03' Escape Auto Trans, says to change the tranny fluid at 150,000 miles? Ford says you can go 150,000 miles without a change? I would hate to see what the fluid looks like after that long, that's if the trans lasts that long without changing the fluid. Unless they have come up with some new type of fluid, by the time that many miles comes up you will be grinding away your transmission with the tiny particles in the fluid from the normal wear of the transmissions components, unless, they have made a transmission where none of the internal gears and moving parts wear. Not only that, but transmission fluid does break down after awhile from heat, even with the fluid cooler line coming from the radiator.

I would think the transmission fluid and filter should be changed every 50,000 miles not 150,000.

If I am wrong someone correct me.

They also want you to change the rear axle lube at 150,000 miles. I am not familiar with the rear axle in a 4x4, wondering if it the same as what we used to call the differential. We used 80w-90 differential oil. I never changed it in my 2 wheel rear drive vehicles, but just checked it and kept it up to level, again, this could be different in a 4x4 vehicle.

Fuel filter at 30,000. Overkill I think. Yea if you run dirty gas in your vehicle you may have to change it that often or sooner, but gas today is filtered at the pump before it goes in your tank, at least at my gas station it is. I have run vehicles without ever changing the gas filter and never had a problem.

 

Tranny fluid should be changed at 30,000. Some owners change 4 quarts every other oil change. No filter in these trannys. You can add an in-line one if you want to.

Some people change every fluid on a schedule. Including power steering fluid and brake fluid. Personally, I don't.

 

Do a google on the CD4E transmission. You'll find many issues since it's introduction back in 1994. Ford issued several TSBs on the early Escapes due to tranny shudder and using the wrong tranny fluid. Yes, the manual says 150k miles but I would not wait that long. I was going to have my first Escape power flushed every 60k miles but it was really nasty at that point (it was totaled at 85k miles). I'm dumping 4qt of tranny fluid at every other oil change on my second Escape to keep it fresh.

If/when you change fluid, make sure to use plain Mercon/Dextron III. NOT Mercon V! Plain Mercon is what the manual states and Ford has issued TSBs stating to only use it yet some dealerships flush with Mercon V.

 

What is the deal on changing the trans fluid? You still have to drop the pan like on the older transmissions and install a new gasket each time? Or have they put in a plug like they do with the oil? That would make it nice an easy...

Mercon/Dextron III instead of Mercon V. Not that I don't believe you, I will check this out with Ford also.

 

Ford has NO IDEA about this. Trust us on this one.

 

You are absolutely right! I called a few numbers at Ford and just about everyone asked me "What's a transmission?" lol, lol..

Really they all told me to contact a Ford Service Center because they had no information to give me...

I trust you. Did a google on the CD4E trans, all info said to use regular Mercon trans fluid, NOT the Mercon V. I am presuming Mercon/DextronIII IS regular Mercon fluid..

Now, how easy is it change the fluid on the 03' Escape?

Thanks for info...

 

Really easy. There is a threaded plug on the bottom that a 3/8" socket extension fits. Removing that will drain just under 4 quarts of fluid out of a total of 10 quarts. So the procedure is to do the drain, refill it, run the engine for 5 minutes while shifting through the gears and repeat once or twice more or until the drained fluid look fresh. I just did mine using 3 gallons of SuperTech Dexron III/Mercon. I also use an external Permacool transmission filter which uses a standard oil filter.

 

Yep, just what ove1 says. No pan to drop or filter that can be changed. It's real easy to drain a gallon of tranny fluid right after you've drained the oil.

 

Okay sounds easy enough.
Now, ove1 is doing a complete flush by using 3 gallons of the fluid to get it where it looks completely clean.

bananaboat you are just dumping out about 4 quarts and replacing 4 quarts keeping the fluid somewhat clean with new fluid being added to the old.

Ford says you don't need to change it (flush) till 150,000. I would do what ove1 does at 75,000 and do what bananaboat does every 10,000 miles or about every other oil change.

What do you do with the old tranny fluid? Our town takes used motor oil at its recycling center, wonder if I could just mix in the tranny fluid with motor oil? Or is that a no-no?

And yes I will remember to use Mercon/Dextron III ONLY...

 

the rear axle uses 75w90 full synthetic oil, never add a non synthetic oil. the fuel filter at 30k is not overkill. dueto the filter being able to filter down to 3 microns it does get clogged and will lead to poor mpgs and lack of power. don't think you have clean gas either. most gas stations only filter to 40 microns.

 

I have a Liqui-vac that gets the 3+ quarts out from the transmission oil filler tube. This is a clean way to extract fluid. I have to admit that I was not aware of the drain plug on the transmission pan though, so I will probably use that next time. Perhaps it will remove more "grit" and sediment...

I am a big fan of changing the fuel filter. Our fuel tanks can also accumulate carbon build-up...ect.

 

Doing the math, 3 gallons of new fluid will replace about 80 percent of the old fluid with new due to mixing. I did mine at 30K miles, so it wasn't real bad to start with. After the three drain and fills, it looked clean as new. Three gallons of SuperTech fluid was less than $15. I recycle my old fluid at a county recycling center in plastic gallon milk bottles.

 

The center of the drain bolt is magnetized. You can clean it with a rag. You get a real good feeling seeing that graphite type build up come off realizing it's your tranny. I guess if you see large flakes/pieces you can panic.

 

It seems the biggest problems have been from FORD dealers putting MERCON 5 in the trannys during servicing instead of plain Mercon. I just had my Escape tranny service done at a shop and they added Mercon and some other additive. I had 'em drain, flush and refill it again with PLAIN MERCON .

 

Thanks ove1, bananaboat, and everyone else for all the tips on the tranny!! I have almost 36,000 miles on the '03 Escape will start with the tranny fluid changes a 40,000...
You ask questions, you get answers, isn't it great??