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Should I.....?

Z

zetec herman

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 26, 2005
Messages
56
Location
Hamburg, New York
My tour has 104k on the clock. I've been thinking of flushing the transmission fluid. My mechanic and the tranny shop think it's a good idea to get a complete flush done.

I have no clue whether the fluid was changed last or if it's ever been changed.

Tranny shifts great, no problems whatsoever. I'm very easy on it while accelerating.

The fluid looks clear to light pink. I can't tell if its burnt. I'm not good with smell. Don't see any metal shavings in it. Looks like there's some little bubbles in it. Should I flush? Everybody tells me something different.

I've heard drain and fill doesn't accomplish anything. I've read bad things about flushes also.

BTW, its an atx. Also, neither the mechanic or the tranny shop (had 2 caravans rebuilt there without a hitch) have never screwed me over yet.
 
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I would have mixed feelings. If the fluid looks as good as you have described I would be reluctant to change it too.

On the other hand if you have no idea how long it has been since it was changed it would not hurt to do it and have a base line for future maintenance.

The drain and refill twice or three times in a row works fine, especially if the fluid is in reasonable shape.

There is no reason to be afraid to flush it either. You can do it yourself using the "hose in a bucket" method. I don't think anyone has posted this recently so if your interested I'll post the instructions.
 
I'm probably not going to do any service myself. Thanks anyways. I'm affraid I will screw something up along the way.

BTW, when I said flush, I mean like a power flush (forces new fluid in and old fluid out).

One other question, what fluid is used: Mercon, Mercon IV, or Mercon V?
 
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Mercon was factory fill. There is no such thing as Mercon IV. Ford recently published a TSB saying that Mercon V is now appropriate for all Mercon uses. It's a better fluid, but it's also more expensive since it is a synthetic blend.

You will be fine with Mercon.
 
I just had it flushed.

Took it on a long drive afterwords. Seems really good. One improvement I noticed was when I was stopping at lights in drive, the car didn't idle rough. Usually the steering wheel vibrates. It doesn't do this anymore.

Do you think a flush could have anything to do with helping this?
 
zetec herman said:
I just had it flushed.

Took it on a long drive afterwords. Seems really good. One improvement I noticed was when I was stopping at lights in drive, the car didn't idle rough. Usually the steering wheel vibrates. It doesn't do this anymore.

Do you think a flush could have anything to do with helping this?
Click to expand...
Probably not. Most probably due to worn engine/tranny mounts which shifted when it was put on a lift.
 
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