I have a 2001 F250 XLT 7.3 2wd auto ext cab bone stoke. I'm going to have the transmission fluid flushed before towing season. I've called 3 Ford dealers 2 were at 170 and the 3rd wanted 215 and they told me of an external filter that my transmission may have and if equipped the filter is 99, the other 2 dealers didn't mention this at all. My question is, do these transmissions have an external filter or is this dealer a crook?

 

I can't tell you if he is a crook, but I have never heard of an OEM external filter on the transmission of our trucks. I have an external filter, but I added it. Also, you know this is an extremely easy transmission to flush yourself for little more than the cost of the fluid, right?

 

I could, but right now we are working a lot of overtime at work and I'm doing some side work to support my camping habit. I don't have a great deal of free time and the time I have I don't want to spend it under my truck, it would be much better spent towing my camper out to the sticks.

 

i think what the dealer is referring to, is if the trans has ever been serviced before. Wich in case, then they would/should have installed a magnafine filter. Look toward the p/s underneath, at the trans cooller or radiator. If nothing there, then no worries.

But, $170 and $215 is outrageous. Found the same "long neck" filter at napa for around 30 buksand that includes trans pan filter. Why not do the work yourself? And installing the external filter is nothing more then cutting the "soft" line and hose clamping a filter in.

 

No more miles that you have on this truck, drive it!

 

I found a place close to me that I got the Ford magnafine filters for $3 a piece. I bought a couple

 

Not in the original configuration as built, but there is the possibility that one has been added by a Ford service department after the fact... at Ford's request.

Here is what the filter looks like on my 2000 truck, which did not come with an external filter originally:



Ford instructed service techs to install this filter whenever a rear wheel drive transmission is overhauled, or when an exchange remanufactured transmission is installed. The filter retrofit eliminates transmission cooling system contaminants from re-entering the transmission, causing a repeat failure.

Unlike your 2001 truck, my 2000 truck didn't come with an Oil to Water transmission cooler in the radiator. Ford found out early on that the Super Dutys that didn't have the OTW cooler had a lot more problems, so they started putting OTW coolers back into production and issued a TSB to resolve complaints from owners of vehicles built from 1/5/1998 to 2/6/2000 that already got out of the barn.

TSB #s 99-7-4, and in particular TSB # 00-24-4 details what needs to be done:
1. Replace radiator with a new one that has an OTW cooler,
2. Install new transmission cooling lines to incorporate the new OTW cooler with the existing (or new) Oil to Air cooler, and... drum roll please...
3. Install this external in-line transmission filter into the return line leading back to the transmission, after the coolers, to keep any contamination first trapped by and then later released by the coolers from damaging the transmission.


So now we have two situations where a 2001 (1999-2003) 7.3L truck that didn't originally come with an external transmission filter from Ford may yet still have one from Ford due to
A. The transmission being overhauled or replaced, or
B. The application of a transmission cooling service TSB.

Since your 2001 truck was built after 2/6/2000, then if you have this filter installed, it would likely be the result of event A. If you are the original owner and haven't had A done, then you most likely do not have an external filter. But how would the person who answered the phone at the three random dealers you called know your truck's 13 year history?

Therefore, rather than being a "crook", it appears more probable that the dealer was covering all the bases by alerting you to the possibility of there being an external filter present also, but not knowing for certain.

Ford recommends that this external transmission fluid filter be replaced every 30,000 miles. This filter is dual stage, in that it has a magnet to attract ferrous metals, regardless of particle size, and, it has a pleated paper element that removes clutch fibers, dirt, and non ferrous metals like aluminum and copper.

More importantly, this filter has an internal bypass feature that allows unrestricted flow under two circumstances:
1. During cold weather, when the fluid is thick
2. in the event the filter becomes completely plugged up

Since I've gone this far, I might as well continue here with a "write up" on the installation of this filter, and why you may not want to plumb it as I have done in my picture above.

This filter is supposed to be installed in the fluid return line. Above, I have installed it in-between the then brand OTW cooler and the also brand new OTA cooler for a V10. If I had not installed the new V10 OTA cooler, then I would have installed the filter AFTER both coolers, rather than inbetween coolers. Here's why:

The original OTA coolers for this generation of trucks cannot be adequately flushed or back flushed due to the internal design of the cooler. If there is a problem with the transmission, Ford says that these Oil to Air coolers need to be replaced, because the internal passages can trap contaminants as the fluid cools below a certain temp inside of it, only to then later release these contaminants when the fluid gets hot enough to flow them out again.

I don't know if this holds true or not for the later design 6.0 OTA coolers. They may or may not be thermally self regulating. Mark K will have to step in and answer that. I replaced my 7.3L cooler with a V10 cooler as a then unprecedented experiment, not a "mod", some 3 years before the 6.0 cooler existed.

Having no "write up" or precedent to follow, I reasoned that if I installed a brand new OTA cooler, then why not protect the OTA cooler from trapping contaminants in the first place, by installing the the external in line filter PRIOR to the OTA cooler? (This is not Ford's recommendation, BTW). Immediately I thought about the filter's ability to handle super hot fluid straight out of the torque converter, so I installed the filter AFTER the Oil to Water cooler I had just installed, but prior to the new OTA cooler. Since water is a more efficient heat transfer medium than air, I reasoned that much of the brutal heat would get dissipated by the OTW cooler, making the fluid safe enough to pass through the inline filter without damaging the media inside.

Speaking of filter damage, Ford had a lot of Do's and Don'ts that made finding a place to safely install this external filter a challenge, and really narrowed it down to just one location, which not coincidentally, ended up being the exact same location where Ford later installed production spin on external transmission filters for a period of time in later Super Duty models.

Here are the hoops to jump through:

- Do secure the filter body to a fixed portion of the vehicle.

- Don't secure the filter to the engine or transmission, or bracket that moves with the engine or transmission. The movement may stretch, pull, or damage the flexible hose that attaches the filter body inline.

- Do locate the filter away (minimum 12 inches away) from high heat sources such as exhaust down pipes, manifolds, catalytic converters, or A/C lines.

- Don't locate the filter within 12 inches of the exhaust tract

- Do install the filter and secure it in a manner that does not permit chaffing of either the filter or the the transmission cooler lines.

- Don't forget to check for chaffing or kinked lines with the engine running.

- Do locate the filter in an area that is protected from road debris that may be kicked up from tires (including those of other vehicles on the highway).

- Don't locate the filter behind the wheel wells or in an area that may be bumped during parking, or snag on underbody equipment during servicing or washing.

The list of "Do's and Don'ts" goes on for about double the length recounted here. A lot of things to go wrong to think about for adding this one little filter. In response, I cobbled up this protection plate under my frame mounted filter installation:





After filter installation, I removed the fluid return line at the back of the transmission to perform a fluid flow return volume test to verify that return flow to the transmission after all external coolers and filter was greater than 1 gallon per minute, which is Ford's recommended flow rate. Ford really stressed the importance of this fluid flow check.

 

Checking prices for both types* of genuine Ford / Motorcraft external transmission fllters, they appear to be readily available for only $32, which is quite a bit less than the $99 you were quoted.

*Two Types:
Type 1: The 7.3L truck may or may not have an inline filter as shown in photo above.
Type 2: The 6.0L truck had a frame mounted spin on cartridge filter plumbed with 1/2" lines.

The 7.3L truck

 

I do think an external trans filter is a good idea. I have been running the magnafine in the return line of my 2000, but the last two filters have been dripping ATF. I dont think they are made very well. I have been collecting the parts for Springerpop's external spin-on filter. I was planning to just change this filter out with each trans flush, and leave the filter in the pan alone.