Here is my problem with flushing the fluid, if you flush the fluid all of the contaminants that are in the bottom of the pan and in the filter will be redistributed throughout the transmission, which defeats the purpose of having a filter in the first place. Not to mention flushing the transmission will not and should not flush most of the fluid in the torque converter if the transmission is never put in gear, correct me if I'm wrong the torque converter doesn't move or rotate until the transmission is put in gear. However, the way I look at it mechanics, in the driveway or at the local shop, have been changing the fluid in automatic, and manual, transmissions for years the old fashion way, and in my few years wrenching I haven't heard of a tranny going bad from old faithful. One last note, I called the dealer to get a price and they wanted $200.00 to hook it up to a machine to flush it and put new fluid in without dropping the pan or changing the filter, I also called a local transmisson shop and they want $85.00 to do it the old fashion way. The only way I would take it to the dealer would be if the transmission had no pan, like my fathers 2001 Escape is. Thanks for the input.


Does anyone know where the fuel filter is on this same vehicle, 2004 Explorer??????????