transmission service

dtech

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As nice as that can be they can't do that on the ranger. The reason is the cooler is mounted on the side of the transmission and the linea go straight into the transmission.
so no heat exchange between the radiator and the tranny fluid ? do coolant lines run to the transmission or the cooler. Having no drain plug on what some would consider a heavy duty vehicle is cheap , dropping a pan can be messy. I'm used to using the tranny lines running to the radiator to do a flush. But I do believe ATF and the auto boxes themselves can tolerate longer maintenance periods than vehicles in the past, still highly variable though on operating conditions but if it's tow rated to 7,500 lbs must have decent ATF cooling. Dipsticks were a nice way to ascertain the condition of the fluid, but now even the drain plug is gone.
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so no heat exchange between the radiator and the tranny fluid ? do coolant lines run to the transmission or the cooler. Having no drain plug on what some would consider a heavy duty vehicle is cheap , dropping a pan can be messy. I'm used to using the tranny lines running to the radiator to do a flush. But I do believe ATF and the auto boxes themselves can tolerate longer maintenance periods than vehicles in the past, still highly variable though on operating conditions but if it's tow rated to 7,500 lbs must have decent ATF cooling. Dipsticks were a nice way to ascertain the condition of the fluid, but now even the drain plug is gone.
The shop manuals on the site aren't super clear about it, so this is just a guess, but yes, it looks like the coolant is piped back to a heat exchanger which is located at the transmission. Maybe they can speed the warm-up and control the operating temperature better by dynamically changing where they pipe the coolant from, but that's just a WAG.
 

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Do you know if there is some other evacuation method or equipment that is used to evacuate or change more of the oil than you would be able to get by just dropping the pan? It seems like dealer shops must have some way of doing this since at 100,000 miles, I assume you would want to change as much of the oil as possible..
The service manual says to remove and fill through the dip stick
 

Frenchy

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so no heat exchange between the radiator and the tranny fluid ? do coolant lines run to the transmission or the cooler. Having no drain plug on what some would consider a heavy duty vehicle is cheap , dropping a pan can be messy. I'm used to using the tranny lines running to the radiator to do a flush. But I do believe ATF and the auto boxes themselves can tolerate longer maintenance periods than vehicles in the past, still highly variable though on operating conditions but if it's tow rated to 7,500 lbs must have decent ATF cooling. Dipsticks were a nice way to ascertain the condition of the fluid, but now even the drain plug is gone.
Yes they have coolant hose's go to the cooler. A pain but it is what it is
 

dtech

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The shop manuals on the site aren't super clear about it, so this is just a guess, but yes, it looks like the coolant is piped back to a heat exchanger which is located at the transmission. Maybe they can speed the warm-up and control the operating temperature better by dynamically changing where they pipe the coolant from, but that's just a WAG.
yes that is likely true, must be a very efficient heat exchanger with ample surface area to transfer the heat . Compared to engines a few decades back the cooling systems are much more efficient .
 


DavidR

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yes that is likely true, must be a very efficient heat exchanger with ample surface area to transfer the heat . Compared to engines a few decades back the cooling systems are much more efficient .
I was thinking about that recently. With engines having gotten much more efficient (generating less waste heat) and newer cooling systems able to transfer the heat better, you just don't see as many cars off to the side of the road in the summer with the hood up and steam billowing from the engine like you did back in the '60s and '70s. It's mostly a thing of the past now :wink:
 

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on my wifes old 2005 Ford Escape we were forced to do a similar type of service. pull the plug and you would drop say about 6 qts of fluid, replace that fluid, drive around for about 5-10 miles, drop another 6 quarts of fluid and replace, drive around for another 5-10 miles, and do one more drop and fill.

