Taking a road trip in may that will likely be 3000-4000 miles total. I went to Goodyear, as they do most of my work and services, and they told me they would not do a transmission service on my 99 Expedition due to the mileage. (244750). It's 2WD. They said they didn't want to service then a problem pop and they are responsible. I am not sure of the service history on the truck as I have only had it about 6 weeks or so.

The question is, would you take it to a transmission shop and have it serviced? It seems to be working just fine. What are your thoughts on this.

Thanks.

 

No, I would not. I would do it myself.

Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission - Ford-Trucks.com

 

Thats an awesome write up. Unfortunately, I live in a subdivision where doing any type of motor/transmission work is greatly frowned upon. Plus, I do not have a garage to do it in. My main concern was whether or not I should even bother doing a service since it seems to be working fine. I am just thinking peace of mind for a long road trip.

 

I would. If it is working fine new fluid can only extend it's life. If it has problems, new fluid probably won't fix it.

 

Thanks for the insight. I really wish I had a place to do it myself. I have never done it, but I enjoy new challenges.

 

If your fluid doesn't look or smell bad I would drain and refill it. If it's looking dirty I would flush it. If it smells burnt and black don't do a thing but keep it at the proper level and drive it until it fails. A flush would probably give you problems at this point. My 2 cents.

 

Right On Mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That's not bad, but a flush (as described in the link I posted above) will change more of the fluid than a drain and fill.

I agree.

At this point a flush will NOT give you problems. The trans will fail, but not from the flush. It will fail because if the fluid is that bad the trans has already 90% failed, new fluid will not rebuild it.

 

That's pretty lame of them, especially since you've only owned it 6-weeks and for all they know the tranny was rebuilt at some point.

 

There are cases that if the trans is that old and has never been regularly serviced before the new fluid will eventually speed up the timely demise of the clutches (new fluid has strong detergents compared to the old) Shops don't want to be blamed when that happens and some of them will do it but will let you sign a waiver that they are not liable for your transmission should it fail (or show something) after they serviced it.

Some will say that it's just an "old wives tale" but those shops see it happened before.. Of course new fluid is better than old but there are cases you're not lucky for having a high mileage transmission..

 

Stopped by a local trans shop today. This is almost exactly what they told me. He said they will look at it first to see if they can tell if it was rebuilt or not. Said there is some type of window they can look at. He said if it looked good, they would service it. If not, drive it til it fails. Then new or rebuild. Taking it tomorrow morning to see what we have.

 

That's a bunch of BS.

They can take it out and tear it down, then make an educated guess as to whether or not it's been rebuilt.

Now he's just making up BS.

They won't service it. They are planning on rebuilding it for you, whether or not it needs it.

Good luck.

 

Thanks. Aren't too many shops I would take it to. My brother dealt with this shop and said they were trust worthy. How do you know who to trust anymore when it comes to mechanics and shops? We all have horror stories about some shops and then we have fantastic stories about others. I guess personal experience and word of mouth is all we really have to go on. This place has been there since before I moved here which is over 10 years. Just have to wait and see what they say. Can always take it somewhere else for a second opinion....or if you are close Mark, I can pay you do look at it for me and see what you think.

 

As it says on the top right corner of each of my posts I'm in SE Florida.

 

Never noticed that. I am still pretty new here. Where in SE Florida? I am just west of Daytona and lived in WPB for about 16 years.