ahhhh I see!! So the best way to do it is to drain the tranny fluid first, then once its almost completely drained, remove the tranny pan to get to the filter!!

 

Yes, right-click, copy, and paste for when the time comes that I need a good flushin'. You're right, the peace of mind makes it all worth it, not to mention the money you saved. Thanks a bunch.

 

When drainning the Trans fluid it helps to loosen one side of the pan, prefably the opposite side from your face. The fluid will gradually poor into your waiste container then loosen and remove the rest. The kit that I purchased was $14.99 but threw away the cork gasket because the original gasket it reusable. Why your under your truck I recommend the feul filter change. It only takes 15 minutes with the write tool ($5.00) plus do it while it's still warm.

 

why should i change the fuel filter when it is warm?


sorry

 

How do you really know the shop you take it to is going to flush the tranny correctly?

If you take it to the dealership, don't they use a machine that reconditions the ATF?

I have done it myself and i like the peace of mind of doing it myself and knowing that the ATF fluid i choose is going in the tranny.

 

KOTO, Why do you say change the fuel filter when hot? Fuel expands when hot. Just make sure that trans fluid is not HOT, It does get very high in temp and when you have quite a few quarts comin at ya......make sure it's cool

 

that is what I was wondering as well. Dont get hot oil on your face, or worse, in your mouth. (has happend to me before)

 

The only way you're going to change the fluid in the torque converter(which is the most important part to change the fluid in for electronic transmissions )is to flush it. If you drop the pan & change the filter (on most Fords a strainer not a filter), you're only changing part of the fluid & not the most important part. Most problems with the 4r710w/4r75w occur in the lock up converter.

 

Sorry about the post on the strainer- I really haven't looked @ the filter. Still think the most important part of any electronic/lock up converter trans. service involves flushing the converter.

 

mines a manual shift 4wd. So I have a verter?

 

Thats funny. I had to read my tread again because I would never change the oil while it was warm or hot. What I meant was while the weather was still warm. Sorry about the confusion. In the past my feul filters and feul pumps would give out on my vehicles in the winter thats all.

 

I just bought a new tranny pan for my '03 F-150 FX4, 4R70W. It has a drain plug and holds 2 qts. more than stock pan. Will I be able to use magnet from old pan (if present)?

 

If the new pan is non-ferrous then no, but if you can stick a magnet to the new pan then the magnet from the old pan justs pulls off.

Where'd you get the new pan from?

 

It's Mac Performance (Cast Aluminum 356 T-6 Alloy Pan). I'm assuming since it's aluminum, I can't use magnet. The drain plug may be magnetic. Will have to check.

 

I just changed my tranny oil today with exactly 30K on the clock. Wow... what a mess it is without a drain plug :-( I drained about 9qts before signs of the new fluid started coming out.

One thing I did different was unscrew the 2 oil cooler pipes from a connector block right below where the tranny housing bolts to the engine. I put about a 1ft piece 1/2" PVC drip sprinkler pipe on the upper fluid line and directed it into my drain pan.

Start and let the engine run for 10-15sec at a time to get about 2qts out...it's pumped out pretty quickly.

My oil pan magnet was coated with a layer of fine sludge; the bottom of the pan had a real fine 'mist' of deposits. The oil still looked fairly clear coming out.. The inside of the filter didn't look terribly dirty.

Just wondering the next time I do this--is there damage if I run the tranny dry before taking the pan off? It probably can't take more than 20-30 seconds of idling to suck out most of it. It's a mess draining it...