...A Very interesting artical. Has anybody here got these yet? I think I'm about to send for a couple.

 

I had a bad experience on my 2002 7.3 R4100 with the Magnafine after my tranny was rebuilt. After about 1000 miles the tranny started to heat up. Went back to the tranny shop and the head mechanic suspected a bad Magnafine. He took it off and sure enough, the Magnafine by-pass was half open for no reason. We took it off and went with the Summit Racing external setup and never had another problem. I put the Summit Racing setup on my 2008 V-10 at 40k and on the wife's 2007 LT.

 

Huh. The Magnafine site says you have to get them from the OEM only too? More research...


...Various set-ups from Summit indicate they use automotive spin-on filters. That would sure make replacing easy. Just about any brand would do for the kit, and get the filter of your choice. Still have the discussion of drain vs exchange/flush, but adding better filtration seems to be a no brainer.

 

Lots of guys use generic filter mounts and hydraulic filters for trans filters too. Works fine. Engine oil filters are a little loose for trans filtration, IMO, but far better than nothing. In light of hydraulic filters better performance, they are a better choice (engine about 35 micron average vs 10-15 on hydraulic).The important part is that either the filter or the filter base MUST have a bypass so that if the filter plugs, oil will still flow.

Pappy 19: If the bypass on the Magnefine was open, or half open, that means it could flow both around the element and also through the element, so there should have been absolutely no restriction. The only time the stuck bypass would have mattered is if the filter element was totally plugged by debris (not a good sign with a fresh trans). That does happen and usually comes from debris in the cooler that wasn't flushed out. If it wasn't plugged, seems likely that you had something else going on besides the Magnefine. They flow about 4-6 gpm (about half of a Ford trans flow). The bypass opens at 4 psid. Ford did a lot of qualification testing on the Magnefine and they had almost no failures.

 

To the OP:

Check which tranny you have. The only one that requires the 30K service is the 4R100. The 4R75 only requires servicing at 150K. I am at 85K (bought at 55K) and went to get a flush, and Ford said I didn't need one. Gotta believe em, as I they passed on taking my money...

 

All that I can say is my tranny man in Phoenix that does about one tranny/day, said that he has had bad luck with using Magnafine filters even after a total flush of the system including the coolers. He put that one on mine as it was the last one he had in stock. After that one failed, he didn't order any more Magnafines and I never had any more problems with the larger external filter setup. No matter how many tests were done by Ford or whoever, when you have a bad experience with a product, you think twice about using that product again.

Pap

 

I have the 4R75 and do understand that 150K or so is the Ford manual recommend service intervals, but that is for ideal conditions. Who drives in the most ideal conditions?

My truck deals with a lot of stop/go traffic here in Denver, tows quite often and the motor/tranny must deal with the altitude and frequently deals with climbing/desending many mountain passes. Those are clearly not ideal conditions.

I would much rather pay a couple hundred dollars every 3-4yrs to have the transmission serviced as preventative maintenance (and piece of mind), than take the chance on running the tranny and fluid to its limit. I'm always weighing the benefits/drawbacks of flushing the tranny for $200 compared to replacing/rebuilding the the tranny. What is the cost to replace/rebuild a auto tranny these days anyways? Much more costly than preventative maintenance. It's like my oil changes. Sure they state I can go 5K miles without service, but I still keep to the old 3K miles. Ensures the oil and filter don't get too bad and is a lot cheaper than if a problem did arise with the 5K miles intervals.

Now you state you bought your truck with 55K on the clock, but who's to say the prior owner didn't have tranny service completed sometime prior to selling? Also, just because the dealer stated you didn't need one, doesn't mean they are right. Did they just say "It doesn't need changed until 150K miles" or did a technician actually check the fluid to determine if it's looking like it needs changed? Big difference. Heck, most shops I've talked to don't recommend a flush after 75K-80K miles if you've never had a flush completed prior. They recommend a drain instead.

So I'm not trying to say you're wrong, just saying my opinion on the matter differs from yours.

 

I have a manual in my truck, but I do a drain/fill on my SUV. I just did the first one at about 73K. It previously had most of the fluid replaced at about 32K because of a cooler line leak. The fluid was just starting to get dark, but the Aisin 5-speed auto had a few symptoms ever since that repair - sometimes it would 'flare' while shifting and a few other things. I guess I got used to it. Prior to doing mine, I had done my wife's SUV of the exact same model, and 4.5 qts. drained which was the expected amount. When I did mine, nearly 6 qts came out - it had been overfilled, and I suspect the dealer was using regular DexMerc instead of T-IV as required. I put 4.5 qts of Valvoline Max Life (rated for T-IV, Z-1 and others) in and it was like getting a new car. I'll be doing this again next oil change and the one after that, then annually, to keep the fluid fresh. No harm can be done with a drain/fill as long as you use the right fluid and the right amount, and keep the level correct. Yes, it's wasteful because when you do the next service you drain some of the new oil you put in last time. For those who still think doing a drain/fill could harm the trans, consider that if you developed a leak in a cooler line or fitting and it got low, would you not add fluid? That's all you're doing with a drain/fill. Now if you have a trans with an oil pan and a serviceable filter, go ahead and pull the pan and take care of the filter. In my case, there's a drain plug - no pan or serviceable filter. The drain/fill in most trans gets about half the fluid out, so it works like the 'half-life' decay calculations for radioactivity in a way; let's say it holds 9 qts total and you drain and replace 4.5 qts. You now have a 1:1 mixture of old and new fluid. The next time you do it, 2.25 qts of what you drain were the new oil from last time, but you're putting another 4.5 qts in, so now you have 6.75 qts of 'new' oil and 2.25 qts of the original 'old' oil in the trans, or a 3:1 ratio. Theoretically you will never get all the old oil out because you get only half of it each time, but after the third drain/fill it represents a small amount which becomes insignificant if you continue to do one D/F a year. I know, too much information. The Total Fluid Replacement is also fine but I would not do a 'flush'. I guess the bottom line would be based on how bad the fluid is - very dark, do the TFR. Pretty good shape, do the D/F.
I forgot - in neither procedure do you have to manually drain the torque converter. Because the engine is running during the TFR, the TC fluid circulates out and in normally. In the D/F, it mixes as soon as you start the engine after filling. The torque converter constantly circulates fluid, so it always contains the same mixture as the rest of the fluid in the trans.

