Trust me, if it smells burnt, it's most likely too late for a fluid change. You've most likely overheated the tranny and it's well on the way to being "extra crispy". At least that's been my experience. I would have a temp gauge for the tranny installed and if you over heat it (over 210 degrees for a prolonged time period) get the tranny flushed before it smells burnt and does damage.

 

Have owned about six vans in the last 35 years and never changed tranny oil in any of them. All of them went over 200,000 miles. Only one had a failure and that was at 180,000 miles.
They all were Ford and all had recommended oil change intervals.
At least with the dip stick you can look at and smell the oil for burning.
Don't know if I like not having a dip stick but you can bet I won't be changing the oil any time soon.
Al

 

My new Hyundai is this way too as is my 2011 ecoboost. It does state in the manuals that under severe conditions to get it changed at 60k. That is what I am going to do as I am using this truck to tow my travel trailer. Also if you are in a cold weather area that uses Salt on the roads that is considered a Severe condition in both the Hyundai and Ford manuals. At first when I found out I couldn't check it I was a little worried. But after thinking about having a sealed tranny that makes sense. Not only is the dipstick a problem with some over filling. But a good place for dirt to get in.

 

I did not even think about that. You cant look for burnt fluid, badly discolored, or gritty fluid.. Very bad. You dont know whats going on with your own fluid. That kills

 

Finally changed the transmission filter and what fluid i could get out and it works like new again! I found what i thought was going on, a partly clogged filter! No fun. If i did not change it this weekend, im not sure what would have happend. Now i have great shifts and it seems like better acceleration. UGH! I did have to remove a engine support partway to get the pan off the transmission. How crazy is that

 

That's just the way things are these days. The only consideration given during design stages is ease of assembly down the line. Absolutely no consideration is given to labor costs for service and repair. And that is with all manufacturers, not just Ford. I'm glad the tranny on your truck is working like it's supposed to, Fordguy.

 

oh haha. Thats on my car. But an automatic is an automatic in some cases when it comes down to diagnoising them. Now i found a radiator seepage from where the aluminum radiator attaches to the plastic tank. Great! Radiator shops will not service that

 

what color is this new trannny fluid? On my 2010 escape it looks more like oil than the red Mercon I am used to seeing.

 

I think 60k is a reasonable number. With these things having more and more gears, that means more clutches as well so more debris floating around. I like to stick with the 60K interval just to keep the filters fresh and debris to a minimum in the fluid getting into things that it shouldn't, like the valvebody. Cheap insurance.