I recently purchased a 98 Ford Explorer with 4WD, the 4.0 SOHC and an automatic, with 76,000 miles. On Friday I took it to the Ford dealer to flush the transmission and replace the fluid. It was a little pricey, but the service adviser told me that the Explorer needed "mercon V" fluid as an explantion for the cost.

When I picked it up, the charges were less than the estimate, but the bill indicated that "merconIII" had been used. I called this to the attention of the service adviser and he told me that my Explorer needed the "III" after all and that the "V" was not compatible. When I posted this on this site, several helpfull members told me that my vehicle did use the "V". I confirmed this by reference to my owners manual and the transmission dipstick.

To make matters worse, in going over the bill, I discovered that I was charged for 16 qtrs of mercon III. The owners manual says that the capacity of my tranny is 10 qts. I checked the dipstick and sure enough, the tranny has been overfilled.

My son took the Explorere to Tahoe this weekend and put about 250 miles on it. Any opinions on whether any damage was likely done to my transmission?

 

There probably isn't any damage yet, but overfilling and the wrong fluid will cause damage down the road. Get it changed again with MERCON V.

 

I don't think it's over filled. Most tranny flushing units use 16 qt. of fluid. The old fluid goes out and the new fluid goes in as well as some new fluid gets flushed out also, which makes sure you get a good exchange. Your Explorer does take MerconV and the shop should correct that for you.

 

The dealer was anxious to replace the transmission fluid with the proper stuff. I noticed the transmission shifts seemed crisper than on the drive home than on the drive to the dealer.

Kenneth, you may be right. I noticed they listed 16 quarts used in the "BG" fluid flusher.

Any idea what a "BG" fluid machine is?

Thanks all for the advice

 

Yes that's the brand of flusher our shop has and I think it's one of the best units out there.