Usually I change the fluid in my transmission at 50k since I do a lot of short trips and towing. My wife's truck has 60k on it but it doesn't see any towing, should I change the fluid or just wait until it hits 100k like ford says?

 

I did mine at 50K. Feel like it is somewhat cheap insurance for the truck. My transmission guy, who has always been very honest with us said that he has seen too many Ford tranny's needing more than a fluid & filter change if you wait to 100K. I have never had any transmission problems on any of our vehicles by doing the filter and fluid at 50K. I have heard that Ford has not been totally honest about some of their recommendations. I do like my F150 though.
John

 

I think FordTechMakuloco recommends a more aggressive service schedule and discusses the "why" in one of his YouTube videos. Something like fluid swap at 30k and then fluid and filter every 60k. I recommend checking it out.

 

I would do the trans service. There's no downside to doing it now. However, there could be a big downside if you decide to trust the 100k mark. As a mechanic for quite a few years I've done tons of trans services and there's no way I would go past 50k. Personally, every vehicle I have ever owned got a trans service every 30k whether it was a standard or automatic.

 

My vote would be to do it. I had the fluid changed in my 2011 at 76k.

 

I would err to the side of caution. Like said, there is no downside to doing it early; only the cost involved.

 

Thanks for the replies. I made an appointment to get the trans serviced Thurs, I'm also going to get the cooling system flushed and fresh coolant put in too.

 

I think 60k is a great time to do a pan drop and new fluid.

Going 100k seldom presents any issues , from my experience anyway, but 60k is a great time to do a partial change. IMO, one of the biggest problems with the 6-10 speed transmissions is the amount of particulate matter created by all the shifting. As we know from our folks at the EPA: the solution to pollution is dilution. So even a partial change is very beneficial.

Do the filter if it lets you sleep better, but there is no need. The filter will outlast The transmission.

 

I do mine on my 04 fx4 every spring as a preventive maintenance. i installed a drain plug in the lower portion of the pan for easy changing, sure beats laying under the truck with red fluid running down your arms.. just my 2 cents
140k on her and never had any trans issues

 

For fluid only, isn't it possible to undo the hose at the cooler, put it in an empty gallon jug, start vehicle, and shut down when jug full.

Then add 4 quarts of new fluid.

 

In older transmissions, yes. In the 6r80, not as easy.

The newer transmissions have an internal thermostat which stops flow to the cooler until the trans is warm. So you will get a trickle of fluid, but in practice this wont work until the trans is hot enough to open the thermostat.
.

 

I had a transmission fluid change and I guess the pressure was too high when they flushed it because it knocked a seal or something loose and the OD light would flash.