My 2013 F150 STX 4x4 5L has 136K miles on it and I see that the trans fluid should be changed at 150K. Should I do it? some guys have told me if I have never changed it, don't. I have never changed the trans fluid so looking for advice.

Thanks

 

Sealed for life according to Ford and only changed @ 150k if used in severe duty. I say if it ain't broke don't fix it.
.

 

I would change it. I would not flush it. I'd just drop the pan, replace the filter and replace the roughly 6 Qts of ATF you lost from dropping the pan.

Then I'd put it on a pan drop (or buy a pan with a drain plug) every 30K thereafter. Change the filter every 60K.

The advice you get about not touching it is from people who have done a trans service on a bad tranny. Once you change the fluid in a tranny that is at the edge of death that often precipitates immediate shift problems. The tranny was already toast when the person changed the fluid.

 

I agree with everything you've said here, I just wanted to add something.

When you drop the pan, change the filter, etc, that will drop about 1/2 of the transmission fluid in the whole system. If you loosen the (my memory is failing me here, but I think) 15 T30 bolts holding the valve body in, you can get another 3 quarts to drain out of the trans. Meaning you refill with 9 quarts of fresh fluid, which is 75% of the capacity,

 

While I can't speak for others that have told the op to leave it alone. I can tell you my advice comes from a seasoned professional automotive technician with over 40 years of experience, 11 yrs as a Ford dealer line tech.

Try not to give advice on matters of which you know nothing about.
.

 

You know what they say about opinions..

One professional tech thinks one thing one thinks another. No one really has a 100% solid answer on the topic.


I personally believe in preventative maintenance making a vehicle last longer. Do I believe in transmission implosion at 150k if you dont do it? No. But you would be hard pressed to convince me fresh fluid and filter is a bad idea.

 

Makuloco hasn't been working in the industry half as long as I have and he even quit Ford to go work for Dodge. While I wholeheartedly agree with a lot of his advice on technical procedures I have to completely disagree with some of his maintenance procedural advice.

With that said, I'll lean towards the engineers at Ford that designed the machine's procedures for maintenance. They get paid a lot more than I or Makuloco ever could repairing them.


.

 

The point I’m more or less trying to make is there is no hard evidence either way and each owner should do what they like. Also you don’t need to belittle the other poster for “giving advice on something they know nothing about”

Sometimes it doesen’t matter if someones been in the industry half as long, it doesen’t mean you are automatically smarter or more correct then them.

 

Also, anyone that deals with engineers knows that what they say isn’t always gospel. And you have to admit he makes a good point about marketing cost of ownership and such.

 

So you're saying because you own a machine, you know more than the person that designed it how to better take care of it? That's mighty arrogant of you. Say what you will and there's no belittlement happening here, only facts being stated.
.