 

You can change 99% of it without flushing.

Drain the pan, replace the filter.

Remove a cooler line from the rad, put a rubber hose on it and place the end in a receptacle.

Add fluid and start the vehicle.
Keep adding fluid till it runs clear at the cooler line.

Once it runs clear, stop the engine, reconnect the cooler line , then adjust the fluid level as needed.

 

What are your thoughts on having a complete flush including the torque converter. I did mine at about 35K and have had no bad effects. I did this as a pre-caution after break in since I had heard some of the problems with doing a complete flush at high mileage were the particles that were worn off and suspended can actually bridge "gaps" in the tranny components causing problems with doing a flush at that point.

 

FWIW - just turned over 200K on my '05 with Automatic. No transmission problems at all.
Never flushed. I drop the pan in the driveway, replace the screen filter, put the pan back on and fill it back up (about 5 qts).
About every 30K miles.
Works for me. YMMV.

 

I just had my truck flushed, and it was a nightmare beause they put the wrong fluid in it, so make sure you go through the dealer. I took it to the dealer the other day and they reflushed it for me and now it has been shifting realy good and have had no problems. i would recomend doing it if the fluid is realy horrible and you need to get it out of there imediatly, but other than that I would just dump it and refill it a few times and call it good.

 

Well not really, more like a side question? Having read the comments here and on other threads, it would appear that we seem to differ a bit on the definition of a "Flush" and is there really a "Reverse Flush" process.

I would ask what the three descriptions are regarding a "Flush", "Fluid Exchange", and a "Drain".

 

That's an easy one. A 'flush' means that some cleaning solvent is used to 'clean' the transmission either as part of a 'total fluid exchange' or just added to the trans at some point before draining.

A 'total fluid exchange' is where the transmission oil cooling lines to the radiator or other oil cooler are taken loose and connected to basically a large cylinder with a floating piston, filled with new fluid on top of the piston. The engine is started and the normal internal pumping action of the trans pushes the old fluid out into the lower chamber of the cylinder which exerts pressure on the floating piston which pushes new fluid back into the trans. This continues until the fluid coming out looks like the fluid going in. Many dealers recommend the 'BG' trans flush also be done at this time. I don't. For anyone advising you against a total fluid exchange, just remind them that it's no different than simply running the engine at any other time - the trans is always circulating the oil. Nothing is flushed or dislodged that would not occur in driving.

A 'drain and fill' is simply either using the trans drain plug or removing the trans oil pan to let out the fluid with the engine turned off. Assuming you know the fluid level was correct when you started, you measure the oil that drained out and replace that same amount by adding new fluid into the trans dip stick tube or a special fill plug if so equipped. This changes half or more of the trans oil, but because it's so easy to do, you can do it at three consecutive engine oil changes which will pretty much be a total trans fluid exchange. For anyone questioning the safety of this procedure, you can ask them this; if your trans leaked a few qts of fluid from say a bad cooler line fitting, and you fixed that, would you add new fluid to correct the fluid level? Sure they would. Well, that is no different than adding new fluid after draining some out. No 'flush' takes place.

I do the 'drain & fill' because I know what fluid I want to use and I like to do things myself to know it was done right. Incidentally, When I started using Valvoline 'Max Life' fluid in my 2003 Saturn VUE, it was like getting a new car. I didn't realize that all those little 'quirks' were fluid-related. That trans (Aisin 5-speed auto) requires Toyota T-IV which the 'Max Life' is rated for along with basically everything else, and I think the dealer used the wrong stuff in it a few years ago when most of the fluid leaked out. They fixed the cooler line and refilled the trans and it never was quite 'right' after that. It is now, and it's smooth as silk. I am completely sold on 'Max Life' trans fluid and engine oil in this higher-mileage vehicle. I still use Motorcraft engine oil in my '07 truck. That is some pretty good oil too.

 

Ok - Unfortunately in my case that statement is not true... I had my Tranny flushed for the 2nd time @ 60,400 miles... The transmission had acted (shifted) differently after this change. I noticed it around 63,000 miles... So I decided to check the fluid level... It was high... Over the next few weeks (another 1,000 miles) I checked it at different times (distances driven, highway,backroads etc.) and sure enough it was still to high (about 1" up on the stick..) I brought it back to the Dealership and they took it in to take a look. It was indeed over filled and they corrected it. The service manager explained that the Tech fills the machine to the correct level (16 quarts in my case because of the Transmission cooler) and in this case they filled it too high.. The service manager also told me of the additional warranty provided by BG Products that applies to my transmission. Since I had it serviced @ 30,000 miles I qualify for $2000 worth of Warranty money if the transmission needs service over the life that I own the truck. If the 60K was my first service I would only get $1000 (36,001 to 75,000)



-Steve