conflicting answers about doing a tranny flush.

[carringb]

Keep in mind the 6.0 E-series cooler isn't the XL-sized one that the F-series got. I'm not even sure the F-series one will just drop right in.

The Tru-Cool Max 40,000 GVWR cooler is a good fit. It almost is a direct replacement for the stock cooler. I trimmed away one of of the stock cooler supports and stuck it in the same spot. Others simply place it in front of the support.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by carringb

Keep in mind the 6.0 E-series cooler isn't the XL-sized one that the F-series got. I'm not even sure the F-series one will just drop right in....

Based upon the significant price differential, I think you're right and that they're completely different animals. It just never ceases to amaze me how many differences there are between the E-series and F-series. Some I understand, but I'm not understanding why Ford would go with a smaller transmission cooler on the E-series.

FWIW, I compared the costs of a 6.0L trans cooler for 2005 E-350 and 2005 F-350 on TouselyFordParts.com.


Herb

[MadScience]

Originally Posted by carringb

The Tru-Cool Max 40,000 GVWR cooler is a good fit.

After a bunch of research I ended up with one of those for my v10/4r100. Edit: It cured all my transmission temperature issues. With it I stay under 200 99% of the time, and under 210 when I'm really pushing it hard. With the stock cooler temps would climb unbounded until I shut it down on all steep grades.

I should have listened to carringb when he (quite accurately) pointed out that the cooler is good, but the optional bypass valve is useless (it's not busted, but set up for the wrong temperature range). Carringb, in retrospect thanks for sharing your wisdom.

The swap took me about 3 hours, I suspect an actual mechanic would cut that in at least half. Much of that time was futzing with the valve and figuring out that it was just wrong. You don't need to drain the transmission to do this.

[E-rex]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/ ... ssion.html

Not sure if bringing up old threads is considered poor form (some forums frown on it), but this info was exactly what I was looking for. The E150 (Rex) has 89k from the orig owner, in the form of typical commercial duty hard life. I could not tell if the xmission fluid was burnt, as there was not even enough to register on the dipstick.

Looks like I have a 4R75E (Transmission code Q). I was thinking of dropping the pan so I could see if there was a mess (hopefully not) and change the filter, then change what I could of the balance of the fluid using the internal pump. Lining up my projects for the spring and summer, and my Dance Card is filling up..

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by E-rex

Not sure if bringing up old threads is considered poor form ..

Not bad at all. I have been thinking about this subject a lot lately, as I suspect my fluid has never been changed, despite my owners manual stating it should be changed every 30K! That's a pretty short interval. I too have seen transmissions fail shortly after a flush, so do I just wait and hope it pukes somewhere where I can deal with it easyly, rather than somewhere like Death Valley?

[E-rex]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

...my owners manual stating it should be changed every 30K! That's a pretty short interval. I too have seen transmissions fail shortly after a flush, so do I just wait and hope it pukes somewhere where I can deal with it easyly, rather than somewhere like Death Valley?

Yes, 30k is unusually short, but then again, many of the vehicles here are far from typical (at this point, mine by comparison is more ordinary).

From what I have read (here as well as other places), a power flush may be quicker for a garage to do, but can blow out internal seals with pressures for which they were not intended. I like the idea of letting the internal pump drive it out under normal operating pressure, then replacing (I have yet to see it, but am thinking of it as a 'Dribble Method', though depending on the rate of flow, I may rename it the 'Puke method' ).

The other part of failure after service may be related to how overdue the transmission is for service. At 89k for me, I am hoping there is not a lot of accumulated 'plaque' and such that can be dislodged and left floating around to cause a stroke afterwards. My logic / hope is to get the transmission clean, and keep it clean. For transmissions near their end of life (based on whatever combination of miles, harsh service, or neglect), the prevailing wisdom seems to be to let it expire on its own, then fix what failed and rebuild.

If you will be taking off on death defying adventures, then you should figure out how close your transmission is to end of life. If it is in bad shape, even a filter change could in theory cause problems. Sticking close to the method in the link, you could start with a pan drop. If things look good, you could happily proceed, but if things look grim, just swap the fluid (prob half without the torque converter), and plan on having serious work done before you really put yourself out there.

Of course, I am a noob, so take any advice from me with the appropriate grain of salt.. I am just trying to figure things out on the fly.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by E-rex

Not sure if bringing up old threads is considered poor form (some forums frown on it), but this info was exactly what I was looking for. The E150 (Rex) has 89k from the orig owner, in the form of typical commercial duty hard life. I could not tell if the xmission fluid was burnt, as there was not even enough to register on the dipstick...

Personally, I'd rather people take the time to search existing posts and add to them, than start new threads. That's just me.


Herb

[marret]

I had a transmission fail very soon after a transmission flush where they used the transmission pump to cycle the fluid. The vehicle was a Suburban and had about 200k miles. The transmission was rebuilt by an extremely knowledgeable guy who owned a shop (a friend who I trust) and built lots of transmissions of all makes. He told me to just drop the pan, change the filter, and top off the fluid. This was about 2003. This was 13-14 years ago, but I'll always be cautious about using the transmission pump or an external pump to force fluid through the transmission.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by marret

I had a transmission fail very soon after a transmission flush The transmission was rebuilt by an extremely knowledgeable guy

Did he give you any indication of why it failed or if the failure was related to the flush?

[boywonder]

I did my 4R75E trans with about 95K using the bucket method.....super easy with 2 people.

Buy about 16 quarts of juice......disconnect one of the lines at the trans cooler......put another short piece of tubing on the cooler when you removed the van line...point both pieces of tubing into a 5 gallon bucket and crank the engine briefly.

This will let you know what line is the output (fluid coming out of line going into bucket).

Person 1 starts the engine...person 2 monitors flow into bucket.......shut off engine when 5-6 quarts of waste fluid are in the bucket......add 5-6 qts new fluid through the dipstick tube.

Repeat above a few times until waste fluid flowing into bucket looks like fresh new fluid.

Reconnect trans line to cooler...done.