Tranny fluid change interval

[DerekTheGreat]

Lifetime fill means it will last the warranty period of 36K miles.

This.

[86VickyLX]

My 2012 escape has what the owners manual refers to as a "lifetime fill" - no change is ever needed according to them. I think their idea of lifetime and mine aren't exactly the same. I think they are also in the business of selling cars so the more disposable your old one is the better for them.

I've changed it twice already and it's not even to 60k. Both times it was filthy brown.

Was that a full fluid change or just pan drop?

Lifetime fill means it will last the warranty period of 36K miles.

That sounds about right.

[Tiggie]

Was that a full fluid change or just pan drop?.

Wish it was a full but there's no way to get it all out that I'm aware of. About 5 quarts come out through a drain plug.

[86VickyLX]

Wish it was a full but there's no way to get it all out that I'm aware of. About 5 quarts come out through a drain plug.

At that rate a flush would be more effective. You'd need the machine for that though.

[Lincolnmania]

i drain the converter also whenever possible.

if i can't get to the drain on the converter for whatever reason, i usually flush it thru the cooler lines.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

At that rate a flush would be more effective. You'd need the machine for that though.

Not really, just as long as you can fill the pan faster than the trans can pump itself dry all is well. Hacking the end of a funnel off till the hole is almost as wide as the dipstick tube tends to make for easy refill while the cooler RETURN line is disconnected and cooler is dumping the old fluid into a tub underneath.

i drain the converter also whenever possible.

if i can't get to the drain on the converter for whatever reason, i usually flush it thru the cooler lines.

^^^This!!! Many older transmissions have convertor drains, makes it stupid easy to change like 95% of the fluid (the remaining 1/2-3/4 of a quart is in the cooler), if you got a plug it'd be a shame not to use it. Barring converter drain, go for the cooler line disconnect and refill as she purges herself out of the old fluid, it really isn't a big deal.

[porschpow]

True,

Only thing is unless you have the machine to do it, how else would you go through the cooler lines?

i drain the converter also whenever possible.

if i can't get to the drain on the converter for whatever reason, i usually flush it thru the cooler lines.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Only thing is unless you have the machine to do it, how else would you go through the cooler lines?

You must have missed what I posted just before you. You find out which is the return line from the cooler to the trans and disconnect it where it's easier (usually at the cooler), fashion a way to redirect the fluid coming out of the cooler into a drain pan of some sorts, then fire up the engine and let it idle (for 302s you can pull the SPOUT connector and that makes then idle real low) and simply fill the trans thru the dipstick tube as it's trying to pump itself empty thru the open return line or cooler port. Obviously you wanna start off with a trans pan full of nice and clean fresh fluid, so first drain that the normal way via either dropping the pan or pulling the drain plug if it's got one, then fill it up with 5-6 qts of new fluid (yes I know that's overfilling it, the goal is to have some wiggle room so you don't risk she runs dry on you). Then you idle the engine and you keep dumping fluid down the dipstick tube as the nasty stuff comes out, when you see clean fluid come out of the line then most if not all of the junk is out of the system. Do know how much fluid is needed altogether, and only put that much in, or slightly less - for example if the thing is supposed to take 12qts I'd only give it 11 (5 in the pan initial fill and 6 thru the dipstick as she runs) and if I use up what I have prepared before the fluid coming out clears up I stop filling her up and just let her pump till I see clear. Then top off as needed, usually the pan is a quart low at this point. The reason to do it this way is that, based on the size of the funnel opening and the engine speed (basically what determines fill and discharge speeds), it's very possible to fill the trans much faster than she can pump out, so if you don't keep track of how much fluid you're putting in you can easily dump in 13 or 14 qts before she clears up - so now you got a quart or two too much, getting rid of those is generally harder and messier than simply adding a quart if you're slightly low. And again, do make sure you're using a funnel with as big of an opening as can fit down the dipstick tube, this will allow fluid to travel down to the pan faster instead of dilly-dallying up in the funnel.

Makes sense?

[DerekTheGreat]

Makes sense to me. I thought that was bad to do but if its been done with success then cool. When I was a teen I changed the radiator in the Fireturd and put too much trans juice in. This is exactly how I bled it off, only it made a huge mess as I had no idea how much pressure the thing would make and how much was going to come out.

[lincolnlarry]

Not looking forward to this on the F-150. It has that "lifetime fill" and no dip stick. Don't know if it is penny pinching or trying to keep the fluid cleaner that they did that shit.

[DerekTheGreat]

Penny pinching & market research I bet. The dealers most likely have to report services and no one ever services their transmissions, least the majority doesn't. So the bean counters figured if they could design it to make it through the warranty period for less dough then it was a win win. Not to mention it's a nice gimmick to use when trying to sell your car against the competition. "____ & ____ requires service whereas our BS doesn't need any for the lifetime of the vehicle!" Sounds good to the average John & Jane.

[Makaveli]

Previous owner of my '95 GM didn't have a fluid change/filter change before I bought it, I know because the end of the dipstick was in the pan. I didn't get around to getting it done for ~3000 miles after buying it, around 59K miles. I hope it's not too big of a deal, lol. I don't think it is, but the fluid was more than 20 years old. My mechanic said "the fluid didn't seem that bad" and upon visual inspection of my own prior to the flush the fluid was no longer red, at least on the dipstick.

I'd like to get a performance valve body soon, because honestly it shifts like shit imo.