I've heard it is not advisable to flush transmission with higher mileage, but how can you drain it all out by just pulling the plug? Some remains in torque converter no? Van is a '99 E350 V-10. Advice appreciated.

 

I've heard that, too, but it isn't true.

Half remains in the torque converter. You could remove the drain plug from the torque converter to drain that.

I think this is the best way to change the fluid: https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles...-transmission/

 

thats old school bs, there was truth to it but not in the idea that doing good things can damage things. It stemmed from things that were already messed up becoming worse.
a flush is different than a fluid change.
pull pan, new filter, fill up with new fluid, take the cooler lines off and put both into an empty bucket. run the engine till you see BIG air gaps in the hose, turn off, fill up. done. if your trans has a torque converter with a drain plug on it, then drain it there but not all do, like mine.
a flush is a pressurized cleaning from the inside out vs the outside in like i described above.

 

Wrong. That's going to spray fluid all over the place. See the procedure I listed, above, to see how to do it correctly.

 

no, I just DID THIS ABOUT A MONTH AGO. no spraying, it comes out some what fast but not enough to cause a mess. not sure why you have this idea that its a bad idea, if you used your reading skills you would understand that what you posted is a long winded version of what i said. anyone capable of doing a trans fluid pan is going to get the point and look this up.
relax guy... not sure why you called your procedure you posted wrong!

 

Pay close attention to Mark K's advice here---he's a former FoMoCo transmission engineer and has pretty much become FTE's main transmission guru!

I've used his described linked procedure to the letter and there's no downsides to it whatsoever. FWIW I performed this on a 4R70W in my 2000 E-250 with 276K miles and its not missed a beat since 2016. If there would have been any issues that van was pretty much extra so nothing to lose.

I've also done this on my 2005 E-350 about 55K miles after it was rebuilt and on a 2003 E-250 @ 211K miles, (since sold). I have since amended my change interval to 30K miles as that seems best.

Like others I'd heard the lies a full fluid exchange or "flush" would cause failures afterwards and can now say along with my own hands-on knowledge/experience with this that's nothing but a myth. I use Motorcraft ATF even though its probably more expensive than some generic or well known other brands but if shopping around for price I've found my best deals through Amazon. Once ever the dealership had the best price per quart so loaded up.

Do keep in mind Mark's procedure also exchanges whatever the torque converter holds so its just one simple process and almost 18 quarts of new ATF are installed. I have a post here about my experiences with this in case you're interested: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ans-flush.html I was able to add a few more tid-bits of information I hope someone finds useful.

 

You said to take the cooler lines off. That seems to me that you are saying to remove both cooler lines from the transmission and place the ends in a bucket. Nothing will flow out of the cooler lines, but the open port on the front of the trans is going to spray fluid all over the place. Maybe that isn't what you meant, but what you wrote isn't very clear.

 

no
remove the lines from the cooler in front of the radiator
plenty of fluid flowes though the cooler lines, no issues.
we are saying the same thing here, im just not good at communicating.
what i said was just simplified. there are plenty of good videos on youtube on how this works and i did just that.

 

That makes more sense.

 

next time don't be so rush to call someone out as "wrong" These forums have enough bad attitude that we don't need more. at least its not Facebook groups.

 

Well, glad this landed on an even keel. Let's keep it that way. I appreciate the clarification and guidance proved. Excellent. Since my trans was rebuilt by John Wood, it ran Swepco 714 TO-4/C 20. Man, pricey stuff to replace.

 

My guy suggests getting one of those hand pumps with a LONG hose, remove the fluid through the filler tube.

Drain into a container (this way you know how much came out and you can replace with an equal amount of fresh fluid).

Drive 500 miles & repeat.

Done.

 

Extracting is fine but at some point you need to drop the pan to replace the filter. Take the opportunity to install a pan drain. But yeah, extracting is neater.

Sixto
07 E350 5.4 197K miles

 

this laves about 1 quarts left in the pan give or take. Seeing as its EASY to get all the fluid out by dropping the pan, and you need to do the filter, and if your torque converter has a drain plug on it... IMO its bad advice. It would be helpfull if you had to drain and fill 3 or 4 times due to REALLY BAD fluid neglect but otherwise poor advice. IMO

 

Well as I was about to tackle it this weekend, I took a short drive to the store and it started shifting badly. Take off stays in low long, about 25mph it goes into third. Or, I can make shift sooner by lifting off the throttle past 20mph. So possible solenoid issue? Or?

To note: This is a 4R100 trans, rebuilt by John Woods with HD torque converter (not stock). After rebuild it did not shift right, so John set up a new engine management chip with DP Tuning (programmed a Super Chips). This made if perfect. But, apparently it seems to confuse a code reader, according to the dealer. I don't suspect this is contributing to the shifting issue now but I'm concerned about how it might affect a diagnosis and repair.

Now it's above my paygrade so I'd really appreciate your input on approaching this. Thanks.