Hi guys I finally am getting around to changing the tranny fluid in my wife's 04 expedition. I ran into a problem though. I pulled the plug from below the trq converter and I can't find the drain plug for the torq convertor. I really wanted to change all (or as much as possible) of the fluid, but now I only know how to get the fluid out of the pan. I feel its kinda pointless to only change the fluid in the pan. Anybody have any videos on how to change all of the fluid with no plug in the torq converter?

 

Well I ended up doing it just like in this video. U used a gallon jug to measure how much i pumped out. I never did really notice when it started pumping out clean fluid, but I did get about 16qts out of the tranny, and i put 16 in. Hopefully I didn't pump out much clean fluid.

 

Unfortunately not all torque converters have a drain plug.

 

There isn't a drain plug. Ford stopped installing them in 2001.

Try this method, it works for me: Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission - Ford-Trucks.com

 

Pretty much exactly what the guy did in the video I posted.

 

Where I work we used to run Fords. Now we have downgraded to Dodges. Anyway, with the extremely hard service we put out vehicles through we had to change our fluid every 30,000 miles. If we got to 40,000 miles they would start to shudder, so we kept them changed every 30,000 to 35,000. This will give everyone an idea how important it is to flush every bit of fluid out that you can, weather you use some miracle oil flush or just run new fluid to flush. One of the vehicles I drove I let it get to 45,000 miles before I took it in for a transmission flush. It was shuddering pretty bad at low speeds. After our usual mechanic flushed it the shudder went away and it shifted better than it had in a while. The next time around I took it in to have it flushed at 35,000 miles (which was about a year later). Our usual mechanic was not available so it went to one of those oil change places. They claimed they flushed the tranny, but once I hit the 40,000 mark it started to shudder bad again. Out of curiosity I went to the boss and checked my receipt for the oil service, they did not put enough fluid in to have flushed the tranny. They just drained the pan and changed the filter. If I remember right (it has been several years ago) they drained the torque converter but did not flush the cooler. There was enough fluid contamination from the old fluid in the transmission cooler and residual fluid in the converter that it caused a shudder less than 10,000 miles after the service. I took it back to our usual mechanic and had him do the complete flush. It ran great for another 20,000 or 25,000 until I got a new car to drive. This just goes to show how important it is to flush the fluid completely!

 

Most lube service stations I've seen, have a clear "toilet tank" looking system with a divider built in. They hook it up to your tranny cooler fittings and pump out the old while replacing the new at the same time. Is it perfect for a total pure flush? No, but it pretty well serves the purpose of flushing out the converter and cooler before all is done.
When my 4r100 started to get that 3rd to OD shutter, I originally used Slick 50, and when no longer available, went to Lucas Tranny Additive to solve the shutter issue.

 

No, it's not perfect, but the only way to get more fluid out of the trans than that method is to take the trans out and tear it down.

 

There's also the disconnected cooler return line DIY at home method.