I need some advice guys. I've got an 08 F150 32k miles, 4.6 reg cab swb. with the towing package & I believe the 4r70w transmission. Anyway I plan on keeping this truck until about 300k miles...so when does everyone change the fluid in these? The manual says every 60k. but it says to change the oil at 7,500 which is way to long in my opinion I go by the old 3k oil change standard. I'm doing all of my own maintenance thats why I ask. I plan on doing a simple pan drop and torq converter drain & not a flush. p.s. I do mostly 2 lane highway driving with probably 15% of miles towing. Thanks!

 

There is no torque converter drain plug. To get the fluid out of the torque converter you either have to flush the trans or remove the torque converter to drain it.

Under the severe use schedule Ford recommends changing the ATF every 30,000 miles. I recommend you follow the severe use schedule if you want this truck to last a long time.

 

Hello Mark...........

I have a question on the tranny fluid change I hope you can help me with.

I also have a 2008 F-150 Crew Cab short bed, automatic tranny with the 5.4 gas engone.

I brought my truck in to where I usually have it serviced and I was going to have a complete tranny fluid change. Apparently my shop cannot do the job because of the thermostatically controled oil cooler?

So I guess my question is, how or where do you go to get this type of what was once a simple job accomplished if what they are telling me at my shop is accurate?

Or,

Is there a way to say use a scanner to hold the circuit open on what I pressume is the oil cooler thermostat/coupler, or whatever it is called to complete the exchange?

Or,

What type of machine is utilized to accomplish the exchange?

Or,

Is the shop I'm using out in left field and I need to find a new one?

Any help will be greatly appreciated in resolving this issue.

Best regards,

Gordo

 

There is a thermostat in the cooler circuit. The thermostat is just like the one in the engine, the only way to get it to open is to get it hot.

Some shops have heated flush machines just for this. They are rare, but they are out there.

 

Thank you for the reply Mark.

I was afraid you would say it takes a special machine. Guess I'll just have to call around and find a shop that has one that heats the tranny fluid.

I am curious though? Would it be possible to install a drain plug on the tranny pan, run the engine/tranny on a lift to get the thermostat open, hook up a regular exchanger and flush through the pan drain plug? Just a crazy thought, but wondering if it would work?

Regards,

Gordo

 

No, that won't help at all.

 

Mark:

Again, thank you for the response.

It always amazes me as to why engineers make things more difficult than they have to be. In the Marine Corps, we could change the main rotorhead transmission oil/cooler oil, check the chip detectors and have everything back together in less than 30 minutes. And I can assure you, transmissions in a chopper were a little more complicated than any in a motor vehicle. You haven't seen a torque wrench until you see the type used on what we called 'the Jesus nut' and really the only thing that keeps the rotorhead attached to the tranny shaft.

I have called around to local shops, even our local Ford dealership and nobody has a machine that heats the tranny fluid. Found it difficult to understand how a Ford dealership would not have one of these machines.

Anyway, will keep searching, somebody has to have one.

Best regards,

Gordo

 

The engineers wanted a drain plug in the torque converter. The price cutters deleted it.

 

Figures!!!!!!!

But how expensive would it have been to have the drain plug installed during production? For a truck that had a sticker price in excess of $44K, how much would the drain plug install have added to the cost of the truck? Even if it was $100 bucks, at $44K it seems like a small price to pay considering the problem it has to be causing thousands of owners of these trucks? It almost makes me wish I had gone with a standard tranny instead of the automatic.

It's too bad there isn't some kind of a retro-fit available to cure this problem.

Regards,

Gordo

 

Mark:

I just finished having a conversation with a Ford certified mechanic and he presented the following to me. I hope I got this down correctly, but this is what I was told:

From what I can understand, this situation has to do with the Powertrane Controle Module & the EPCS

According to him, you can attach a scanner and open the thermostat via (Pin #39, Wire #925 a white and yellow wire that controls the thermostat) using the scanning program.

