I tend to agree with tonyford, as far as staying with what was originally in the tranny when it left the factory, which is why I specifically took it to the dealer for trans service. Trannies in these are far to exspensive to replace, to risk using something different, at least to me.
I never compared invoices until the other day when I read something on this forum that got me wondering if they were using the same stuff consistantly, and to my horror they were not. Now my question is, since the last two services used merc5, and I have no problems should I stay with it?

 

I wonder what forum I was on that ford certified tech stated that they used Merc V in all Escapes. Quite a few if I remember correctly and no problems so thats alot more than two. If your not having problems why switch? Switching back to the mercon could grenade the tranny quicker than using merc v.

 

I wouldn't listen to Tony, he's stuck on a rating that was written before the current spec was even widely available. You have absolutely no reason to switch back to III and if you did you would be cheating yourself. V is the better fluid to use and Merc/Dex is specifically designed to be backwards compatible. Take the advice from who you want to but if you take it from me you'd be taking advice from the guy who assumes liability on the issue almost daily. You can mix the 2 and you can always use a higher rating in a trans that was originally spec'd for something lower.

There's many myths in automotives that some people will go to their graves believing, this is one of them.

 

Look up TSB # 06-14-4

"Mercon ATF is being replaced by Mercon V ATF as a service fluid"

"Beginning immediately all automatic transmission/transaxle applications requiring MERCON(R) can now be serviced using MERCON(R) V or MERCON(R) Automatic Transmission Fluid or dual usage fluids labeled MERCON(R)/MERCON(R) V. After July 1, 2007, MERCON(R) Automatic Transmission fluid will no longer be manufactured, therefore availability of this fluid will only continue for however long it takes to deplete what remains in inventory"



The reason for the special service bulletin which harshly said to ONLY use mercon on the escapes was because they were afraid of damage (swelling to the brass bushings) in the solenoids that was happening to the explorer 5 speed automatics from Mercon V.

The Mercon V fluid has since been reformulated so this is no longer an issue. You'll be fine with Mercon V.

 

Okay the part that says that Mercon will not be manufactured anymore is misleading. Ford is NOT going to manufacturer Mercon anymore, but it will still be available made by other manufacturers of transmission fluid for years to come. There are still plenty of vehicles out there that use DexronIII/Mercon fluid.

The only problem I have with this TSB is that the CD4E is not mentioned specifically, it may mean nothing that it isn't, but I would rather read a TSB or SSM specifically saying the CD4E transmission can now use Mercon V.

This is the key to this whole argument; The Mercon V fluid has since been reformulated so this is no longer an issue.

It sounds like this reformulation is quite recent and SSM 16896 is also correct at the time it was put out.

If indeed Ford reformulated Mercon V as it says it has, and has been tested in the CD4E transmission not to cause shudder or other problems, then and only then would I switch, especially on a 2001 to 2004 auto trans Escape.

You have to remember, between 2001 and 2004 the Escape auto trans came factory filled with DexronIII/Mercon and only after some people AT THAT TIME put Mercon V in their trans did they start experiencing problems.

I am not arguing about the benefits of Mercon V. It all likelyhood it probably is better than DexronIII/Mercon, but only if is compatible and can be used safely in CD4E.

 

About two years ago people on the Nat'l Lightning Owners board started having issues with flat tappet cams wiping lobes or destoying lifters. The majority of them were with a specific cam company. Mind you there are only two specific 93-95 Lightning cams out there and this was concerning the more aggesive/desireable of the two.

Anyway, I had allready purchased the cam in question and needless to say was hesitent to install it. So I call the company and asked what the deal-e-o was. A bad batch of cam castings? Bad lifters? They told me that there are only a couple of blank cam casting companies, and they make blanks for most of the aftermarket as well as the OEM companies. Same for lifters. The problem was the oil companies "improved" their oil to meet stricker emmissions standadrs. Fine for the majority of remaining push-rod motors which use roller cams, but for flat tappet cams the oil companies replaced a vital high pressure addative. On top of this most aftermarket heads come with higher pressure springs so they can be used on roller cams.

The rep told me to use Rotel-T Diesel rated oil, as it was not affected by the formula change because diesels don't have cats. Also I should use a GM brand friction modifier during break-in as well as the moly lube on the cam lobes. He assured me that my cam was the same Rockwell hardness, heat treatment, and other specs than all the earlier cams, and was fine to use. He also told me that in every cam that was sent back do to premature failure it was found to be a problem of improper lube. I still didn't completely buy it until HOT ROD MAGAZINE did an article about the problem and solution this month.


What's that got to do with the price of tea in Canada? Well, there are several people saying the same thing about putting Merc-V into a E4OD (the F-150 4 speed auto) it ruins the clutches in no time.

As for flushing a tranny, I've seen one machine that hooks up between the radiator and the tranny, with the engine on it uses the line pressure from the trans to push out the old fluid and has a vacuum balanced chamber with new fluid which gets fed into the return line of the trans. Other than that you need to drain the trans case, the radiator cooler, any aux cooler, and the torque convertor to get most of the fluid out. There will allways be some left in there.

So my only advice is to decide if you trust the oil companies or the trasmission manufacture. The statement that Merc-V was "reformulated" tells me something is up.

 

Correction boys! There is no Mercon III or Mercon V anymore. They are all one fluid. It is an interchangable Mercon V. Mercon V is now being used on everything.

 

Not sure if this is true or not, have not researched it enough, but DexronIII/Mercon is and will be available in the forseeable future, manufactured by others. In fact, my son got me a case of DexronIII/Mercon for $17 and change at one of those club places, Costco or BJ's not sure which one. My '03 Escape came factory filled with DexronIII/Mercon which is the preferred fluid for the CD4E for that year.

 

LOL, I take you didn't read my posts! This is what I've been saying all along, you can use V in anything merc related. You are wrong there isn't III anymore but you are correct that you can run V.

 

To the original poster - I would stick with what's working at this point. I don't know if there is or isn't a compatibility issue, but if there was why would you switch back to the old stuff and risk mixing them again?

 

Absolutely correct....if you are not having any problems with what you are using now, leave well enough alone. You will see if there are any long term effects or not soon enough,,,

Remember...IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT....


Some people say: IF IT AIN'T BROKE, BREAK IT, THEN FIX IT...

 

XT-5-QM vs XT-5-QMC : https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6278048

 

Last information about CD4E and Mercon V: there are two main changes in new CD4E especially For Mercon V (used in Ford Escape-2007 since 05-01-2006) to avoid conflicts with Mercon V:

1) Converter was updated from 3L8Z-7902-BARM(or older) to 8L8Z-7902-A.
2) Chain was updated from F6RZ-7G249-CA(or older) to 8L8Z-7G249-A.

Look also at Transtec.com and Transparts.com.