Trans Fluid Type
 

Hi everyone, I'm a little confused on what type of fluid my transmission needs as some places say one thing and others are different so I figured I'd try here. I have a 2003 F250 6.0 w/ a automatic trans with the tow/haul mode on the gear selector. Looked it up at work and it takes 19.2 quarts of fluid. I'm changing out all my fluid with new. What type of fluid should I get and what brands do you recommend? Thanks

Mercon SP or Mercon LV. Both are Ford approved. Ford added the LV later. Yours was factory filled with SP. Most here will tell you to stick with the SP or LV. Nothing else.

It takes a "heated" flush machine to replace all the tranny fluid. Reason? There is a thermostat in the tranny.

A lot of us do a drain and fill. Which is about 8 quarts.

The filter, up near the front bumper, passenger side, looks like a roll of toilet paper. The one in the pan is just a screen. The canister the filter is in can be hard to remove. If you use a wrench, be careful not to twist the lines to the housing. It is recommended to use an impact wrench to break it loose. That is what I use.

Someone else will probably jump in here with more info, and views of this topic. So, hold on for a little bit.

Where you getting your filters from?

As stated by amdriven, Mercon sp or lv only. The tranny has a drain plug, no need to drop the pan and the exterior filter will add 8 oz. to the 8 qt. refill. Use oem filters on your truck.

I use Royal Purple Synthetic ATF. I have 120K on the clock and the RP fluid I have in it now has 60K on it. Probably will change at 100K. I tow my 7,000 lbs boat with my X plus a 6X12 dump trailer. Tranny shifts just like new and shows no signs of slippage. I have the SCT engine and tranny tunes installed. The only thing I notice over the Ford fluid is a firm shift when the tranny is cold. Once warm, it shifts great.

There is a good DIY procedure in the notes, I believe, on how to do this that does not require a hot flush. The tranny holds approximately 17.5 quarts of fluid. In a nut shell, drain the tranny pan. Fill the tranny with 10 quarts of new fluid. Forward of the small tranny filter you will see a tranny line with a rubber hose connected. Break that connection and plug the rubber hose. Put a hose on the metal line and let it drain in a bucket that indicates quantity. Have someone start the vehicle and you watch the fluid coming out. When you see the color change from dark to light red, turn off the motor. You should have approximately 7 quarts in the bucket. This is the fluid that was pumped out of the torque converter. Hope this helps.

Ed

OOPS! Forgot to mention that I warmed up the tranny to operating temp. With truck running, I pulled the drain plug then shut off the truck. As soon as the fluid drained, I put 10 quarts of fluid in the tranny and used my remote starter to start the truck. The T-stat was still open and when the fluid color changed I shut the motor off. Worked like a champ!

Ed

I wasn't aware of an external filter, I'm always learning more about this truck. I work at a Chevrolet dealer and I can use their flushing machines, although they are not heated. My trans shifts a little rough into 2nd but no slippage, my fluid could use a changing and I'm sure the filter could also. How about doing a drain and fill twice two seperate times? Would that sufficiently clean out all the fluid?The truck has 209,500 on the clock qnd was a Naval emergency response vehicle so it's been around the block a time or two I'm sure. Thanks

Yes, you can do that. Drain and fill a couple times. Then, drain and fill every 30,000.

When you do the fluid swap, use Mercon LV, it's great stuff!

It also mixes with Mercon SP, so don't worry about mixing the two.

If they're not heated don't waste your time and fluid. The internal t-stat won't open and you'll be bypassing most of the old fluid. I'd just do the 8 qt. drain and fill with a new ext. filter, drive a couple hundred miles and do it again. JMHO.

That's what I'll do then. Just got to find the correct trans fluid, seems that Oriellys and Advanced Auto don't carry it in stock. Neither mentioned ordering some in also. I can get the filter at the Ford dealer I'm guessing and the fluid too, but it might be more expensive. Where'd you get yours?

Ford 6.0 Liter Turbo Diesel Truck Filters, Air Filters, Oil Filters, Transmission Filters And Glow Plugs

Also, can get tranny fluid from them.

The tranny filter is NTZ-09-C09B, NTZ makes the motor craft filter. Also, for other filters, you can use Racor. Save a few bucks.

RiffRaff diesel also sells filters, oil and fuel, no tranny.