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How much tranny fluid?

87K views 25 replies 9 participants last post by  Lgbpop 
#1 ·
I'm new to the Taurus and am trying to learn. Help is needed. How much transmission fluid is needed if I only drop the pan and change the filter? The manual that I have only gives the quantity needed if the transmission and torque converter is completely dry. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Whatever it takes to refill it.

I drop the pan and change the filter every 12k - 15k miles. I have (8) qts. on hand when I do. It usually takes (7) qts., (+,-).

This has been true for both the AXOD and AXN4's.

When refilling, I'll put in 4-5 qts., then briefly start it up and shift from Park to 1 and back, and shut it off. Restart it and check the level. Shut it off and add somemore and repeat the above procedure until it's full.

Then I 'll test drive it and check again. I continue to watch the ATF level for a day or two until it's reached a steady state.

In (18) years of driving (6) Taurii with automatics, I've only lost one trans, and that was at 190K on the '87 Wagon AXOD.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Hi sheila,

Just for the record, my 2000 Taurus SES (v6 Duratec) owners manual says "Mercon V" for the tranny, and plain old "Mercon®" for the Power Steering. Not sure if that makes a lot of difference in the Power Steering unit.

I did see this thread: http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/87-engine-drivetrain/168920-mercon-vs-mercon-v-2.html. Looks like that thread is mainly about fluid for the tranny, and not fluid for the Power Steering.

Hmmm . . .

P.S. Note that some older Fords specifically require "Type F" tranny fluid in the Power Steering.
 
#5 ·
There is a sticky in this forum and a wiki entry on doing a complete flush. I highly recommend you read through these if you haven't already and consider doing this procedure. If you are going to go through the trouble of dropping the pan, you should get as much of the old fluid out. It is pretty simple and requires only disconnecting the return hose and letting the engine pump out the old fluid. You will need about 15 qts to do a complete flush and fill.
 
#8 ·
Type F hasn't been specd for Ford PS systems since the mid to late 80's
 
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#9 ·
You're right on that one Jeff K. I have an '86 TC that likes to drip Type F occasionally out the steering rack end seals. When it get's a little thirsty, I give it a little nip. It's not much of a leak, like maybe an ounce a year. It doesn't blow back onto the underside of the car, so I'm not worried about it. I just replace the piece of cardboard on the floor every couple years.

Also thanks to sheila and sousa632 for the confirming the downward compatibility of Mercon V as a valid replacement for Mercon® in the power steering units. If anyone's interested, I found this informative article about ATF fluid: https://www.cartechbooks.com/techtips/autotransfluid

Regards . . .
 
#10 ·
Fyi, I finally did the "pan- only" fluid change.

I was able to get out 6 qts with an inexpensive ($12) hand pump (Hopkins 10803 FloTool Transfer Pump from Amazon) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D2QL0DU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. That required attaching the supplied ~1/4" black tube to the ~1/2" supplied red tube (with the little cone-shaped adapter), and fishing the black tube down the dipstick tube and into the pan, but not so far as it would curl up out of the fluid. It took about 20 minutes to pump out. Standing up, I leaned the base of the pump up against the top of the tire and used my weight to lean into the pump handle and push it down. This was way less fatiguing than trying to hold the pump in one hand and press down on the pump handle a zillion times with the other hand. I put 3 1/2 qts into one Arizona Tea jug and marked that level with a Sharpie, then filed a second jug up to about 2 1/2 qts, also marking it where it leveled off. So 6 qts was all I could get with this pump.

I was then able to pump out another 1/2 qt into that 2nd jug with a hand held MightyVac (that I usually use for bleeding brakes). Similar procedure: Attach one of the MightVac's ~ 6ft clear hoses to the pump's plastic jar, pump some out, empty the jar, pump some more out, empty the jar, etc until no more fluid could be pumped out. If it matters, I will mention that the front of the car was maybe 2 inches higher than the back of the car.

In summary, I was able to cycle 6 1/2 qts this way and my tranny fluid level was exactly where it was before and after. Remember to check your fluid level hot and the vehicle level, put it in Park, enable the emergency break, run through the other gears maybe 5 seconds per gear, return to Park, verify the emergency break is still engaged, and check your fluid level with the dipstick fully seated into the the dipstick tube.

Regards . . .
 
#11 ·
Back in 2011 Barkentine mentioned above that they did a ~7 qt "pan drop" fluid change and new filter every 12k - 15k miles. That sounds very ambitious to me, but I could be wrong.

