Haha true that! I know how that is. Well that's good it wasn't your truck, but sucks it was your wife's Explorer. Man, if that guy had told me something like that, I would have had to tell him where to step off and to go look for another job somewhere, unless he's trained by Ford to feed people that B.S.

 

Tim, this is how it's been done for years. I've had it done this way many many times, it's legit and completely safe for the transmission and this is Ford's recommended method of transmissions service.

My 2010 Focus and the 2011 F-150 both state that the first transmission service should be performed at 150K miles and the filter/screen should be replaced at that time and they both use Mercon LV. But in previous models that used Mercon SP, the interval was 60K or a little higher with a machine flush and no filter/screen replacement.

Flushing removes 99% of the fluid from the torque converter and transmission. The machine replaces only the liquid volume that it removes so there is no chance to over/under fill the system. A person could never be this thorough or precise without the machine flush unless they were using a 2 bucket method and using the transmission to pump clean fluid behind the dirty fluid. But, the screen is still not getting cleaned.

 

Wow to me that just sucks. I understand now that that's procedural maintenance for Ford, but I've seen other Ford recommended procedures that fail. I just wouldn't trust it

 

Right, maybe it was just coincidence. I was just a little shocked, that was the first time I had been exposed to the procedure. I still have no idea if I will wait or dump/drain before the 150k. I guess I will see how things progress with the truck itself. Who knows, it might get hit by a meteorite and all this worrying would be for naught

 

Ford has made plenty of blunders my friend and you have reason to be anxious about a procedure that you have no experience with. I wouldn't b e typing this if I didn't believe that it's the best way to go.

That would suck bro.

Two years ago I was getting ready to take my '04 Expy in for it's 30K trans flush. I had about 65K on the truck so I was 5K overdue. The fluid still looked band new out of the bottle, had no odor that was different from the bottle fluid and she didn't leak any.

Soooooooo I goes tot he dealer and had a chat with a service adviser in the truck shop. My dealer has a truck BTW. I was questioning the service adviser about why my flushes on the '04 were at 30K and the same transmissions on the 05's are at 60K using Merc V. He kept telling me that it was by the book and Ford says so....


Soooooo, I took a stroll into the truck shop and I found the manager, a fella who was promoted into the spot from the tech ranks. I start pressing on him a little and he finally says, lets look at your dipstick. We pull the stick and he says, It's not ready and I can't take your money. He said, "come back after 60K miles" which would put my odo at about 95K and we'll do it. He said that for some reason Ford failed to up date the tech standards on the '03 and '04 Expy's to a 60K trans flush.

Sooooo, the issue that we have today with our new trucks and cars is that we have unserviceable transmissions for the DIYer.

You have no stick to pull, no long tube under the hood in which to add fluid, etc. You have to climb under the truck. Who's going to do that with the truck running and pour a little fluid into the tiny hole provided until all 13 qts or whatever is added? Sure as hell not me gentlemen.

This transmission is designed from the factory to be flushed.

 

Well, buddy- since you put it that way I have no choice but to see your point, and it is the right thing to do. I don't mind getting my hands dirty but that might just be a pain in the **** I don't need. Sometimes there is justifiable means for spending the money to have something professionally done, and I'm pretty sure this qualifies 150k it is!!

 

true that !!!

 

That Tim Seekins, he IS the man!

 

The thing that grabs my groin is that Ford took the ability for us to even check and make a determination for ourselves without getting on our backs and getting dirty.

The LV fluid isn't a pretty pink like the Merc V and SP. It's a shade darker and gets a little darker with age, but Ford says it's normal. I do have a dip stick in my Focus and it takes LV so I'll be watching and reporting.

 

"Wow that's a real bummer dude" said the surfer guy to the well informed man.

Again, I like lurking in the other sections cause I do learn a lot. I know I'm learning quite a bit about these newer 150s, (was thinking of eventually purchasing one as they have really grown on me) and I am not liking what I read. I really like and enjoy doing my own maintenance on my rides, but Ford is really just taking the fun out of it. I guess they're making sure they have some way of making money off of guys like me. My truck NEVER sees a dealership, and as long as I can help it, it never will

 

Well you can look at it like that or like "Hey, I have no tranny services to pay for until 150k? Giddy-up!" I like the giddy-up option I think

 

Any transmission shop can do the flush and very often for less than the dealer charges.

My local dealers charge about $160 for a flush. Considering that any of the mercon fluid is $5.00 or more per qt, it's not a bad price.

Considering the shear volumes of maintenance that my 80's model F-150's required, it's nice to own the 2011 and check the engine oil weekly and turn the key.

I am very happy NOT doing 30K tune-ups, 30K wheel bearing packs, 30K trans flushes, 60K serp belt changes, 3K oil changes. Over the life cycle of the truck, this is a ton of money.

Go into the 1997-2003 section which is the beginning of time for the mod motors in the F-150's. These guys are getting hundreds of thousands of miles out of their trucks. Ford is evolving with the rest of the auto industry.

 

Don't get me wrong, I certainly do agree with you seeks as far as what regular maintenance schedules used to be like on the older model vehicles, they were too often and yeah, that would cost money, but when you consider what the newer parts cost, a little more money, compared to what the older parts cost, depending on what it is/was, serp belts are a little more, they last longer, spark plugs are a little more, same deal, I think that kind of evens itself out. And I don't mind changing my trans fluid/filter every 50k miles, doesn't cost that much either, though $160 isn't bad at all for a trans flush, it's actually pretty good. Of course that's something I will never get done on my truck, it is an '05 after all. But all the other things mentioned, like serp belt, I changed mine at around 120,000 miles, never had to mess with the wheel bearings, though I'm sure that's not far off, oil changes how, long of an interval before you have yours changed? Just curious what the recommended schedule is on the '09s-'11s, can't imagine they're that much different.

And when it comes to Fords recommended service intervals, like the 100k mile spark plugs, I certainly don't adhere to that, we saw what kind of problems that was causing for a lot folks what with carbon build up and everything, 2 piece plug design, a simple $100 spark plug change would turn into $2500 head job because of broken plugs. I change mine every 60 to 70k and don't have a problem with broken plugs, and of course they now have an extraction tool to help with that which I have access to. And I still wouldn't trust that 150k trans service interval, that's just me.

I understand Ford is evolving with the rest of the auto industry, and it is nice that with certain things, they don't require as much maintenance as often, so I do agree with you on alot of what you say, I don't think I disagree with you on anything really, except for those recommended service intervals

 

All four new engines for 2011 carry a service interval of "up to" 10,000 miles using MC semi syn oil and a MC filter.

I used to run 10K with full syn Mobil 1 and MC filter. I have about 4000 miles on this change and my oil life monitor says that I'm still at 70% oil life.

I was planning to change at 5K but I think I'll stretch to 7500 and then dump it.

 

Yeah that sounds about right, I usually change mine anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 miles. I didn't think there was any real difference between mine and the newer ones where that was concerned