My local dealership quoted me $168 for a flush, says they use 16 quarts of mercon 5, Ive read this whole thread and never heard anything about 16 quarts, is this right?

 

at 110k, don't know when and what the previous owner had it serviced, should I take it to a dealer and have them flush it ???
Local dealer said $180 + taxes, takes about 2hrs.
After reading some posts, I'm afraid it might mess up my truck.
Also read something about a cooler, where to get one and how much does this cost? Is it something that I can do myself or should I have it done somewhere ??
The truck I have now is my first automatic vehicle I ever had, I owned sportbikes and there is nothing but engine oil and radiator fluid to flush/change. When I owned a Mustang GT before I owned bikes and this truck I had someone to service it for me.

 

man just have the dealer do it. it wont mess anything up and if it did they would pay for it.
and when you flush a tranny you can push in as much or as little as you want, i think the more the better!! i mean the new stuff is gonna get diluted by the old so the more you push threw it the less old stuff is left.


do the new fords have a drain plug on the converter like in the old days??

 

ok let me put that in realistic terms
a guy comes in with wore out tranny, gets it serviced and all the grit that was holding it together is gone so it slips. he sews the shop, shop makes new policy. the one i worked at made you sign a waiver if you had over 60k. i did around 85 flushes with a wynn machine and never hurt a car.
(the wynn makes the trans pump do most of the work)
but if something happened the shop doesnt want to spend 3k on a tranny, it doesnt mean its not safe.

is your fluid black?
do you have any trans probs?
if not dont hesitate to flush
just remember a flush doesnt give you a new filter.
i like to do both or alternate between the two

btw i dropped the pan and changed the fluid and filter on mine ...then flushed
i had 130k at time of service, now up to 140k with no probs.

 

What are you guys using for new filters? It seems like the ones I get from Autozone and Advanced have wimpy gaskets and end up leaking within a year. Should I just buy the overpriced MC kit?

 

i reused my old steel embossed gasket, and put a wix filter in.

 

ya...i agree the factory gasket it alot better gasket than them damn cork gaskets

 

It cost me $179 at the dealer, and they actually do a flush, which is typically more expensive than a simple drain.

The 16 quarts may be due to how the dealer flushes the tranny. After talking to my service advisor and watching some of the steps, I understand why it takes so much ATF. I had my tranny flushed at about 30K, which was about 5K ago.

Basically the dealer connects a unit that builds pressure and pushes out the old fluid with new fluid. They continue to push the fluid through the tranny, which also cleans out the TC, until all the fluid coming out is a crystal clear pink/reddish color. This is to ensure as much if not all the old fluid has been flushed from the system. I'm unsure how much fluid the tranny and TC combined hold, but maybe the 16 quarts is the typical amount it takes to flush the system and refill to proper level.

From what I experienced, this took roughly 45-50 minutes to complete the complete flush. Of course I had the transfer case flushed and the oil changed at the same time and in all it took about 1.5 hours.

 

If you have a lower mileage vehicle, I would flush the first time, flush and change the filter the second time, flush flush and filter from then on. Keep it clean from day one.
But if you have purchased a used truck that the trans. has never been serviced before it is kind of buyer beware. I had a vehicle that had over 70K on the trans, I drained the converter and dropped the pan. Put a deeper pan on it too. Blew the tranny in within 1000 miles. Mercon fluid too.
Do your tranny service, flush and change the filter. It does not make any sense to not service it.
But if synthetic has not been used in it that you know of, don't switch over because it seems like the sexy thing to do.

 

I would flush it first, and maybe it will knock down some of sediment. Then ask them to run the truck through the gears or drive it some, THEN drop the pan and change the filter and add clean fluid to clean fluid.