That made me think of old Volkswagen Beetles that used a wire screen for the engine oil filter.

 

I used to have a 1930 Model "A" Ford. They didn't have filters. There was no air filter, and no oil filter. Mine had an aftermarket air filter, but when it left the factory it didn't have either.

 

I remember those, basically useless unless there was a catastrophic failure in which case, who cares about the filter.

 

 

Nowhere old enough. That car was made the same year my father was born. I like antique cars.

 

 

For my '88 e250 dropped the pan when I got it to fix a leak. While I was there I replaced the filter, but if memory serves it was simply a screen that wouldn't really filter anything. That was 100k miles ago.

Since then I have performed the Flush/fluid change that Mark linked a few times. Simple process and does well to get all the old fluid out. I use Valvoline MaxLife in mine and have not had any issues.

So I am in the change all the fluid camp. Not sure if you guys call my procedure a "flush" or not....it's just what I do and has always worked well for me.

 

Right after I bought my 88 with a AOD, I took it to a transmission shop to have the filter and fluid changed. The guy put Type F fluid back in it and insisted it was fine. I wasn't happy about it so used the write-up to flush mine and put in the correct fluid.
This is with 105,000 on the odometer. I think it might have had the fluid changed and the plug put back in the pan before i bought it!

!988 AOD

 

Update

I bought the service manual online and looked in to the transmission issue there. I was looking at the TV cable that someone brought up on here and I think that may have been the problem, but I don't think it needs adjusted. When I went under the vehicle to inspect it, the piece that connects to the transmission was either already off or fell right off. I cant drive it now to test as i'm welding some new swivel seats for her, but I hope connecting it will solve the problem. I'm not sure what is going on with the small clip for it but it seems to be pretty worn. i don't know how much that thing would help or take away from a strong connection with out looking at a new one. Here is a photo of what im talking about.
t.

the small metal clip circled here


worn clip pulled from the AOD and cable connection. The same as circled in the above photo. On the right side, you can see deterioration