04 Grand Marquis, first changes

[Titan]

Bought an 04 with 29,000 miles, any tricks to the ATF/filter change? Mercon V is the spec...thought I'd use it this time, then change to AmSoil? PS specs Mercon, and states several times that Mercon and Mercon V not be mixed....seems a bit weird to me, but, I'll abide by the rules. Differential specs 80-90, but, I've read that 75-140 is actually preferred...AmSoil makes a very good gear lube in that weight. Brake fluid says DOT 3, but, 4 could be used. Fuel Filter....any tricks to that? Is it mounted in the tank, or where? Gonna have to get a service manual. Thanks for any experienced advice!

 

[bdcardinal]

fuel filter is a piece of cake. its on the frame rail on the passenger side towards the rear.

we use mercon V in power steering at the dealer i work at. everything is pretty easy on these cars.

 

[Titan]

Thanks!

 

[Donald]

Why not move directly to Amsoil ATF at this point. 29K miles is not enough miles where you need to flush out some old cruddy ATF before going to Amsoil ATF.

 

[Titan]

I'll go with AmSoil the next time. Not due for a filter change just yet, so, in order to keep costs down, I'll change to AmSoil as I replace the filter next change.

 

[JustinH]

I would just change it every 20k with motorcraft mercon V.

There is a writeup on tccoa.com how to do it on the thunderbird, its the same thing on a crown vic.

35 bucks in fluid, and a 10 dollar filter. About an hour of your time, you can drain the entire trans, and get all but about a quart of fluid out of it.

 

[The Critic]

Quote:

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PS specs Mercon, and states several times that Mercon and Mercon V not be mixed....seems a bit weird to me, but, I'll abide by the rules.

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Just recently, Ford released a bulletin stating that Mercon-V can be used in PS units that previously warned against using Mercon V or dual-rated Mercon/Mercon V fluids.

 

[Titan]

Got the same opinion at the parts department...so, I bought Mercon V and started my PSF turkey baster drain/fills. I'll do it every time I run it for a couple of quarts worth, then turkey baste/refill every month. That ought to keep it running pretty well.

 

[Colt45ws]

Quote:

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I would just change it every 20k with motorcraft mercon V.

There is a writeup on tccoa.com how to do it on the thunderbird, its the same thing on a crown vic.

35 bucks in fluid, and a 10 dollar filter. About an hour of your time, you can drain the entire trans, and get all but about a quart of fluid out of it.

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You cant drain the torque converter directly anymore, the drain plug was no longer installed beginning in '00 or '01.

 

[Titan]

Onmo, do you think drain/fills about every 15,000 would be sufficient if not draining the TC? If so, how often to drop the pan and change the filter?
Thanks!

 

[Colt45ws]

That would be plenty. If you are going to go to amsoil would could probably go longer, though. I'd probably go 30-40k on amsoil, but Im hard on my cars.

 

[unDummy]

It depends on driving style.
A 15k pan drop isn't excessive. Install a drainplug(or get a pela extractor). Drop the pan every 4th-5th time for filter replacement and pull the drainplug(or mityvac) every 10k if using normal Mercon-V.

If you want to go longer, then you should perform full flushes, definitely use a full synthetic, and inline filtration.

 

[Titan]

Thanks, guys!