ever heard of "placebo effect" ?

BMW for e.g. uses transmissions which are sealed for life and even the tranny flush at 150k is more precaution than anything else.

stirring up metal shaving from the bottom of the tranny and messing around / potentially refilling incorrectly ... a lot worse than not doing a flush.

FMC certainly wouldn't recommend a 150k mile flush on a part they warranty up to 60k miles but it really needs a flush every 30k miles....

 

Sure they would. The transmission will last until the warranty is up without touching the fluid. That is all FMC needs to be concerned with. Not recommending a flush until 150k is so that they can advertise a virtually maintenance free transmission. But if you use it hard and expect it to last 200k, drop the pan every 30k.

Most of us wont keep our trucks anywhere near that long and in that case it doesn't matter. When you buy the used truck and the trans fails at 150,001 miles Ford can just claim abuse from the previous owner if they even feel the need to respond at all.

 

but yeah... if you feel like doing a full tranny flush every 30k miles (5x the frequency the manufacturer recommends) - more power to you.

I'd also recommend an oil change every 1,000 miles to 2,000 miles (5x the frequency Ford recommends) and change your tires every 10k miles , replace engine air filter every 5k miles etc....

 

Regardless, the time it took for the gear to engage after a shift from D to R, or R to D has now become instant. No placebo effect on that one.

Dowhatchalike!

 

Factory Powertrain warranty is 5 years/60,000 miles. They put extended intervals in the book for EPA/CAFE compliance.



I'm fortunate that I have a Friend that's a Ford Master Certified Transmission Tech....He's been @ the same Dealership for 28 years......Over the past 20 years, he has re-built 2 Transmissions for me under warranty and when he gives me advice I listen.

The whole purpose of servicing the Transmission is to replace the Fluid and Filter and remove contaminates......Warranty can be denied for contaminated fluids.

You do what you want...Me, I want long term reliability and its well worth a few dollars for Preventative Maintenance.

 

so Ford is going to deny a powertrain warranty claim because the customer followed Ford recommended maintenance schedule... lol

 

Where did you get the idea that the extended intervals were for CAFE or EPA compliance? I'm not arguing, just curious.

I kind of tend to agree that a lot of things recommended now (extended oil change intervals, the move to lighter weight oils, etc) could possibly be more about the environment and advertising than about what's actually best for the vehicle.

Would also be interesting to know if gm recommends the same mileage interval on the Silverado and Sierra trans, since I believe they're basically the same trans as the f150. If it isn't 150k, I'd tend to think the 150k number is kind of arbitrary.

 

+1

curious as well to learn more about how average fleet mpg requirements (= CAFE) are related to recommended service intervals for a transmission. Does an old and never serviced transmission achieve better mpgs and help achieve CAFE requirements

lead-free gas , lightweight oils and longer service intervals plus better mpg .... gosh.... I hate modern technology and advancements in chemistry and engine design. All I want is to change my oil every 3k miles and do a transmission flush every other year...

 

Well, you're obviously convinced you're right about everything and you're totally trusting of the manufacturer, so why even respond to the thread anymore? Are you on a crusade to save people from changing automotive fluids too often or ? I guess everybody needs a cause to fight for lol.

 

CAFE is a mpg target based on vehicle class that carries a hefty fine for fleets that fail to achieve the specified standard in fuel economy. Not only is it entirely unrelated to transmission service intervals, but if manufacturers felt frequent flushes would improve fuel economy, they would spec it on tighter intervals to cheat on their CAFE numbers.

tl;dr - You're burning money.