I have a 2008 Ranger, 4 cylinder, auto.

When I take it out in the morning, it takes a while before it will settle into overdrive. Even when the truck is warm, it takes a light foot to keep the transmission from shifting into the lower gears.

I'd like to change the filter and pan gasket, then flush the transmission and go synthetic. It was done about two years ago when I had to have one of the seals replaced. But it was under warranty and the dealer only replaced the fluid they drained out of the pan.

Is there a procedure for doing this? I did the transmission in my 7.3 powerstroke following a sticky I found on this site. Basically connecting a clear plastic hose to the return line and catching the oil in a bucket. And stopping to top up the transmission when you see air bubbles in the hose.

Is the procedure the same? How much oil should I add each time, and how many times do I need to repeat to get all the oil out? And would the synthetic oil be safe in my transmission. It's a 2008 and it still has the original factory fluid, give or take what the dealer added when they changed the seals.

 

I've always just dropped the pan, changed filter n gasket, put pan back on and fill er up
Dunno anything bout hooking up a hose

 

Yes you can do it that way...read the thread "Some basic questions about my Ranger."

 

Go to the Technical Information section at the top of the Ranger index page and scroll down almost to the end to the item titled "Full Tranny Fluid Pump Out" for instructions to do a complete fluid exchange of your transmission.

PawPaw does a great job of explaining the process.

 

However, the full tranny pump out is not needed for routine maintenance, you mostly use that when you have old burnt fluid because it wasn't replaced often enough. It doesn't hurt to do a full pump out, it just wastes fluid if you don't need to. Considering how yours is still the original fluid, how many miles have you got. That fluid needs to be changed every 30,000 - 50,000 miles or so.

Your original fluid should already be a synthetic, but I don't have the fluid specs for your year. Because of the nature of transmission fluid, it really doesn't matter whether it is synthetic or not, it will not protect the transmission better if it is a synthetic, not from heat, not from wear. A synthetic fluid might withstand breakdown from heat, but the seals in your trans won't take that much heat anyway, the only proper protection is changing the fluid and filter at the proper intervals. Run a better cooler for better thermal protection, worth a lot more than a better fluid is.

In the future, replace the fluid at the proper intervals. The greatest weakness of this transmission is wear in the valve body, the servos buzz and vibrate to regulate pressure and firmness, and this makes so that any microscopic grit in the fluid will cut into the valve bores and cause fluid leaks and pressure drops. The only way to protect agains this kind of wear is by changing the fluid, much of this stuff is way too fine to get removed by the filter.