I've done all kinds of reading about the 5R110 and the fluid.

I've owned our 2003 6.0l for a year now. Got it with no service records. Transmission works great, no issues. Car has 176,000 miles on it. I keep thinking about the transmission fluid...

I can either:

A) drain what ever comes out of the pan and refill that amount and then continue to do that over time

OR

B) go to the dealer and have a heated flush done

I read that some people are firmly against a flush and that it causes problems by flowing contaminants around in the transmission and causing problems. I would guess that if a flush causes problems, you were heading for problems anyway?

But I don't want to do anything to promote problems.

Any opinions on the two options?

Thanks

 

I have done quite a bit of searching in the 6.0 forum and its pretty well understood that the most effective way to change all of the fluid is the heated flush provided by the dealer. There is a thermostat in the torque converter the has to be opened to get the fluid out.

I just had mine heat flushed at 180k and have not experienced any transmission trouble.

 

Mark Kovalski will eventually comment on this, but here's my 2 cents...

The 6.0 filtering system is so horribly efficient with two filters. One is the normal trans filter in the pan, but it also has an external filter that catches what the one in the pan didn't.

On my HD4R100, I run an inline magnetic filter which catches what the magnet in the pan as well as what the filter in the pan doesn't.

On top of that all, Ford built themselves a virtually bulletproof transmission that you very rarely hear about a failure with. You have to put some serious power to it in order to break it.

My point: let the dealer flush it out with the proper heated procedure.

 

The internal "filter' is a screen, the external filter is THE filter that needs changing.

Make sure the dealer actually has/uses the heated flush..

Sent from my Sprint PC36100 using IB AutoGroup

 

Thanks guys. I was going to have the dealer replace the toilet paper roll (external filter). I've read the internal one is good forever and only catches large stuff anyway.

I'm curious to see if the resident transmission expert Mark Kovalski has any opinions.

 

My local ford dealer didn't do a flush when i asked for one, my fault.

There is a ford dealer across town that does all the truck work, they'd probably have/use the machine, check your local area.

Personally, i have the '08+ trans pan with very effective internal filter ready to go in, when i do my drain and refill at 130k, just waiting for no rain on a weekend day...

Sent from my Sprint PC36100 using IB AutoGroup

 

I would put an 08 pan and filter on it.

 

That's a good idea, I need to have mine flushed out and may just do that....

 

Actually it is in the pump assembly, not the torque converter.
I'd hardly call it horribly efficient. It's marginal.
The internal filter is fairly coarse, but it isn't a screen. The internal filter is good for the life of the trans. The external needs changing every 30,000 miles. The reason I say it is marginal is that the external filter only filters 10% of the cooler line flow. And when the thermostat is closed the flow to the cooler is only 10% of the hot flow, so the filter sees even less flow.
Yep.
Me? Opinions? Nah.....

You're correct, the external needs changing, not the internal.
So would I. That's an excellent upgrade.

The upgraded filter is a better filter than the external filter it replaces, plus it filters 100% of flow 100% of the time.

 

Mark,
When you do the updated filter and pan
What is the change interval for the pan filter?

Sean

 

Mark, any opinions on doing a heated flush or not? Your expertise is very much appreciated.

 

He's stated it many times.

He actually already answered you here once before: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post13009656 ...and here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post13011981

Stewart

 

I don't know. If someone has a 2009 or 2010 owner's manual it will have that interval.

Yes, you should do a heated flush.

 

Thanks Stewart. I have trouble remembering yesterday let alone a year ago.

 

Thanks Mark. I'll start calling the local Ford dealers.