Is this possible, even true or was this guy just presenting something in an attempt to impress me with his faux knowledge of Ford transmissions?

Regards,

Gordo

 

I left Ford when the 2008 models were going into production. At that time there was no such thing as an electronic thermostat. I have not heard of anything like that when I was servicing vehicles for the last two years, either. I think he made that up.

 

Well Mark, thought I would throw it out there for your opinion.

Earlier today I located a Ford dealership that apparently can take care of the job, but they want $275 and that's not counting the cost of the new tranny fluid and filter kit. All total, it would appear they want around $400 bucks to do the job and that price just sounds absurd to me.

I knew I should have just kept my 1985 F-250. Don't know what I was thinking springing for a new truck. I could do all of the work on the 250 myself and didn't have to worry about absurd charges for a tranny fluid change.

It seems like all of the dealerships that are left in my area are really pumping the market in repair cost. I called a local Ford dealership, there are three in my area and all owned by the same family, to ask about a spark plug change...they wanted $22.85 per spark plug! Bought a complete set through my shop...$80 bucks in round numbers. Heated the engine up and all of them came out real easy.

Now I have another recent development, the CD player won't eject the CD's! It ejected two and now I get an 'ejection error' on the rest. Now I have to check and find out how to remove the faux wood fascia without breaking it. Can't see any screws holding it in place, probably just snaps into place, but I know those plastic snaps can be a pain breaking them if you're not careful. Hopefully I can get a picture of the unit and instructions for removal somewhere online?

Of course all of my Chevy friends are busting me about owning a Ford. I'm a very, very small minority in my neck of the woods...it's Chevy/GMC country around here. Add owning a few Buick GranSport's only adds to the harrassment.

Regards,

Gordo

 

Hi Mark,
Here's what I have done on every vehicle (auto trans) that I have owned for 30 years....

At 20k miles, I change the filter (due to possible residual/initial wear particulates that may be floating inside) and either drain the torque converter (if so equipped with a plug) or disconnect the trans cooler line at the radiator, fill the pan with fresh fluid, my wife starts the engine and when 2-3 quarts drain into a bucket, she shuts it off, I refill the pan and repeat until the fluid is clear and in case of the f150, 14 quarts of fresh fluid is in.

I change only the fluid after that (unless I determine substances/contamination in the oil). The intervals vary depending on the type of trans, type of fluid and conditions, but in general, every 30k miles. Heat is a killer on automatic trans fluid and when we lived in the desert area, I changed the trans fluid at the end of summer every year.

In regards to filters, oem is fine, but I typically use Wix.

In regards to trans oil, both in sticks and autos I have always used Valvoline.

I have also never had a trans failure in any vehicle I own and typically keep my vehicles for 10+ years, with over 100k on the odometer.

 

There may be 1000 or more places where the engineers would like to spend $1 to $10. That adds up to $1000 per vehicle. Vehicle prices are not set by adding up the costs and then a profit. Prices are set by market conditions. So if they add $1000 to each truck that just reduces the profit.

On the torque converter alone, Ford sells maybe 2 million torque converters per year. If it cost $1 to install a drain plug that's $2 million less in profits. Multiply that by 1000 places in the truck that $1 could be spent and you've reduced profits by $2 Billion!! That's not pocket change.

You can't look at pricing one truck at a time. That's not how it works in mass production.

 

Mark, I worked in foreign car parts from 1970-1989. There were many times a customer would assemble an air-cooled VW engine and leave out the air deflectors that fit under the cylinders. Installing them after the engine is together requires removing the cylinder heads, or else taking out the rockers and pushrods and using adjustable-length pushrod tubes. These guys would always ask, "Do I really need these air deflectors?" And I would tell them that those little pieces of tin probably cost Volkswagen less than 25¢ to make. Volkswagen sold 21.5 Million Beetles over the years. At 25¢ per car that is $5,375,000. And I would ask, "If VW could have saved $5 Million don't you think they would have left those out if they weren't necessary?" I sold a lot of adjustable pushrod tubes.