So i've just dropped the pan, changed the filter, drained the TC. can someone please describe the proper method for refilling my transmission as far as do add a couple of quarts before i start and then fill to desired or what??..... its a 89 E-350 C-6

 

Anybody????? also do i check the final level with engine running or stopped? i'm a complete novice

 

Some TC have a fill port in them. If you have access to it and feel like a little extra work, you can pump a few quarts into the TC. Only go about half since it will just drain into the tranny anyway while sitting. Half full would be when the fluid dribbles out while the fill port is about halfway from vertical, ie 9 or 3 O'Clock. Usually most of us can't reach the fill port if it is higher anyway.

Then put about 1/2 to 3/4 of the total volume(minus any you put in the TC) into the pan thru the dipstick tube. This should get you close enough to not run dry on first startup. I am guessing the C6 takes about 15 quarts or so, but don't trust me here.

THen start the truck let idle a minute or so and check fluid level after sitting a minute or so. THen top up, and then idle it for just a minute or so and check again and top up as needed.

A lot of people will fire up the engine without filling the tc first and it seems to do not real harm. Just make sure you put at least half the total fluid amount into the pan before starting and then check and adjust fluid level shortly after first start.

The reason I don't put the total amount of fluid in to start is that most of the time, the tranny doesn't drain completely, including the tranny cooler and/or the in radiator cooler. So if you put the full amount in, you will have an over full problem which can cause bubbles which is not good for the tranny.

JUST NOTICED you don't know how to check fluid level. So, generic instructions are...

First make sure your fluid is slightly warmed up. Just a few minutes(I think the manual says no more than 10 minutes at freeway speed) on the street will do if temps are "normal" like between 70 and 90 degrees. Don't check fluid level right after 6 hours on the freeway towing a trailer with 100+ degree temps, and don't check it after first starting in winter in Frostbite Falls.

Check fluid level with engine running. On a flat level surface, no tilt of the truck sideways or front to back.

Park the truck and let it idle. Put the tranny thru all the gears and wait a moment after each gear engages. I like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, OD, N, R, then Park. End up in park or neutral and then pull the dipstick and wipe it with a CLEAN cloth. Put the stick back in and fully seat it and pull it again and read the fluid level.

If your fluid is really clean it may be hard to see the level so check in different light or change your viewing angle. The fluid should be inside the Hatch marks and or should be visible covering some small holes that you will see on some sticks. Never let it sit below the "low" mark since this can cause damage fairly soon. Try not to be above the "full" mark. If you overfill just a bit is OK, at most 1/4 inch high is OK. Too much fluid causes bubbles, if the stick is covered with foam well above the full mark, you are either too full or have an air leak.

Check your fluid level a few times during the first week to make sure you have no leaks etc.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

thank you Jim

 

hey Jim, every time i try to read the dip stick, the fluid is all over the stick with no definite indicater of level

 

First, the engine is running and the tranny is in park or neutral, right?

No bubbles on the stick right? a few is normal, lots means either too much fluid or tranny sucking air.

Let the engine and truck sit for a minute or two at idle. Be sure to wipe the stick off so it is dry. Then stick it back down the tube and pull and read again. Try again after a minute or two if that doesn't work.

If there is still a lot of fluid on the stick do another kind of check...

Turn the engine off and let it sit for maybe half an hour or so. This will let all the fluid drain back into the pan and prevent splashing up the tube. DO NOT turn the engine on. Then wipe the stick and check the level. At that point it should be a bit high, maybe an inch. If it is much more than that, you probably overfilled the tranny. It should not be low while the engine is off, that would mean you are really low and maybe splashing fluid or foaming which would go up the tube.

How much fluid did you put in? Does it drive OK?

I am suspecting it is a bit overfilled. Depending on what the above checks tell you, you might want to use a hand pump and hose to remove maybe a quart or two of fluid and see what happesn to the level.

I do not know for sure how much a C6 holds so maybe one of the guys who knows can step in?