This would technically flush about 60-80% of the old fluid out allegedly. We put nearly 200k on that CD4E with no issues.
In the Nissan Frontier world I seem to recall it was recommended to do a transmission drain and fill around every 25,000 miles or so. It took 4 qts for a drain and fill.
The plastic pan is definitely a nuisance since like you, I would be nervous trying to install a drain plug in it. I haven't looked for a metal one but that's not a bad idea. Here's what I did just this morning, though, in case it makes life easier for anyone else:

First, pick up a set of these (Mityvac 1.5-L manual evacuator + the Ford-specific fill/drain tube extension):

IMG_20200826_143926690.jpg


Because there's no long dipstick and fill tube, it helps to have a little extra maneuvering room under the truck, so I put the front on ramps and raised the rear slightly with jack stands making sure that the rear wheels stayed on the ground for stability. The truck should be fairly level, but it doesn't have to be perfectly level because I used relative fluid level measurements, not the procedure in the manual.

What makes this easier than the procedure in the manual is that there is no dropping of the pan, and that the oil level measurements are relative to what they put in at the factory. So yes, there is an assumption that the factory put in the correct amount and that there are not yet any leaks after only 12,000 miles (I'll explain later why I'm doing this at 12,000 miles).

NOTE: to do this you need to get intimate with the exhaust system, which runs just inches from the transmission and the fill port, so I did this with the truck cold, having been run only the few seconds it took to get it up on the ramps. I also made sure that the new bottles of oil were at the same temperature as the underside of the truck.

If you engage the transmission to move the truck onto ramps, let it sit for a while so the oil settles, then loosen the cap and use the dipstick inside to measure the existing factory fluid level and remember what it is.

I then sucked out 3 quarts of oil, which is a bit less than what the manual says you should get by dropping the pan, and replaced it with 3 quarts of new oil using the evacuator. I then checked the level, which was off by a tiny bit so I added a little to correct for it.

Put the dipstick and cap back on and you're done. I test drove it for 10 miles or so and it's fine. I'll probably recheck the level again in a day or so.

So why am I doing this at 12,000 miles? According to the manual, if you just drop the pan, you will only be draining 3.5 quarts of oil (out of 12). My plan is to remove 3 quarts (about 1/4 of the total) and replace it with new oil every 10-12,000 miles. That's not exactly the same as changing all of it at once at 50,000 miles, but based on the manual, you can't do that by just dropping the pan. I think this method is pretty safe since you're just directly replacing oil that is sitting right in the pan, and with the evacuator it's really only slightly more of a headache then changing the trans oil on our '93 Ranger where I installed a drain plug. It will take a little extra time to navigate your way through the first time, but I suspect the second time, it will take me around an hour.

What I probably will do at 50,000 miles is to drop the pan and change the filter, but that will be less painful of a task if you first use the evacuator to remove as much oil as possible.

Note on cost: I was pleasantly surprised that the ULV oil was pretty inexpensive even at the dealer. It was about $6 per quart. After the initial cost of the evacuator, replacing 1/4 of the oil every 10-12,000 miles will cost all of $18 and an hour (+/-) of time.
I like this idea. In the Nissan Frontier world it was recommended to do a drain and fill about every 25,000 miles. It took 4 qts to do it. I will probably give my Ranger this treatment. Sure wish it had a drain plug.

DavidR, where do you get that Ford-specific fill/drain tube extension?
 

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In the Nissan Frontier world I seem to recall it was recommended to do a transmission drain and fill around every 25,000 miles or so. It took 4 qts for a drain and fill.


I like this idea. In the Nissan Frontier world it was recommended to do a drain and fill about every 25,000 miles. It took 4 qts to do it. I will probably give my Ranger this treatment. Sure wish it had a drain plug.

DavidR, where do you get that Ford-specific fill/drain tube extension?
The nissan Frontier was recommended to have the fluid changed every 30,000 miles actually. I remember it with my 2016 I used to have.
 

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In the Nissan Frontier world I seem to recall it was recommended to do a transmission drain and fill around every 25,000 miles or so. It took 4 qts for a drain and fill.


I like this idea. In the Nissan Frontier world it was recommended to do a drain and fill about every 25,000 miles. It took 4 qts to do it. I will probably give my Ranger this treatment. Sure wish it had a drain plug.

