I've been in search of an easy way to do a complete oil exchange on my 2010 E450 without having to heat the new oil. I have yet to see a procedure for doing this, (until now) and I did a lot of web searching. A partial oil change by dropping the pan, even doing this several times, still leaves contaminated oil inside. The only other option was having a dealer do it using a heated oil machine. Either of these methods were unacceptable to me, the local Ford dealer especially seemed like a bad idea as the tech I spoke with didn't inspire confidence.

I thought about how to do this safely, using oil at room temperature, and came up with a simple procedure which I just completed with success on my truck. I was able to remove and replace just about 100% of the old fluid. I don't usually post of forums, but I thought I owed it to you guys for all of the valuable information I have taken over the years. I think its an original idea, I have not seen anything close to it.. So here it is, I posted the complete procedure on youtube,

I hope it is helpful, for myself it worked flawlessly.

Tech Note - See post 76, the 3/4" OD tube is the incorrect size for at least some transmissions
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17915230

 

You have a new career in instructional videos.
Better than most "professional" how to vids.

 

Thank You!

 

Frank, that's brilliant! I wish I would have thought to do that.

I can offer one small improvement. While you're pumping in the new fluid have the person in the cab move the shift lever to R, D, 3, 2, and 1. This will force a little more of the old oil out of the trans.

 

Great idea... Very good video. Well explained. !

 

Thanks for the kind words Mark, I've followed some of your posts over the years and they have always been helpful. Your suggestion of momentarily shifting through the gears is a good one, I should have included that step.
Frank

 

Pure genius. Sure beats the driveway dump and fill. I'm getting more oil before I do mine in the next few days since my last was a dump and fill.

 

Wow! As others have said that is genius. Simple and easy to do and great video. Reps sent!

 

It seems like a very smart fresh way to flush and fill.
But I don’t understand where/how this procedure is related to overcoming the hot fluid issue.

 

The thermostat blocks cold fluid from running to the cooler. He blows the fluid out of the radiator with air. The other side of the system is where he flushes it by sucking new fluid into the hose, and old fluid out thru the pan drain. Gets both sides of the thermostat.

 

That is awesome. I wish you had filmed this 5 months ago, when I upgraded to the '08 trans pan and filter. Another task for my upcoming winter project.

 

so exactly where is the thermostat located?
I still don’t understand the advantage of this procedure.

It seems the same as unhooking a trans line and running the engine while you add fluid thru the dipstick tube.

 

Looks like I will be doing this in the very near future!

Great video!

 

The thermostat is located in the pump body. When the thermostat is cooler than 165°F it only allows a trickle of flow to the cooler. 90% of the normal cooler flow remains inside the trans.

But it isn't. If you do what you said and the trans doesn't stay hotter than 165°F you don't HAVE flow in the cooler line. While you're waiting for the old fluid to come out of the cooler line it's really just going back into the pan to mix with the new fluid you just poured in.

This procedure keeps the new fluid separate from the old and allows the old fluid to drain from the transmission.

 

For anyone that does this at home, it is much cheaper and more convenient to buy transmission fluid in the 5 gallon bag than per quart. And with the method shown in the video, seems like the intake tube could be connected to the bag and do it all at once.