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

thanks for getting back to me Jim. i started another thread "reverse engineering" to explain where i'm at in this process. hopefully you can help. long story short, i put in almost exactly what i took out. now the tranny barely engages at all

 

I lost track of this thread. Did you ever get it resolved? From lookming at the other thread I have a few questions...

>"89, e-350, 460, c-6.i just purchased the van and upon driving it home the (what it felt like was) the tranny disengaging. since I'm no mechanic i figured tranny filter and fluid change. everything is done (thanks to members here) except for refilling the tranny. My problem is that in the procees of refill iv\'ve yet to get a clear reading on the dipstick"<

What did the fluid you removed look like? At WORST it might have been pink. RED is good. Brown, not good, Black really bad. Smokey smell is not good. Chemical smell is good.

BTW how many bottles did you refill/use? Should have been at least 10(GUESSING) and probably closer to 15(another guess). If you only filled less than 10 it is possible you were low before and are low now after refilling.

I assume you dropped the pan to change fluid and Filter. Did you torque the scews/bolts for the filter to spec? Should have been measured in inch pounds, or hand snug/slightly tight. Not King Kong tight or loosey goosey. These are small screw/bolts, not lug nuts, so gentle.

I don't know on a C6, but many filters have an O ring on the neck that slips up into the tranny. Did you check to see if the old one was removed? I.E. the old O ring should have been on the neck of the old filter or might have been stuck up in the tranny. It is best to make sure the old one is removed from the tranny. Be careful not to scratch the inside of the hole with whatever tool you use. A missing or double O rings can cause an air leak which could cause bubbles. Also can prevent the tranny from doing anything.

Were there any bubbles on the dipstick? If so then you have an air leak or too little or sometimes too much fluid. I am guessing your fluid level is Ok or slightly high if you filled the bottles with the old fluid. So I would lean to to high, reason as I mentioned in a previous post, or the filter is leaky. Both usually will show bubbles.

Another thing to check when you have the pan dropped is to gently tighten any screws/bolts you see on the valvebody. I almost always find one or two that is loose. A loose valve body will also cause problems, but easy to fix, usually. Again hand tight or torque to inch pounds spec. One of those ratchet screw drivers with a socket is about right for hand tightening, almost can't turn too tight.

What really worries me is that the van is relatively old, so it may have high miles and or lots of wear. This is the reason I ask about fluid color. But color is not a guarantee since a person selling a bad shifting vehicle may change the fluid in the hopes it helps or to hide color issues. By any chance did you notice what the pan looked like? Were there any metal flakes or chips in the bottom? A few chips(rice size) is not too unusual. Lots of flakes is not good. Also were there any pepper looking flakes? Maybe a teaspoon is normal, more than that means the clutches are bad.

Do you know the history of the van? How well did it drive lately? WHy did the owner sell it? I am fearful that the owner sold it because it was nearing end of life on the tranny. The feel of the tranny disengaging on the way home is not a good sign. Probably meant low fluid if you are lucky, or tranny on it's way out if you are unlucky.

Also check the breather like Stuart mentioned, it could be an easy fix, and it won't cost anything to check.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Stupid question but I have to assume you don't know a lot...

Did you use automatic tranny FLuid? I think a C6 uses Mercon/Dexron, which is red. Older ford trannies used I think type F which I think is yellowish. Do not use manual tranny fluid which is dark brown or engine oil.

Just want to make sure we cross the bases.

Jim Henderson

 

Where would this be? I have never seen a torque converter with a fill port, and I've looked over A LOT of torque converters.

 

Jim thanks for getting back to me!!! Heres the story. after you lost track of me I looked on the net for other resources. I found a guy Ken "bad shoe productions" that does rebuild videos. through e-mails he helped me!!! the problem for me was that i was under the impression through someone on this site that the system held 12 qts. but when puuling pan and draining TQ you can only retrieve 6qts. wich happened to be what came out. Ken advised me to add more fluid and ck. the modulator which i did. After that the van moved on down the road. The color of the old was good and no metal in the pan. My concern at this moment is your advise on the filter bolts!!! you mention inch pounds. i hand tightened and and gave a decent torque. what problems am i possibly looking at??? Yes i do know very little but that is why i came here to learn. This rig will be for work and play so i want to be confident about it so i would likt to handle as much of the mechanics as reasonable so that i have a thorough understanding. I tried to PM you but couldn't figure that out. Thanks Jerry. P.S. i just posted a new question in the general discussion if you can help that would be awsome

 

From memory way back in late 90s...so memory may be faulty on details but I know I did fill the TC thru the port. I have read that some newer models did not have the port, but mine definitely did.

