My 1990 E350 motorhome has an E4OD with a drain plug in the torque converter, but not in the pan. I was wondering how much fluid the converter holds?

I was hoping to drain most of the fluid by that and syphoning out the dipstick tube instead of the pain-in-the-neck dropping the pan. The pan was dropped at 52000 miles and a filter installed, so I should not have to do the filter since it is now only at 73000 miles.

Also, what about draining the torque converter and then running it for a minute to refill it and draining it again a few times to empty most of the tranny?

 

On my '90 F 150, I took it to a local shop. They hooked up the cooling lines on the radiator to a machine that collected the old fluid and replaced it with new. Told me it was 16qts. and took about 45mins. $130.00

 

Try this: https://www.ford-trucks.com/articles...hangingatf.php

I've used it, works great!

 

Paul,

When I drained mine over two gallons came out. I think the total fluid capacity is four gallons to fill a dry E4OD.

Jim

 

You should almost always drop the pan for ATF changes, especially on a stressed out motor home. Dropping the pan allows you to get a good look for anything that might be developing into a problem. I beleive the manual recommends fluid and filter changes at 12K miles for RVs(at least my F250 manual does). So your filter probably should be changed.

I have lazily gone as long as 30K miles with my 250 that I use to tow a trailer. But from now on I have syn and there is an auxiliary filter(which by the way can hide problem symptoms I am told) so I still plan to do 30K changes since I am lazy, but figure the syn and aux filter will help, I could be wrong of course.

The tranny shop I have used recommends 12K fluid and filter changes for all vehicles including light duty. He said that is the best way to keep an eye on things and in his experience leads to longer life. Might be overkill, but couldn't hurt.

There are many methods to drain and refil the tranny and I think the ones mentioned are fine, but I still like to drop the pan. Put in a drain plug and the next change is 100% easier and less messy. Note there is a risk of hitting something and tearing out the plug, so choose the location well. I just put mine in the dimple that is already in the pan on my truck. I still drop the pan though.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Thanks. Lot of good comments. So it looks like the converter holds half of the total fluid. I think I can drain that, plug it, and then run if a few minutes to refill the converter and drain it again. That should get most of the fluid out.

What is the torque for installing the converter drain plug?
What is the best way to get the plug to the bottom, hit and miss?

I believe my manual says to change the fluid every 30,000. Anyway, I think if likely had factory fill when I bought it at 52,000 miles at which time the pan was dropped, the filter changed, and 8 qts Mobil 1 ATF installed (April 2001). Now at 73,000 miles the fluid is brownish but not bad smelling. I can use Mobil 1, but was thinking Redline. With Redline's D4 ATF being for Mercon and Mercon V applications I am very reluctant to use it. Alternatives are regular Redline ATF, but probably not much better than Mobil 1, or Redline High Temp ATF, which is higher viscosity. Both these are regular Mercon rated. What do you think. I saw where some on FTE had posted using Redline D4 for over 100,000 miles but maybe back then it was not Mercon V rated.

 

One gallon came out the torque converter. Took maybe 20 minutes. Then I let it sit for another 5 or 10 and no more came out.

BTW: anybody planning to drain their torque converter. Be very careful installing the plug. It is very hard to tell if it is going in straight or cross threaded.

 

Correction, torque converter on E4OD probably does hold closer to two gallong. I had let it sit too long. The second time I drained it to got more (5 quarts), but it had sat 1/2-hour. I think to get closer to two gallons you would have to drain it almost right after shutdown as it may drain back into the tranny. Of course I had siphoned three quarts out of the dipstick tube too

In total I am pleased to have removed 13 quarts. That means there is only 1.5 qts of the original fluid from the factory and 1.5 of Mobil 1 that is only 21,000 miles. Good enough for me. My current plan is to refill entirely with Mobil 1 AFT. Had thought about Redline, but probably not significantly better than Mobil 1 in this application.