I've pretty much decided I'm going to do it.........


When some of the fluid appears to be slightly 'burnt', that can't be a good thing. :-X16


And that's something I can do myself, of course......which just points to the fact that there's been no excuse.

Here's a better way from our very own Mark K, THE transmission guru

Changing ATF Fluid in a E4OD and 4R100 transmission - Ford Trucks


This will get all the fluid changed

Yep you need to change that tranny fluid out. I changed mine at 80k and it was black. I didn't change the filter but I added a external spin on tranny filter and changed the filter at 120k and that fluid was the same color as what was in the qt bottle, bright red. An external filter is a very good investment imo. Also if you tow heavy I highly suggest a 6.0 tranny cooler too keep your temps in ck.

from what ive read, just drain the pan and refill..(laymen term quoted from a tranny tech)

I can see doing that if the fluid was changed every 30k, but with 200k, I would do a full drain and flush.

Yeah. Sounds like the full flush alright.

I was hoping to do it without having to break out hoses and call up a friend.......

I'll have to look into that.

I don't do a lot of towing........

That was KIND of what I was looking at doing......Except for also pulling the pan and changing the filter......and checking out the magnet to see what's been going on up there.......

OK. So let's say I DON'T do the full flush.......

Out of the 18-odd quarts of tranny fluid, how much am I actually draining if I just pull the plug??????

what is in the pan, maybe 8 quarts.

So roughly half? That's it???

yup. the torque converter and cooler hold a lot of juice.

Yup.

So after reading Kovalsky's instructions.......Part 4 and 5.......

If you drain the pan........replace the plug........Start the engine........

Won't 8 more quarts end up getting recirculated back into the pan???? Which you can then drain making it 16 quarts you've drained??????

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He's disconnecting hoses, putting on the drain hose at the plug where the ATF is returning from the cooler back to the torque converter........and running the engine.........

Just a thought.........And I'm sure not a very good one....lol

yes, it will. but then it will contaminate the new stuff.
another way is to drain the pan, and drain the torque converter. this will leave what is in the cooler and lines. or you can blow out the lines. then you will just have what is left in the trans.

yup....pull plug, then remove pan and replace filter.

That'll probably work. According to Kov's post, My 2000 has a drain plug on the torque convertor...........

I realize I'm sounding 'newbish' here......but I've not spent any time crawling around checking out all the tranny stuff under the truck.....lol.

Some of you guys probably do that every weekend for relaxation......

I'm guessing that would bring me to 2/3.....or 3/4 of the fluid being drained through that simpler process. Probably enough.......

You guys make it sound simple, but I really don't want to run the engine after draining until I've put the new stuff in and I'm testing the level........

This is reminding me of my first posts here about 8 years ago.......lol

'Hey guys! I just changed the CPS! My truck works great now! Thanks! The Ford 7.3L rules! This site rocks!!!'......

i think if you drain the pan and torque converter you should be good to go.
or just take it somewhere and pay the $150 and have it done.
the only thing i make sure of is that they do not do the chemical flush. i specify just a simple fluid change.
i changed the filter when i first got it,it was nasty. now i just do a fluid change.