I purchased my PSD auto. 01 a little over a year ago. The truck had 64000 and now 100000. I don't know the previous owners maitance and I was wondering if and when I should change the tranny fluid. I've often heard not to if it hasn't been maintained before because after the change the tranny will go out. Should I go a head and change it or keep running the ol truck.

 

I'm not sure about the jinx mentioned, but you can have a shop flush out the trans and service it. I had it done and experienced no problems afterward on my old 93 F250.

 

The jinx is that for some reason if the tranny fluid isn't change once or twice before 100000 the transmission will fail because of the new fluid. Always heard this not for sure if its correct. I know the tranny fluid needs changed soon.

 

I've heard that line of bs for years. What I really think happens is that most people don't ever think about servicing their automatic transmissions--until they start acting up. By then it is too late, the damage has already been done. So, shortly after the service, the transmission takes a dump on them, not because it was serviced, but because it wasn't serviced soon or frequently enough. We are great at blaming our problems on something other than ourselves.

 

yes.... listen and learn.... i think you could say this about a lot of people concerning a multitude of subjects... but certianly automotive topics are greek to most people... so they naturally place blame where it is not deserved... i think you can put a lot of the responsibility for this squarely at the feet of the "service managers" at the stealerships...

 

I don't know, but I was raised to believe that God helps those who help themselves. All new cars come with a service schedule in the glovebox. All the owner has to do is take 30 seconds and read it to get a basic idea of when to have their transmission, gearboxes, etc serviced. The service manager shouldn't have to babysit anybody, even though a lot of them do. It isn't the dentist's fault when I get a cavity because I didn't floss regularly.

 

don't get me wrong... there's plenty of times when people do stupid things, or don't do things they should to take care of their vehicles... but... i couldn't tell you the number of times i've heard some clueless customer being spoon fed a line of bull to justify some outrageous repair bill... and the sad part is these people don't know any better so they just spread the missinformation to their friends and family... my mother has spent money on her car that she ABSOLUTELY didn't need to spend, and she did it just because "THE DEALER TOLD ME IT HAD TO BE DONE OR I WOULD LOOSE MY WARRANTY.." or some other such BS.... needless to say after i found about about it i let her know the truth... after this happened several times, i finally convinced her to go to another dealership... and ... if they told her something like that... to CALL ME FIRST...! believe me... i am talking from experience... i'm not always right, and i know it... but i've see things like this too many times... so... i go to a dealership... pay hundreds of $$$$$ to have my tranny serviced... and 4 months later it dies.... i go back to the dealership and they have to make up some kind of story to relieve themselves of the blame... even though they probably are not to blame... not all of them believe they can "tell the truth" to the customer... sorry, but that's just what i've seen...

 

Go ahead and change the fluid and the filter. With that kind of mileage it is overdue. The longer you keep worn out fluid in the transmission, the better the chance of having problems sooner rather than later.

 

if it would make you feel more comfortable you can drain a little out at a time after a couple of times you can drain it yourself but dont have it flushed!!!

 

Why would you drain a little bit at a time? And if you do that, I hope you're adding new. But I think that would defeat the purpose of changing the fluid. The old fluid would just contaminate the new stuff and render it ineffective. And then also, why don't you want it flushed? I wouldn't think it would be better for the tranny to keep all the crap in it, than to flush it all out.

 

Your right Farm.....that drain plug is there for a reason.

 

Good advice but quite contradicting. I guess everyone has thier own opinion. So the conclusion thus far is defenatley have the tranny fluid changed and new filter.. how about the flush.

 

Your 01 should have a drain plug on the torque converter. If you drain the converter and change the filter you will get most of the old fluid out. In your case a drain and fill would suffice. A complete flush is the best method. If you want to do your own flush I'm sure someone will post the procedure.

 

I would flush it is also, but have a good tranny shop do it. When people say don't have it flushed, the feeling is that you are just loosening up the crap in the tranny and then it will circulate and cause more problems than leaving it sludged to the sidewall. There can be some truth to that, but if it is flushed correctly, hence a good tranny shop, it will clean most all the crap out.
Being an '01 it's not all that old, and it may not need a flush, it's up to your discretion.

 

There is a good do it yourself article here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/article/...nsmission.html