DavidR, where do you get that Ford-specific fill/drain tube extension?
I got it from Amazon. Since I wasn't sure what to expect, I bought an entire "refill kit" from this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-MVA7...rd+transmission+adapter&qid=1600541888&sr=8-3

But I ended up only using the adapter tube, which I think you can also get separately for less money.

And yes, I think in most vehicles draining the trans oil only drains a fraction of it, it's just the the fraction is smaller in the Ford 10-speed. In our Hondas, for example, it drains about half instead of 1/4.
 
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Ok people you may have seen some of these out there. This is a B&M Tranny Dipstick. It calls out for the F150, but fits other vehicles as well. And fits the 4R70E, 4R75E, 6R80 and 10R80 transmission. I installed this on my 2019 Ranger, fits great works perfect. I made bracket out 1' wide 12 gauge steel. I mounted it in between the coolant reservoir and the air cleaner box. And I put a heat shield sock on it down around the exhaust. No interference with access to anything. Here is some photos.
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Frenchy

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Who knows what happened with the pictures but I lile the idea of this dip stick over the factory one!! Now to get a pan with a drain plug!!!!!
 

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The plastic pan is definitely a nuisance since like you, I would be nervous trying to install a drain plug in it. I haven't looked for a metal one but that's not a bad idea. Here's what I did just this morning, though, in case it makes life easier for anyone else:

First, pick up a set of these (Mityvac 1.5-L manual evacuator + the Ford-specific fill/drain tube extension):

IMG_20200826_143926690.jpg


Because there's no long dipstick and fill tube, it helps to have a little extra maneuvering room under the truck, so I put the front on ramps and raised the rear slightly with jack stands making sure that the rear wheels stayed on the ground for stability. The truck should be fairly level, but it doesn't have to be perfectly level because I used relative fluid level measurements, not the procedure in the manual.

What makes this easier than the procedure in the manual is that there is no dropping of the pan, and that the oil level measurements are relative to what they put in at the factory. So yes, there is an assumption that the factory put in the correct amount and that there are not yet any leaks after only 12,000 miles (I'll explain later why I'm doing this at 12,000 miles).

NOTE: to do this you need to get intimate with the exhaust system, which runs just inches from the transmission and the fill port, so I did this with the truck cold, having been run only the few seconds it took to get it up on the ramps. I also made sure that the new bottles of oil were at the same temperature as the underside of the truck.

If you engage the transmission to move the truck onto ramps, let it sit for a while so the oil settles, then loosen the cap and use the dipstick inside to measure the existing factory fluid level and remember what it is.

I then sucked out 3 quarts of oil, which is a bit less than what the manual says you should get by dropping the pan, and replaced it with 3 quarts of new oil using the evacuator. I then checked the level, which was off by a tiny bit so I added a little to correct for it.

Put the dipstick and cap back on and you're done. I test drove it for 10 miles or so and it's fine. I'll probably recheck the level again in a day or so.

So why am I doing this at 12,000 miles? According to the manual, if you just drop the pan, you will only be draining 3.5 quarts of oil (out of 12). My plan is to remove 3 quarts (about 1/4 of the total) and replace it with new oil every 10-12,000 miles. That's not exactly the same as changing all of it at once at 50,000 miles, but based on the manual, you can't do that by just dropping the pan. I think this method is pretty safe since you're just directly replacing oil that is sitting right in the pan, and with the evacuator it's really only slightly more of a headache then changing the trans oil on our '93 Ranger where I installed a drain plug. It will take a little extra time to navigate your way through the first time, but I suspect the second time, it will take me around an hour.

What I probably will do at 50,000 miles is to drop the pan and change the filter, but that will be less painful of a task if you first use the evacuator to remove as much oil as possible.

Note on cost: I was pleasantly surprised that the ULV oil was pretty inexpensive even at the dealer. It was about $6 per quart. After the initial cost of the evacuator, replacing 1/4 of the oil every 10-12,000 miles will cost all of $18 and an hour (+/-) of time.
Sounds like a good plan. Any more info, pics ,or details appreciated. Haven’t done such Before and very interested
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