[FONT=Verdana]I have 2000 Navigator with 4R100 transmission. I have bought this about two and half year ago with 109,000 miles and since then no issue with transmission at all. Everything works fine and never had any problem with transmission. I did not receive any maintenance record with it so I have no idea if transmission fluid was change at all or when. Now I have about 133,000 miles on it I am thinking to do transmission fluid change. Any advice on this since I have heard all kind of issue people ran into with transmission after fluid change.<o> </o>
Any help will be greatly appreciated<o></o>

 

i have a 2000 expy i bought mine with 108,000miles and had my transmission fluid changed i now have 123,000miles and don't have any problems

 

Thanks for reply. How was fluid condition if you know. Did you did the complete flush or just drop the pan, changed the filter and refill with new fluid. See i checked with my local Lincoln shop where i go for oil change and advisor said to me that if there is no problem with it, i will be ok to change the fluid. However later in the day , i talked to shop foreman and he asked me if i know the last change. I said no, then he said with mileage i have, i be better off not changing. My worries is that it's getting dirty and later i may get big bill if i have to replace whole transmission.

Thanks for help in advance

 

the fluid was really dark. they did a complete transmission flush i watched them

 

Did the previouse owner gave u any maintenance record at all? By they way, did they changed filter too and did u changed it at dealer?

 

As long as your transmission is running good now then it will be fine after, I had a car with 150,000 fluid had never been changed, the fluid was jet black did the trans flush(with the machine) left filter alone. car drove fine afterwards, but it was fine before too just old fluid.

 

Thaks Dan, if i change filter with flush will it do harm?

I was thinking to start with drop the pan and check for metal shaving, clean the pan, change filter and than add fluid. If all works out good, after a while have complete flush from dealer. I know it will cost more but just wondering if this will be safe strategy?

Thanks in advance

Jamal

 

oh you can't go wrong doing it your way as long as you realize you can't get all the fluid with a pan drop, which it appears you are, good luck

 

Hi Moose

I've done this fluid change on both my expeditions. The first one had a 4R70 and 120,000 miles when I changed it. The second one had the 4R100 and it had 150,000 miles when I changed it.

When they make these tranny's there is a little dust plug installed and it lies in the sump until the first fluid change when you just throw it away. Once you drop the pan you can check if this plug is still there. If its there then the fluid has never been changed. On both my expy's the dust plug was in there and the fluid was brown and burnt. After changing the fluid the tranny's work fine.

The older trucks have a drain plug in the torque convertor. Draining the TC and dropping the sump will drain all but about 1qt of fluid. The extra quart seems to be in the oil cooler and the lines. I'm lazy, so I never drained those, but I guess you could.

Now onto this old wives tale about not changing the fluid after x number of miles. It's NONSENSE! First off, the fluid passes through a filter before being circulated through the tranny, secondly any metal particals will stick to the magnet in the sump. Any ultra fine particles that make it past the magnet and through the filter are not going to magically keep your tranny working by increasing the coefficient of friction or whatever other quack theory you've heard. If anything these fine particles would reduce the coefficient of friction making the tranny slip. Remember that unlike the motor there is no combustion process generating carbon or other contaminants in the fluid, so there arent any disolved solids at work either. If you search these forums you will find lots of posts of people who've fixed tranny problems by doing an fluid change, whereas the "changing the fluid broke the tranny" posts are always along the lines of my cousins best friend's neighbour told me........


I personally wouldn't go for the flush. The replacement fluid will have detergents in it to clean the tranny. One other tip I have is to drain the sump via the dip stick tube using a siphon. That way when you drop the sump most of the fluid is gone and you make less of a mess. Oh and do it when the engine and tranny are warm.

 

Thanks Ogers, I was thinking to start with the pan and go from there. Have you changed the filter as well? Did you notice any difference in shifting after the change. With 150,000 expy was fluid dark or brownish and how many miles u have drive after the change.

I like the idea to suck fluid through dipstick before dropping the pan. i was thinking to suck lil bit of fluid and check the condition. With dipstick, its hard to see the color.

 

no the owner did not give me a service record and yes they replaced the filter i had it done at a local transmission shop

 

Just for reference:

Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission .: Articles

 

Moose

My wife has done 700 miles since changing the fluid in the 4R100. I've done 8000 miles since changing the fluid in the 4R70.


On both trucks the fluid was a dark red/brown color and had a burnt smell.


When we bought my wifes truck it had a missfire which made it run and shift very rough, so I cant really say if changing the fluid changed the way it shifted, but I can say that after fixing the missfire and changing the trans fluid it shifts smoothly and pulls fine in every gear. You can read about her truck here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...nsmission.html

On my truck the shift didnt change at all after changing the fluid.

 

I haven't heard about any problems after having the trans flushed, I have my vehicles trans flushed at recommended intervals and have never had an issue.What kind of issues are you hearing about?

 

such as slip and issue with shift up and down after changing fluid at high mileage