Tranny Fluid

1434 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by jason8225, May 5, 2004

Discussion Starter · May 2, 2004

Tuesday I'm taking my car into the shop to have some routine maintenance done including a tranny fluid flush - my manual says to use MERCON V. Any recommendations on what I should use - any synthetics out there or anything that will be higher performance, etc?

Thanks.

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henrysel

· #2 · May 2, 2004

Mercon V is a snythetic fluid. I actually changed the fluid myself just a few days ago just to get the experience of doing it. Real messy, next time I think I'll just have the shop do it, but that won't be for another 30k. I just got the cheapest fluid I could find, I think the key is more like changing it on a regular basis. There was a bunch of little metal particles around the magnet in the pan. I'm wondering how they're going to change your fluid, whether they hook it up to a machine and purge the whole system or drop the pan.

Dropping the pan only gets out half the fluid, but you can change the filter and clean out the bottom of the pan. That doesn't happen when they hook it up to the machine and do a purge.

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Discussion Starter · #3 · May 2, 2004

I didn't realize Mercon V was a synthetic! :lol2: It's something I have never really payed attention to.

At any rate, they claim to be dropping the pan and hooking it up to a machine... but I'm honestly not sure what they'll do, they could just be blowing smoke. But it is a very reputable shop that my dad has been using forever for all his cars and I usually use them and they've always treated us well, so I don't think they'd lie to me. I figured it'd be a very messy job since the pan has to be dropped - that's why I decided not to do it, plus I really don't have time to do it.

I think I'm going to have this done every year from now on. My last Taurus had major tranny problems and I don't want to see this one have the same problems - granted I went from a Gen 3 to a Gen 4 w/ different trannies, but for the $70/year in maintenance it costs me to have the fluid changed it's not worth the risk.

btw... the stupid stealership wants about $200 to do the same job

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diesel600

· #4 · May 2, 2004

Actually I think Mercon V is just partially synthetic. I have had trouble finding a full synthetic around here that is for Mercon V.

Dropping the pan doesn't have to be messy. If you remove the bolts in the right order, leaving some in, the fluid will flow out of one corner. I've done it many times without spilling a drop.

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henrysel

· #5 · May 2, 2004

Originally posted by jason8225@May 2 2004, 01:07 AM
I didn't realize Mercon V was a synthetic! :lol2: It's something I have never really payed attention to.

At any rate, they claim to be dropping the pan and hooking it up to a machine... but I'm honestly not sure what they'll do, they could just be blowing smoke. But it is a very reputable shop that my dad has been using forever for all his cars and I usually use them and they've always treated us well, so I don't think they'd lie to me. I figured it'd be a very messy job since the pan has to be dropped - that's why I decided not to do it, plus I really don't have time to do it.

I think I'm going to have this done every year from now on. My last Taurus had major tranny problems and I don't want to see this one have the same problems - granted I went from a Gen 3 to a Gen 4 w/ different trannies, but for the $70/year in maintenance it costs me to have the fluid changed it's not worth the risk.

btw... the stupid stealership wants about $200 to do the same job

Well then for $70 it's a pretty good deal. The fluid was about $18 for 6 quarts, the filter was another $15. I'm not sure how the machine works, but if it's supposed to change all the fluid, that's about 12+ quarts of fresh fluid to change. Took me about 2 hours to drop the pan, partly because I didn't really have a plan, just started loosening the bolts and it started to flow out. Had a big plastic pan underneath it but still got the rachet soaked in tranny fluid once the bolts were loose. It's nice that the Gen4 has the reusable rubber gasket. I had access to a lift so it wasn't that bad. Don't think I'd ever do it if I had just a garage.

I think you just need to do this every 30k. So far I haven't seen too many problems with Gen4 trannies although you're right that there does seem to be many problems with previous generations.

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ron porter

· #6 · May 3, 2004

If you have the pan off, it's a good time to install a drain plug. With the problems with the Gen 3 SHO tranny, my plan was to chnage the fluid/filter at about 15k, then do the fluid via the drain plug every 10K, then drop the pan and do the filter again after 30K.

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Discussion Starter · #7 · May 5, 2004

I got the car back this evening - it feels *much* better and smoother. :banana: The shop did a very nice job. I paid $115 total for everything for them to flush the tranny, replace the fluid (with "standard" Mercon V), filter and install a new pan gasket. Plus I had them change my fuel filter. The stealership wanted about $250 for all this!

It feels like driving a brand new car. B) If you have never had this done and you aren't having any tranny problems and still have pretty low mileage I highly recommend getting your fluid changed.

My car has 44k miles on it and I think this is the first time the fluid was ever changed.

Also, with the fuel filter, now that it has been changed, a minor quirk has gone away. Just recently it started to stumble for a second right after I start it. Nothing major, but it bothered me a bit. Now that the fuel filter was changed, it quit doing it - so that makes me happy too!

It is well worth it to take care of your car and get the maintenance done to keep it in tip-top shape! I have always considered myself as being pretty anal about keeping up on this stuff and days like today make me happy that I spend the money on it.

Thanks for all the tips guys.

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