Centexguy

You weren't the one I was questioning as you were obviously due for the flush.

twoodrough

I had a free oil change from the dealer and had it done at 40,000 miles. Service Rep was telling me about the $800 30,000 mile check up they do. Yeah right. He said there was two important things to do - tranny oil and fuel induction, basically clean out fuel lines and injectors. He stated tranny was kind of funny. If you do it at 50,000 then make sure you do it at every 50,000 mile interval. If you never do it, then it may be better to just leave it alone. Once it gets over a 100,000 it may start acting up after a change. If it isn't broke don't fix it mentality. Sometimes messing with something after all those miles opens up a can of worms. My plan is to do it at the 50,000 mile intervals because I rarely tow anything.

Trang

Old wives tale on the don't touch it if you don't flush before 100K, really sad that a dealer is perpetrating that crap.

Centexguy

Ruined a transmission doing that on my dodge. Fluid was never changed in a 120k miles. Flushed it. 2 days later it started slipping. Could be coincidence. I don't trust it. And you have my parents who never have any sort of maintenance other than oil and air filter changes done and their vehicles last over 200k and never fail.

bigmackloud

So Ford says 150k miles before changing the trans fluid. But what if they're wrong? Are they going to warranty that transmission? Not a chance. They simply have to make sure it lasts until it's out of the warranty period. More and more pressure is put on car companies to lower "cost of ownership." By advertising "no maintenance" it makes it a very easy vehicle to own.

My truck is about to hit 60k. While I have service records indicating the previous owner had the trans flushed at the dealer around 40k, I'm still planning to do a drain/fill and replace the filter/screen.

I worked as a service writer for Honda for several years. Honda actually had the flush machines removed from the dealer service depts in the early 2000s. (Honda Odysseys had terrible transmission problems in the early 2000s.) Now they only recommend a drain and fill every 30k (no filter that can be replaced). It was like $93 for the service.

Recondo

Well in my case, we changed my brother's 2009 F150 5.4L Lariat with 68k miles on it because it was leaking transmission fluid through the gasket, and on his last oil change I figured out where and how to check the transmission fluid level. To my surprise on a warm engine, there was no transmission fluid even registering on the short dip stick. We knew he had a small leak for about a year but never got around to changing it, even though I had already purchased a new transmission filter and pan gasket for his truck that has been sitting in my garage during that time. I went down to Amsoil and purchased I believe 18 quarts of ATF and we did the whole job in under 3 hours taking our time. After bolting up the transmission pan to OEM torque specs, which I believe was around 10-12 ft lbs, I filled the pan up with new fluid through the dip stick hole until fluid was just starting to leak out several times, while having him start the engine and letting the old fluid dump into a 5 gallon bucket through the feed hose at the transmission oil cooler. I couldn't differentiate between the old oil pouring out into the bucket and the new oil, so basically when the bucket got to about 3/4 full, we put the hose back onto the transmission oil cooler and topped the pan off to the proper level.

My brother tells me hes never felt his truck shift so well and smooth as it does now with the Amsoil, and is even reporting about a mile per gallon increase in fuel mileage.

thiggins

Does the fluid from the cooler normally just dump right back to the pan, or does it take some other route ?

Krumsta

I had my pan gasket leak too at 77k miles, dropped the pan, changed the gasket and filter/scree and half of the fluid, 7qts. The truck shifts beautifully and drives real good.

timpas

Firstly, I love my 2011 5.0 liter F-150. I've read the posts on changing the transmission fluid. My owner's manual says change it at 150,000 (the manual says 60,000 for five speed - mine is the six speed). I pull a trailer that grosses out at about 5,800 pounds (truck has the 3.55 axle ratio and is rated to pull 7,800 per the manual). In the past 12 months I've pulled the trailer a little over 7,500 miles, often in the Rockies climbing steep grades at altitudes above 7,000 feet and occasionally above 10,000 feet. Always well within the temperature rating except once in Wyoming hitting near the upper limit for about 30 seconds (let it cool down and moved on with it well within range). I expect to keep hauling the 5,800 pound load for the next couple of years (up to about 60,000 miles). I do not intend to wait until the 150,000 miles listed in the owner's manual. My question: at what mileage should I look at having the transmission flushed and fluid changed? I'm thinking 60,000 miles. The dealer maint shop says 30K. Thanks.

Killav-TT

I just had my 2011 eco trans fluid flushed by the dealer at 35k. It cost $189.00