I'm changing tranny fluid and filter tonight, in preparation for a 1000 mile camping trip in a couple of weeks that will likely see us in the triple digits traveling to/from.

I drained the fluid via the drain plug, dropped the pan, removed filter. My new filter comes from NAPA. The vast majority of my repairs come from NAPA -- I've had very good service from them over the years.

Anyway, the old and new filter look identical -- except for the depth of the pick-up tube. The OEM filter extends much lower in the pan vs the new one. NAPA had a shallow and deep pan filter in their system. The new one I have is the deep one. Or, at least, it should be the deep one. See picture below. (and, yes, I know the old filter's o-ring got left behind when I pulled the filter from the tranny)

Considering the depth of the tubes is different by a full inch (I measured), I'm very hesitant to install this new one. I'll call the store tomorrow to verify. But I'm curious if others on here have had similar issues with new tranny filters? I've never run into this problem with automatic tranny's over the years -- is this a big deal??

 

To answer my own question...

I spent some time on NAPA Online tonight and realized they sold me the wrong filter. I clearly have the shallow pan filter, and I need the deep pan one.

 

That's correct. If you install the deep filter in the shallow pan either the filter will break when you put the pan on, or the pickup tube will be blocked and the pump won't get any fluid.

On the other hand, I thought ALL 4R100s in the '99 and newer Superdutys had the deep pan. Is the filter you took out the original? Is it possible that it's the wrong one?

 

I don't think I was clear in my posting. It was late and over 100 degrees in my garage at 11pm.

I do, indeed, have the deep pan on my 2003 truck. The filter which I removed appears to be the original. But NAPA mistakenly sold me a filter for the shallow pan. So I just need to go swap filters over lunch and I'll be back in business.

 

yup i was sold the same thing when I did mine.

one more thing is to drain the torque converter. your 4r100 should have a drain on it. there is a plug in bottom of belhousing and rotate the motor till the drain lines up and drain that converter. some did some didnt have this though

 

No, his does not have a torque converter drain plug. Ford stopped installing those in August, 2001.
I ASSUMED the wrong thing. Never assume, it gets one into all kinds of trouble!

Using a shallow filter in a deep pan has other problems. Namely, the shallow inlet can suck air and that causes all kinds of bad things to happen.

 

Agreed Mark! Sucking air into a tranny can't be good at all. Of course, you would know that better than I.

I do have a somewhat related question for you: at relatively high rpm, say 4000, what is the tranny fluid flow rate in the 4R100?

 

I don't know. The only rating I remember is cooler flow at idle. That's a minimum of a gallon per minute. Flow rate would be a lot higher at 4000 RPM, and not all of the pump's output goes to the cooler.

 

Interesting, thanks Mark.