Based on the fact that that other vehicles routinely go 60k+ miles without tranny service, I'm thinking perhaps a pan-only fluid change every 30k would be plenty, and don't worry about the filter (or maybe change the filter every 60k or 90k). Any comments on my thinking?

Thanks, I appreciate your experience . . .
 
#12 ·
Please, finish completing your owner profile. I have no clue what year or model Taurus you're driving. It's been eight months, now - get with it. ;)
 
#15 ·
Talk to Sousa362 or an admin. Neither I nor anyone else will remember your information otherwise. One does not have to provide info they don't wish to provide. Lord knows, I didn't do so.
;)
 
#16 · (Edited)
The info what you see to the left of my post is what's required. Don't need to add the town, the state would suffice, car info is what we are after here. Different areas of the country run into different issues with their car. I don't see the issue unless you are hiding from the government or the mob........ or both.....
 
#18 ·
Ok, got it this time. Even found a pic of the right color. Thanks for your help :)

Btw, you are correct. I am hiding from the feds this weekend: 1040's are due in no later than Tuesday. So I just sent Pharaoh all the grain I had in the coffers to appease Ra. Perhaps this way I won't get beheaded if I have to file an extension :->

Regards . . .
 
#21 ·
Off Topic: Just a followup on the H&R Block software: I had no problems filing one simple return yesterday. I used the "Basic" version (ie. no State tax here so Basic is good enough). I had also done the update when prompted (I think it's hard to bypass the update). If you like: Where did you try to delete a test entry? I still have another return to do. I can see if I have that same problem at that specific location. Ok if you want to drop this off-topic topic too. Of course you could contact their Tech Support since you paid for the (Windows I assume) software :
https://www.hrblock.com/customer_support/self_serv/contact_options.html

Regards . . .
 
#22 ·
Sorry I didn't answer sooner. (Spent a few days in hospital again.) I didn't have time to wait for them to get back to me, so I just ran through their softwear, got my numbers figured out, deleted that last .T16 file and started fresh. Fourth time was the charm. So glad I itemize deductions, anyone who doesn't do so - who owns a house and has grown-up medical expenses - is giving the feds money. Heck, our health insurance premiums alone put us well over the threshold for increasing our refund. When all was said and done, thanks to that major surgery and its bills from last year, our $320 refund jumped to $2300 or so. This year, if the current miserable law holds, we should get back about double that.
 
#23 ·
Sorry I didn't answer sooner. (Spent a few days in hospital again.) I didn't have time to wait for them to get back to me, so I just ran through their softwear, got my numbers figured out, deleted that last .T16 file and started fresh. Fourth time was the charm. So glad I itemize deductions, anyone who doesn't do so - who owns a house and has grown-up medical expenses - is giving the feds money. Heck, our health insurance premiums alone put us well over the threshold for increasing our refund. When all was said and done, thanks to that major surgery and its bills from last year, our $320 refund jumped to $2300 or so. This year, if the current miserable law holds, we should get back about double that.
I pay a guy to do mine, it is complicated since I own 6 master limited partnerships. Lots of pages but my MPL's send $$ every 3 months is distributions. We had right at $14,000 in medical in '16 and old people have a different offset from younger people. I do estimated payments and I was under last year. But on the bright side, we had minimal travel for medical last year. Past few years, many thousands of miles and motel bills to go on medical. Getting old hurts.

-chart-
 
#24 ·
I hear that! As my late father used to say, though, "It's tough to get old but it's tougher not to." ;)
 
#25 ·
This is a thread that I started six years and many thousands of miles ago. To followup on what I did with the tranny fluid (and to bring the thread back on topic), here goes. Immediately after the original posting, I dropped the pan, replaced the filter, and at the same time, put in a drain plug (bought from ????, don't remember). Since then, every six thousand miles (every other oil change), I drain the tranny fluid, measure what comes out (usually around 5-6 qts), and replace that amount. Maybe it's not as good as a complete flush, but it keeps the fluid looking/smelling good. I still drop the pan, clean it, and replace the filter every 30,000 miles. There have been no problems so far.
 
#26 ·
THANK YOU for bringing this back to topic, and for proving one of my fondest suspicions true...when someone re-activates an old thread (necromancing) sooner or later the OP will get tired of all the new posts on a thread he/she had given up as over and done with, years before.

There is no better testimony for moving threadjackers into their own thread, than this.

Sorry I inadvertently took part in it, Meck. Hope you've been doing well, the past six years.;)
 
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