Roger that cob. Just tuck my post in the back of your memory banks somewhere so you'll have it when I you need it. You never know.

 

I'll definitely keep it in mind. Never know. Might need it if that ever does go wrong on this truck. Name is Jake by the way. I suppose i could probably put that in my sig.

 

the hardest part about draining the TC is finding the darn plug.

if you open the inspection cover (which is only about 3 inches wide), then slowly spin the engine by hand, you should be able to see a very small drain plug accessable through an opening in the flywheel.

it has been quite a while, but as i remember it was pretty small, may 1/4" or so.

it does take a while to drain, but gravity is free. the last time i did it i lucked out and the drain plug just happened to be behind the inspection cover, so i just removed the plug and came back in an hour or so.

when it comes time to refill, don't try to put all 12qts in at once. it will just spill out the top somewhere (i think there is an overflow or checkvalve somewhere on top where it can come out). just put about 5 or 6 qts in, start the engine briefly to pump the fluid from the pan into the TC. Do that a couple times until you are within about 2qts or so of your total fill quantity. then just add slowly until it is topped off.

I understand your resistance to using a non specified fluid. but with the 4r70w in particular, the problem wasn't in the trans it was in the fluid. Merc V was the answer.

you logic is true but a little backwards. think about the time at which this was going on. The didn't want to sell you merc V fluid that woudl fix your old 4r70w. they wanted to keep you using the Merc fluid so that it would shudder and then they would hopefully get sell you a new 4r70w which required merc V. Without the additional shear strength of the Merc V, the 4r70w is doomed to shudder problems.

as i said before, i'd just spend the extra money on synthetic. (I have, every time). the synthetic exceeds the requirements for both. my 95 t-bird shudderd bad enough to rattle your teeth, so i bought it cheap, and did a fluid exchange with full synthetic and havn't had a problem since .... you wanna talk about problem prone, the 94-95 t-birds are the eppotimy of TC shudder.

don't want to beat it to death, just sharing what little i know ... my money buys the synthetic, then you can just forget about it.

 

Now i don't know what i wanna do. Seems Merc V is what i should put in it, but that goes against what i know about transmissions and fluids. But i guess if others have done it and had no problems then i should as well. I just know that some guys have switched to merc V in a 4R100 and a few thousand miles later they let loose. I don't get why if the 4R70 was supposed to have merc v then why did ford fill it with merc?

Oh and my luck the drain plug will be at the very top when i go to take it off. haha

 

there is no harm with using the fluid specified on the dipstick. just be aware that the shudder will likely return in that 30k miles or so. no real big deal, just do another fluid exchange.

full synthetic will get you a solid 60k with no worry. (in my experience).... honestly ... if asked for advice, i'd tell you just to do synthetic. some say it is a waste, but i've had AOD's go well over 200k by exchanging with full synthetic, my 95 t-bird would rattle your teeth with the TC locked and now shifts smooth as butter after the synthetic, and my exploder now has 150k on it, with the last 50k been me using it like a truck (car trailers, my 3k lb boat, enclosed trailers).

not trying to spend your money, but if the synthetic is twice as much, you will break even, and eliminate the worry of which fluid to use, as they will all exceed the requirements.

all of this reminds me, its been about 50k since i did my transfer case ... should probalby do that again ... (guess what kind of fluid i will use )

 

I guess merc V. I just bought a case of merc V and i'm about to change it out right meow.

 

Well that seems to have fixed the shudder issue. Gonna do the tcase this weekend. How do these tcases work? There's gotta be some sort of clutch in there to keep it from binding when turning.

 

The following is pasted in from the Ford Factory Service Manual:

"The all-wheel drive (AWD) transfer case is a two-piece aluminum, chain driven, viscous clutch type unit. This produces a system in which all-wheel drive is always activated. All-wheel drive transfer case is automatic and has no external controls.

"The viscous clutch is a non-repairable, torque distribution device. The internal construction of the viscous clutch consists of alternating plates that are connected to the front and rear outputs of the transfer case. The viscous clutch is filled with a high viscosity fluid which flows through slots in the plates. The resistance to shear causes the plates to transmit torque at the needed ratio. The ratio that torque is transmitted at is approximately 35% front and 65% rear.

"A front differential compensates for the difference between the inner and outer wheels. However, when one driveline component travels farther than another, there will be driveline or torsional windup that must be released.


"Operation

"Torque is transmitted through the input shaft to the planet carrier assembly. Torque flow continues through the gear ring to the rear output shaft. Torque also flows from the planet carrier assembly to the sun gear shaft, which is splined to the drive sprocket. The drive gear is connected to the driven sprocket by the drive chain. Torque continues through the driven sprocket to the front output shaft flange. The viscous clutch provides the connection between the gear ring and the sun gear shaft."

-Rod

 

Cool. Good info there. Kinda sucks that clutch is not serviceable. Is the "high viscosity fluid" they speak of the ATF?

 

Any answer on what that "high viscosity fluid" is?

On another note, changed the tcase fluid tonight. Not sure yet if it fixed the whining sound, I drank a few too many beers in the process to safely drive it. lol

Also while i was under there I decided to do some more searching on the front end to see if i could find the source of the clunk i mentioned. Well, pretty sure i found it! hahaha



Upper ball joint on the driver side. Now the question is, how hard is it to change all of the ball joints? Uppers and lowers on both sides. If that one is gone, i'm sure the others arent far behind it. And since I believe in doing things right, and doing things once, I'll do them all at the same time. Also, if it is a huge pain in the ***, and since i technically only paid $300 for this truck, how much does it usually run to have a shop do it? No matter how much the job sucks i doubt i'll take that route, but just out of curiosity.

 

yes, the high viscosity fluid is the trans fluid in the transfer case.

bad deal on the ball joints! the ball joints, both uppers and lowers, are non replaceable. to fix them requires new upper and lower control arms.

the uppers may not be too bad, typically 3 bolts -- two on the frame and one at the spindle.

the lowers are probably a total PITA. requires removing the torsion bars. if you are going to attempt it, get a good haynes or chiltons at a minimum.

 

I'm not sure where you got this info but the lower joints are replaceable. Its the uppers that require the arm to be replaced.

 

Haynes maual indicates that the upper and lower baljoints are not replaceable on 1995 and up models, until 2005.

could be wrong, i suppose.

 

Regarding the ball joints. I was quoted around $900 to do this by my local independant Ford guy. He is usually pretty reasonable, and when you consider the parts and time this takes, well, it's a $900 job....

BUT, for those with the ability to find a 32mm socket and a few other tools, read on here:

How To: Upper Control Arm / Ball Joint Replacement (Lots of Pictures) - Ford Explorer Ranger Enthusiasts "Serious Explorations"®

Lower Ball Joint Replacement How To (lots of Pictures) - Ford Explorer Ranger Enthusiasts "Serious Explorations"®

I'm thinking about this every day my daughter drives our '98. Mine is loose enough to start a death wobble at 60mph if the tires are over 35psi....

 

noticed the front tires wearing quite unevenly. found upper ball joint on passenger side about as worn as it can get without breaking off, and both sway bar links gone. Easy fix to replace upper control arm, and the links weren't too bad either.