I went to Walmart and found 5 quarts of Mercon V and asked for more and after 20 minutes they emerged with 17 even though they said 5 was all they had. (about $4.50 each)
Raise the truck up and locate the rubber plug in the bellhousing, and pry it out (below)

Now look in the hole for the drain plug, you will have about 10" total of viewing area. Use a little mirror and flashlight if it helps. If you don't see it tap the starter until you do, I tapped it twice before I saw it. This picture was taken through the hole.


When you spot it turn the engine at the converter with a screwdriver until it is in the middle of the hole.


Use an 11 mm socket on the converter and a 13 mm on the pan.


The truck has 170k miles on it but I am assuming the previous owner changed it a while back since it looked and smelled pretty good. (Makes my hand look weird)

I had to improvise with the spout since Ford made the filler tube nearly horizontal.


I figured it would take 16 quarts but Wal-Mart came up with 17 so I took those and it only used 15 quarts. With the condition the oil was in it will be just fine.

 

So in 2002 they don't have the TC drain plug?

I never looked on my 03, I flushed it.

 

See post # 12

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ml#post7102658

 

Good call.


Good write up, I always drained the pan and TC on my older vehicles during a service. My 03 was first one I ever flushed

 

Well done, Brent! This will make yet another good addition to the tech folder, especially for those that have an earlier model Ex with the TC plug, and they don't wanna do the Mark K flush.

I'll quote that post here so peeps don't have to flip to another thread if they don't want to.

If anyone comes across this thread in a search, or if anyone has a 4R100 and you don't have the TC plug, and aren't familiar with Mark K's flush for the 4R100 trans, that how to can be found here:

Mark K's 4R100 Transmission Fluid Change (article)
Mark K's 4R100 Transmission Fluid Change (with pics)

Heh, I have a 2000 Ex and didn't even think about popping the TC plug. You just made things a heckuva lot easier for me Brent. Reps!

Stewart

 

Great pictures Brent. I have read how to remove that plug and turn the converter but I never understood exactly what they meant, until I saw your pictures.

 

Ha, that was a daily function many years ago when I was R&R'ing transmissions. I noticed the V-10 took a little more muscle and we never bothered to tap the starter back then. If we could see the flex plate teeth we would push on them with a screwdriver sometimes too.

 

Deserves a bump.

 

Cool thread Brent, I really like the useful pics. The flush procedure gets more of the fluid out, but it's a more complex operation than what you did there. Those without the converter drain plug would do well to flush rather than drain and fill because you can't get most of the fluid out.

Reps SENT!

 

Thanks. It will be just fine.

 

Is this the same no matter what motor you have? If you want to do the flush and do have the TC plug would it be foolish to not drain it before the flush?

 

It's either the flush or the drain and even though the flush might remove a little more it's not enough to make a difference.

 

Nice write up! Looks like this will be my next item of maintenance. I think my tranny may be starting to slip accelerating uphill but hard to tell on these icy bumpy roads. Got me thinking about the tranny fluid I've never changed...

 

If you are doing a flush there is no reason to drain the torque converter first.

The procedure is the same no matter what engine you have.