On my 94 F250 E4OD, the fill port is if I recall on the outside diameter of the TC, it is possible it might be on the front face of the TC, most of my other cars had it there.

It looks like a square bolt. It is accessible thru the access plate that you remove from the bellhousing. The access plate is there specifically so you can get to the port. You do have to turn the converter so you can see the port. Chances are you won't see it the first try. A BEEG screwdriver or remote starter button helps, or a trustworthy buddy at the ignition key.

It's there but not on all vehicles. Usually econo or light duty vehicles won't have it, in my experience.

Jim Henderson

 

best bet is to tighten using a decent torque wrench to factory specifications. I forget but THINK it is something like 50 INCH pounds. If you torqued the valve body or filter bolts to 50 FOOT pounds you run the risk of stripping the threads. I can't think of any other problem it may cause other than stressing the bolts and threads.

Hand tightening is an art. Some people just twist til the fastner gets loose(oops) or break9double oops). That's why I like using those ratchet screwdrivers if I need hand tight INCH pound torque(if I forgot my inchpound wrench). Almost can't turn too hard with the screwdriver handle.

Yeah I was suspecting you might have been low on fluid but until now we didn't know how much fluid you put in. Almost any decent size tranny will take way more than 6 quarts. Interesting that you said it was all over the dipstick, but didn't mention bubbles. Usually I expect bubbles if the fluid is all over the stick.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

If you drain the pan AND remove the torque converter drain plug you will get about 12 quarts. If you only drain the pan or only drain the torque converter you will get about 6 quarts.

No, it did not. It had a drain plug. You are the first person I have heard of that tried to fill a torque converter through the drain plug.

You are describing the drain plug. I am VERY familiar with the E4OD torque converters. Ford did not put a fill port in those torque converters, but they did put a drain plug.

And that access plate is on the bottom of the trans. You have to turn the torque converter to be access the plug, which will be on the bottom when you can get to it. How do you fill a torque converter with a plug removed from it's bottom?

There is no need to fill the torque converter. The transmission will fill it with fluid from the pan once the engine is running. And contrary to popular belief, you are not running it dry after draining it. There is plenty of residual oil after draining. Ford doesn't fill new torque converters in the transmission plant, they are filled by the trans pump once the final test machine starts spinning the torque converter, which drives the transmission pump.

 

Tomato tomahtoe, port drain plug. All the same to me. You gotta remove that screw thingie to let the fluid out of the TC. You can also add fluid thru the port/hole.

Some of us on the web are uncomfortable about a dry converter at startup. So we go thru the trouble of filling the TC thru the Drain PLug Hole(Happy?). It probably is not critical tho, more of a comfort factor. Same like 3,000 mile oil changes, why?

Some manuals go thru the procedure, so I am not imagining it, but it has been a long time since I read a manual for tranny fluid changes, since once you do it, "we don't need no stinking manual".

The way to do it is get a rubber hose and hand pump like is very commonly used to fill differentials and trannies with fluid. Stick the hose in the hole. Turn the converter by hand, until the hole is about 3 or 9 oclock and pump fluid til it dribbles out. I have done it on several cars, so I must be a magician.

There are many alternate ways to do the job, mine is just one and maybe the bigger pita method, but that's the way I always done it.

One method I like but haven't tried is to have two airtight buckets and hoses, once bucket for dirty fluid, once for new, and let the tranny do the pumping, "out with the bad, in with the good". Sounds pretty easy but some mixing of dirty fluid possible. So I just drain thru the drain plug etc.

Do it the way that works best for you, potato potahtoe...


Jim Henderson