Have never posted so much ... feel like a post-*****!

I want to flush my transmission completely, not just remove oil pan and refill. But there is no drain plug on the torque converter.

I read that I could flush it myself, using the cooling lines. With the engine running and transmission in neutral, let the output line drip/flow in a bucket, and use a funnel to keep the input line full of trans fluid. Do this until 9-10qts have been used (full trans capacity is 9.5, I think).

Has anyone done this? Does it really work? Took me a lot of time of driving around before the old TC oil mixed with the new oil in the pan ...

I could always bring it to a shop ... but not fond of that idea.

 

i would not let a shop power flush it. These power flushers have been known to tear valve bodies a new hole. I woulndt worry about flushing the tc myself, i just change my tranny fluid ever 20k.

Matt

 

I drop the pan to clean it, the magnet & change the filter & pan gasket as you want to do.

Then I measure the amount of fluid removed from the pan by pouring it into a bucket with volume markings on it.

This way I know exactly how much fluid was removed from the pan, about 1/4-1/3 of system capacity & how much remains in the valve body, torque converter, cooler & lines, about 2/3-3/4 of the old fluid remains, so just dropping the pan isn't such a good idea, as so much old fluid remains in the tranny.

Then I remove the tranny dipstick & refill through the fill tube, the exact amount removed from the pan.

Disconnect the tranny return line at the tranny cooler & plug it with a golf "T", then route a scrap piece of hose into my measuring catch bucket.

Open the remainder of my tranny fluid containers, start the engine & let it run at idle while shifting into each gear, including reverse,
This helps flush the valve body, with new fluid.

Then after 15 seconds, stop the engine & pour in aother qt, through the tranny dipstick/fill tube, using a tranny funnel & repeat the 15 second pump out cycle, until the full system capicity has been pumped out.
The 5R55E tranny pump is rated to pump 1 qt/15 seconds at idle.

The measured catch bucket will confirm what has been removed during each pump out time period.

Doing it this way is a little time consuming, but you don't run the tranny pump dry either & it'll appreciate that imo.

If you can get a helper to start/stop/shift, things could go a little faster & maybe you could eliminate some start/stop cycles, as it takes about 15 seconds to pour in one qt, through the tranny fill tube funnel.

Once you've pumped out the total system capicity, unplug & reconnect the return line to the tranny cooler & double check the tranny fluid level & go for a test drive.

About the only difference between the way I do it & the way you described, is that I pour the fluid in the dipstick/fill tupe using a funnel, which imo is easier than trying to hook things up to the treanny return line & I shift into all gears while the pump out is taking place, to flush the valve body too!!!!

After a pump out/full fluid change, I usually notice improved shift quality, so I think a full fluid pump out is worth the extra cost & effort.

You can have a Ford Dealer do it, using a machine & they have dedicated reservoirs, so the fluid doesen't get cross contaminated.

Tranny shops may not, have separate reservoire for all the different fluid types, so one machine pumps all kinds of fluids through it, so you'll have to ask how they do it.

As fordboy_52 said, I wouldn't opt for a tranny flush with solvents, as they don't drop the pan to clean it & the magnet, nor change the filter, so any crud removed by the fush solvents, is first strained through the tranny filter, not a good idea imo.

If you have someone else do the fluid exchange, just have them drop the pan, clean it & the magnet & do a full machine fluid pump out, less the solvent flush.

Around here all that is about $100-150 & you could probably do it for about $60, which would include the fluid, filter & pan gasket.

Just some thoughts for consideration.