluids but like I said, after my previous truck my take is that it doesn't make much difference. So my Sport Trac's tranny crapped out at 132k instead of 110k after spending hundreds of dollars on fluid changes, whoop-de-doo. Same shop rebuilt the Trac's tranny and I never touched it the rest of the time I owned the it and when I traded it on the Ranger with 212k on it the tranny was still fine.

Been on a lot of Ford Truck boards for a lot of years and I think that Ford builds good engines but their transmissions are often shit and you either get a good one or you don't.

I would ask them how many 10R80’s they’ve rebuilt

 

[got3fords]

Either way, that transmission guy is stuck in the 1980's with his thought process.

My thoughts exactly.

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