I noticed today that there is some bubbles on the dipstick of the tranny while running.



Is this normal or what?

I just got done putting a new radiator in.

Thanks.

 

that fluid looks burnt and dangerously low.
you want bright red/pink fluid coated on the whole stick all the way up to the full mark (toward the upper part on all them harsh marks is ideal) at operating temp,parked on level ground,after shifting through all the gears slowly,with truck running while in park.
i see nothing on the tail end of the stick,just what appears to be burnt fluid that splashed up onto it mid way.
when was the last time you flushed the trans?

 

I was getting ready to drop the pan soon. I bought a motorcraft filter kit, new gasket, and oil. It may be a little bit low from changing out the rubber trans cooler lines. I just bought the truck so past history is unknown.

 

ahh.your going to want to pull and inspect all the wire plugs.clean and apply dialectic grease to them.take extra time on the plug behind a small heat shield when your down there putting your pan back on.on the passenger side of the trans.look for any bare wires coming out of that plug.if you see any,replace the plug.
then you'll want a new FILP/TPS too.read about that here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ions-only.html
(that's assuming we're talking about the truck in your sig of course)

pull the plug at the pcm and clean that up too for good measure.the plug to the pcm is in the engine bay.look down under the brake booster.a 10? mm bolt in the center holds it on.
you may even want to inspect the MLPS for proper voltage readings all at the same time,while also cleaning this plug up.
thats the one on the drivers side,on the gear selector lever.
(it was updated in '95,and probably has been if your truck has some miles on it already)
you can just probe the two center wires of the plug,on the row towards the outside of the truck (away from trans) with key on,engine off.post the voltage readings while in park and in 1st.

prior to dropping the pan,i would remove the hose that returns fluid back to the trans.insert it under/in a bucket and briefly start the truck.make sure fluid is flowing/pumping nicely through the trans cooling system..................in fact,you may just want to follow this:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...nsmission.html

sometime,get yourself one of these.if you see the OD light flashing (or i should say when lol) this means this trans has enter safety mode and depending on what it's doing,you may want to drive it real easy back home,or just get a tow.get your reader on it to help diagnose amd resolve issues asap before driving again.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...fier=2396_0_0_
though,the thing is poor at helping pinpoint codes.a failed TPS and MLPS i had to find on my own.with just the pcm giving me the obvious code 62 i already was happening,but it didn't help tell me why lol.
anyway,that'll get ya started.nice trans when working correctly,but it's just like a woman.needs a little attention from time to time lol.

 

So pretty much drop the pan. replace the filter. I got a clip to hold it in place if one is not there already. Then inspect wire connections for bare wire. If all is fine there. Slap some dielectric grase in the connections on the TPS and PCM? Sounds easy enough. Thanks

 

yeah,but just replace the TPS now too since you don't know its history.set according to that writeup.

 

I havnt noticed anything flashing. I have a code tester around someplace and I can check to see if it has anything. I don't notice any real driveablity issues. It is really required to replace that sensor?

 

that's very good.if you want to keep it running this way.....yeah.i would.it's a medium ware item,and it's a new to you truck.you can wait until it fails,but i can assure you,that's not fun and high trans temps can result because the converter may not lockup.
it makes for a hard work day if your out working the truck and watching trans temps like a hawk and driving by the temp gauge rather than the speedo if you wait for it to fail.....ask me how i know.

at the very least,test it very carefully/slowly with an analog meter or sensor tester,and make any adjustments if need be,according to the article.this little bugger right here can make you love or hate the whole trans.

 

So replace then check voltage from the wires?

 

I just checked the TPS.

Key on engine off

Top pin 0 volts
center at idle 1.2 volts
at wot 4.0 volts
bottom 5 volts

 

looks good.as long as you didn't see any voltage dropouts during the entire sweep,she's good to go.just be prepared,cus you'll never know when it's about to fail cus you dunno it's age/mileage.

 

Well it was made in nov 91 and the odo says 119,000

As far as the transmission fluid change should I do the torque converter also? How would I rotate the flywheel to get the drain bolt to line up?

I dont see a rubber gasket underneath. There is what looks like a cover that has a tube coming out of it. Would this be the cover over the torque converter drain spot?

 

yes,you should.i should say,you need too rather if the pic isn't playing tricks on the fluid shade,which looks deep red/brown.
however,that cover you see there,is stupidly bolted on in such a way the starter (which can be tricky getting to it's top bolt) needs to come off first.
to turn the engine over to line up the drain plug,you'll need to remove the FSS wire (top most wire on the injection pump) just so she can't possibly start up on you,and crank it over using the crank bolt.
to avoid the need of all this hassle,follow the link above that shows how to flush the trans via the cooler lines.so much easier.you may want to grab a few extra quarts for extra flushing since that fluid looks so brown.

its appears as if,the trans may never have been serviced.some say flushing isn't a good idea if it's been neglected for too many miles,because it's going to loosen and plug stuff up.i dunno how i feel about that one.seems pretty risky either way i guess.i do know that brown juice in there sure isn't good lol,so it's your call.
personally,id give her a fighting chance with good fluid.maybe i wouldn't flush it all at once.maybe id install an external filter and swap out one quart every 500 miles until i did this 10 times and then flush.maybe even that's wishful thinking?

 

Yeah I'm affraid that changing all the fluid might be bad at this point. I was just figuring changing what's in the pan for now for a start.