me too. i'm still looking for tat blasted drain plug on my TC. maybe it's up my rear end. ouch. gentle now. lol. no offense, but i believe we didnt have a drain plug on our TC. ford said "too bad, so sad".

 

Ford stopped installing torque converter drain plugs in August, 2001.

 

Mark, do you know why? Was it to capture more of the service market. I think there is good money to be made in that area!

 

I have the fluid, thinking of buying the filters @ tousley & asking the dealer if they will do the hot flush labor only.

 

There are a lot of vehicles made now that don't even have a dipstick, much less a TC drain plug!

 

It was purely to save the cost of the plug and drilling and tapping the hole. When you build a few million transmissions a year, saving buck on each adds up to real money.

 

Is there an access to the converter? If so all anyone has to do it drill and tap?

 

I would think that the converter would have to be balanced after drilling/tapping and then adding a tapered plug.

 

I would think so, too.

 

Make shure you use a fine tap, belive me i know!

 

Not really a filter. Only lets 10% or so of the flow get "filtered". Since mine was so corroded in place (thanks FORD STEALERSHIP 'service' department) I broke the canister trying to get it to spin on the threads.

Here's what to do. NO! do NOT replace the $250 canister pretend-a-flter! ELIMINATE it! put in an in-line magnetic filter. I can't say one brand is superior to the next. EBAY! '

Put in a decent pan filter! in '08 the pans ($45 aftermarket, sturdy, shipped) went deeper and allowed the filters pan filter to actually capturemore than river gravel. (Here is one place I don't go along with the butt gouge by FURD....


ENJOY!!

 

I'm sure he waited seven years for your solution, even though you have errors in your thinking.

The bypass filter is actually a very good filter. It's better than most of the inline filters that you'll find. It is true that it only filters 10% of the cooler flow.

Adding an inline filter seems like a good idea. But what does it do to the cooler circuit restriction? The return from the filter is used to lube the rear half of the transmission. If you reduce this flow you're going to increase wear, up to and including a destroyed transmission.

Changing the pan and internal filter for the later filter is a good move. The 2008+ filter is a very fine filter and will remove almost every particle from the trans fluid. It is so good that you can just eliminate the exterior filter.

 

7 years! That's funny. I have joined threads older than 10 years only for the sake of asking a question. I only read this thread because you were the last to reply. I try to read as many of your responses as possible.

Are there any "pan upgrade filters" for a 1998 E350 5.4 gas van? I sold my 6.0 E350 van and miss the 5-speed transmission. The transmission has only the pan screen filter. I did not pull the pan on my last complete flush at 100k miles.

 

Do you really think that a reply to anyone, regardless of age of original post, is directed exclusively to the original writer? HA! That is why God created forums :-). It is the wider, broader audience who is most benefited!

least respondents (such as you, and myself) resort to simple emails or personal messages back and forth.


I haven't flow tested an inline of appropriate diameter, but since FORD sells these products to be added aftermarket, even FORD isn't too concerned with flow rates? Maybe you retired from there too early? ;-)

Of course, as with any filter that does not have a bypass feature, ample care need to be taken with preventative maintenance.

Thanks for the response. Your expertise is enjoyed by all here! (even the newest readers of the oldest posts of yours. ;-). )

 

No, there are not.