As I am reaching the 30,000 mile mark on my 2007 F350 w/6.0 I have a question about transmission fluid change. Does Ford have a written procedure that their techs must follow? Armed with the knowledge (thanks to this site) that the fluid must be heated to get the thermostat in the transmission to open, I called a couple of local dealers yesterday. Of the three that I called the price ranged from $179 to $229 and all included the external filter. Of the three that I called, only two of them actually heat the fluid with the exchange unit while the other simply drives the truck to heat the fluid (I actually spoke with the diesel mechanic as the service writer had not idea). The situation that I face it that I have a coupon to have the service done the dealer that simply drives the truck to heat the fluid for $129. Is this procedure acceptable? Does Ford have it written anywhere that their techs must heat the fluid with the exchange machine? What happens when the fresh cold fluid hits the thermostat, will the thermostat close leaving the remaining dirty fluid in the system? Thanks ahead of time for helping me to understand this service.

 

Man I didn't even know the new tranny even had a t-stat. I would guess the dealer does an acceptable service, but it would be nice to get ALL new fluid in the system.

 

Why in the world would you guess that? Some of the worst service and advice I've heard of has come from dealers!

Most are good, some are great, and some are horrible. Gotta know which one you're dealing with before you trust them.....

 

I'd "guess" it because while I know for a fact why they call them Stealerships, at least your service would be documented and should something go wrong, guess who's fault it is. And that is why I used the word GUESS, not "definitely go with" or something along those lines. I personally do all my own maintenance (except trannys) if time is available, and believe me at $90 an hour, I do my damndest to make time. It's a lot easier to make a claim against a dealership than Paco's House of Transmissions or whatever else is out there. The one time I used a Jiffy Lube for diff fluid change, they almost cost me a diff, so you either learn how to do it yourself, or pay to get it done right.

Oh and another thing- once you get your knowledge up (like I have because of FTE) you can walk into a dealership and not get punked. Trust me, my local dealer knows to play nice with me, because I've pulled punk cards a few times with them.

H20 Sprayer, I'd also go on the 6.0 forum an ask there too, it wouldn't hurt.

 

Our resident Torqshift expert is Mark Kovalsky. Try a search for all his posts to learn a lot about that transmission.

But he has said before that if you don't heat the new fluid, the T-stat will close and you won't get a complete flush. That tells me that any dealer who does not use the proper machine should be avoided. I'm shocked that any Ford dealership would not know that - although I guess I shouldn't be shocked at anything some of them do.

 

The 2 dealers I called and cornered on the process, said they do not Flush the system.
The price was $225, for external filter only, drain pan, and refill.

 

Not all dealers have the heated flush machine. Keep looking until you find one that does. A drain and refill only replaces about 50% of the total fluid capacity.

 

Well that's just plain old stupid- why sell something you can't friggin service???

 

I would just drain the pan and do it myself. I've heard bad stories about entire flushes. Or make sure they do it right (if you can). There is a procedure in here somewhere that shows you how to do an entire flush.

 

I like the flush procedure. It's a great way to change all the fluid. The procedure on this site works for a 4R100, but the TorqShift is different. You MUST have the trans above 170F the whole time or it won't work.

If the dealers have the tools they are supposed to have they can do a heated flush. Ford can tell them what they need, but can't make them buy the tools. Ford doesn't own any dealers, they are all independant companies that do what they want.

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I called back one of the dealers that does it the correct way and they are willing to meet me half way as far as the coupon for the other dealer. I would rather pay an extra $30 and know that the procedure was done correctly then save the $30 and always wonder....

 

Those are stories about a tranny dying after a flush right? That's usally what happens to a tranny on it's last leg anyways. Maybe a little crud that might've been holding something together gets cleaned out and things start to fail. If a tranny dies after a flush it's because it was broke to begin with.

 

In today's' world $30 is not a lot for the peace of mind that a proper flush will provide.