Too poor to buy cheap...

Want to buy the best yet real world fluids for my tranny to service it. I went to autozone this afternoon looking for Mercon V as I have the 4r70w tranny in my 00 supercab. There are many different kinds of Mercon V as well as many different prices. Frankly the coastal brand of fluids scare me. AAMCO had a Mercon V that was a synthetic blend, not to pricey. Are there reccommendations on synthetic blends vs reg tranny fluid vs full synthetic? My truck has 58k on it. Also, I read in the tech files about the tranny service and the auther says he changes the tranny filter every other fluid change, yet ford says never change it? With nearly 60k, I just bought the truck a few months ago and towed my 6400 pound trailer (Jeep on car trailer) out west on a 3355 miles round trip. Should I change the filter? Can I use the autozone brand filter? Or is there a better filter to use?

With all that said, if I go full synthetic or a blend in my tranny, can I use the same in my tcase?

Also I'm changing the fluids in my diff, since the underside of this truck has a lot of surface rust leads me to believe the axles may have been in the water dropping a boat with the previous owner. Useing 85-140 synthtic with a friction modifier in the rear, any prefered choice in type of gear oil?

And for the record because of this site I'm using a motorcraft oil filter and motorcraft 5w-30 motor oil.

And I'll be going with motorcraft plat plugs at 62k when its time to change them.

Here before winter hits I'll be doing a coolant service as well...any reccommendations there on a type of coolant.

Also have replaced fuel filter and pcv, anything else i need to replace?

mac 'preventative maintenance' gyvr

 

my 97 requires plain mercon which is available at walmart so dont have any experience on where to buy mercon V. I would use a puralator tranny filter versus an autozone brand. my rear end fluid requires 75w140 but it must be a full synthetic. I buy mine at ORiley's auto parts as the full synthetic is not available at many auto stores. As for coolant i always use prestone due to the additves in prestone. Some of the cheaper antifreeze brands dont have the additives needed to prevent radiator corrosion. I suppose you also replaced or checked the air filter bu you might want to repack the front wheel bearings if you suspect the truck has been in water. Motorcraft oil filters are the best for the money IMO.

 

first thing i did when i bought the truck was to buy a k&n drop in air filter....

my tranny requires mercon V, anyone had any experience with a synthetic blend or full synthetic for the tranny.

thanks for the help 03f150man on the others

mac 'never even thought about front wheel bearings' gyvr

 

I always figure that when in doubt go with whatever they use at the factory. You can use Mercon V in the transfer case but I'm not sure there is any advantage to it.
A lot of people use synthetic in everything with good results. Just remember though that it still does need changing occasionally like normal oil. And remember that if you have limited slip in the rear end to add a bottle of friction modifier to the oil.
Your front wheel bearings aren't serviceable. They are sealed. Unless there is something wrong with them you dont have to worry about them.

 

Mac,go with the Aamco blend and a Autozone trans filter.Dont throw your trans gasket away;its reusable.I use the Aamco fluid and its very good stuff!You should also drain your torque converter too.You will need 13 quarts of fluid if you do the converter and the pan.

I used Redline 80w140 in my rear differential.It was $7.95 a quart.Go to www.Redlineoil.com and enter your zip code.They will then tell you where a dealer is in your area.Also,if your differential is an 8.8 use a gasket when putting the cover back on!But,they wont have a part # for a 2000,so tell them its for a 93F150 8.8 diff.Ford stopped using gaskets in 96 I think.The 93 8.8 is the same as a 2000.

About the coolant,they are all the same!If you dont believe me read the ingrediants.Prestone is more due to all the drag racing they sponsor and NASCAR sponsors.Gotta pay the bills some kind of way.I use Wal-Mart brand at like $4.00 a gallon.Just remember to use distilled water with a 50/50 mix.Good luck!

 

THanks for the heads up on the front wheel bearings, i wasn't sure if they were serviceable or not, they must be similar to the unibearings in the front of my jeep.

my truck has the 10.25 semi float.....and i dont use gaskets on my diff services....i use orange or blue silicon. and thanks for the reminder on the friction modifier....

i'll check out the redline oil, and go ahead and use the ammco syth blend tranny fluid in the tranny and tcase

i'll look for the best deal on a name brand antifreeze...

i've never used synthetics before and have always planned to change them as often as i change dino oil, cause i try to change stuff by the owners manual.

on the tranny i'm going to drain as much of the tranny fluid as i can, i've got to pull the pan anyways since theres no drain plug so i'm going to go ahead and change the filter, and its only 20 bucks at autozone. i've printed off the tranny service from the tech files to help me along.

i spent the last two days striping the wax off and buffing scratches out and rewaxing as well as taking the lariet stickers off the outside of the truck.

next week i've got an exhaust leak to find and fix, i hope its not the manifold....

mac 'and i need front brakes' gyvr

 

If your transmission is the E40D then you can only use regular MERCON in it!

 

From my opening post...

"Want to buy the best yet real world fluids for my tranny to service it. I went to autozone this afternoon looking for Mercon V as I have the 4r70w tranny in my 00 supercab."

....and I read the owners manual one night at work....

mac 'V' gyvr

 

Sorry Mac,I was tired when I posted that. Did you get the Aamco blend?

 

you should only use mercon v in ANY 4r70w tranny, ford issued a tech bulletin to use it in all the 4r70w's to solve torque converter shudder, and other woes.

Any brand is good. I like the havoline stuff from advance/checker it is cheap and works good. Mercon V is mercon V.

JH

 

It does? I was pretty sure they only use the 9.75 if it wasn't a 7700.

 

justinH, can you please post the ford techincal bulletin # which says that mercon V is the preferred fluid for a 97 4r70W? thanks,.

 

oh i know my axles pretty well, that and my buddy has an 00 f350....he has the 10.25 full float, my is definately a 10.25 semi float...and its not a 7700.... maybe its an odd ball...

i did find my exhaust leak tonight....the pass side rear manifold bolt is rusted off and broke...guess i'll be looking into borla or banks headers when i fix the studs and pull the manifolds off....

mac 'my dealer sold me a pos' gyvr

 

How many quarts does it take to fill the 8.8?

Thanks

Mike O

 

Mac,

Sorry, but your slightly off on this one.

There are 3 axles in use by ford in the trucks.

There used to be only one Sterling axle, the 10.25 in full float (FF) and semi float (SF) form.

Now there is a 9.75, 10.25 and 10.5. All of them look similar from the outside. The 9.75 is NORMALLY used on trucks with the 5.4L but there are exceptions to this. The 10.25 is used in SF form only on the f250LD and 7700's. The 10.5 is the only FF Sterling still used and is in the F250 and F350's.

I would check your axle tag. The first number is usually covered by a bolt, but on the second line of the tag it should read 9 75, 10 25 or 10 5 (or instead of a space there will be an L if its limited slip) You can also tell from the door code, but those aren't as straight forward.

Chris

(of course I can be wrong)