2016 Ford Edge 6F35 fluid change

[meborder]

A few weeks ago I did a fluid change (drain/fill) on our 2016 edge. It has 135,000 miles and I’m sure it’s never been serviced. We bought it used in 2018 with 93,000 miles.

The fluid looked terrible. Some of this I’m sure can be attributed to Mercon LV which just always looks terrible, but beyond that it still just looked terrible.



I did 3 drain/fill cycles. Drove it several miles in between Drains to circulate the new fluid.

First drain got me about 3 quarts, subsequent drains were about 3.5 as the fluid warmed up. (First drain was stone cold, video and pictures attached)

Math tells me that I got about 75% new fluid with the 3 cycles. The fluid still looks very black. The color itself doesn’t bother me but as an indication of how much old fluid is left, it seems that there is enough remaining old fluid to over power the color of the new fluid.

What do you all think?

Is about a 75% exchange good enough? My gut tells me to just do it 3 more times and get into the 90% range.

I used valvoline max life fluid.


I also did the PTU fluid at the same time. That fluid looked terrible also. Lots of metal in the fluid. Used Valvoline 75w140 in the squeeze bags. Highly recommend the squeeze bags. Makes jobs like this super easy. The PTU doesn’t take much fluid.

Thoughts?

 

[KCJeep]

I think I'd leave it alone and do single service once every 10k for a while. Which engine does yours have?

 

[meborder]

Thanks for the response. Ours has the 2.0 ecoboost.

Very pleased with the engine. Plenty of snort for a commuter car. Decent mileage given the size of the car.

 

[iahawk]

I did that a while back on my 2018 Edge with a 2.0. YouTuber Ford tech Makuloco has a good video on that. I think I got around 4 qts out of mine on drain. He is a big proponent of 30K drain and fills on these...something to do with the internal tranny filter and the need to crack the case to service or replace it...best to regularly change fluid to avoid need to ever crack the case.
He was adamant about using the Mercon LV....not sure how that compares to the Valvoline Maxlife?

 

[KCJeep]

Thanks for the response. Ours has the 2.0 ecoboost.

Very pleased with the engine. Plenty of snort for a commuter car. Decent mileage given the size of the car.

We opted for the 3.5 since we tow once in a while with ours. It's a gas pig however, most days I wish we had the 2.0. Only getting 19-20 overall and the wife is driving it around about 5k more per year than I expected.

Was going to wait till 50k to have tranny serviced, I just had the PTU done at 31k. Now I'm wondering about waiting that long for the tranny. Do both engines use the same transmission?

 

[KCJeep]

I did that a while back on my 2018 Edge with a 2.0. YouTuber Ford tech Makuloco has a good video on that.
He was adamant about using the Mercon LV....not sure how that compares to the Valvoline Maxlife?

I am normally fluid spec obsessive however the Valvoline seems to work very well in most everything. Good stuff.

 

[Whimsey]

We have a 2017 2.3EB Explorer with 6F35 transmission that was bought new. I initially changed the fluid at 12,000 miles and it was real dark. I refilled with the Mercon LV. Changed again 10,000 miles later and it was dark gray/red. Used Mercon LV again as the refill. Changed it again 10,000 miles later and it was much closer to red/gray this time, refilled with Mercon LV. Changed it again 17,000 miles later and it was dark red. I refilled with Castrol Transmax Full Synthetic Multi Vehicle ATF. It's due for a change in the Spring at about 30,000 miles of use. They say Mercon LV darkens up quickly but that was a little too quick at 10-12,000 mile change intervals, especially the first change at 12,000 miles. Thankfully it's easier to change the ATF in our Explorer than the engine oil & filter. I do it cold, out comes 4 quarts in goes 4 quarts.

 

[Hall]

Ford has told their dealership techs that color of Mercon LV is not indicative of the fluid's quality or condition. It will darken very quickly. Of course, when the fluid has 135,000 miles on it, all bets are off.

I've done drain and fills on ours (3) times and each time, I got 4 quarts. Odd that you're only getting 3-3.5. Are you on ramps or jackstands (front only lifted) or all four wheels up ?

I think exchanges of anything more than 50% are sufficient. Over 75% is great. Beyond that, it's overkill.... My calculator says you're right at 75% "new" as well.

 

[meborder]

We opted for the 3.5 since we tow once in a while with ours. It's a gas pig however, most days I wish we had the 2.0. Only getting 19-20 overall and the wife is driving it around about 5k more per year than I expected.

Was going to wait till 50k to have tranny serviced, I just had the PTU done at 31k. Now I'm wondering about waiting that long for the tranny. Do both engines use the same transmission?

Doing the PTU at 30,000 was probably smart money. You may not every need to do it again, but regular maintenance will keep you in the good for sure.

The transmissions are similar but are different. The book lists 6f35, 6f45 and 6f55. I would assume the 3.5 is using the 55, which is a beefed up version of the 45. They are all the same architecture, just increased friction material to handle the higher torque output of the bigger motors.


When I did my service I had it as level as possible. Probably not perfect but as good as I could and still get under it. The front was up on ramp extensions but the back was up on a hill, so it was decently level.

I think I’m going to readdress this on the next oil change. I wouldn’t mind doing the transmission fluid at the same time as engine oil from here on out (around 10k usually) but the leveling process is a bit of a chore. So just for that reason I’m inclined to just do it a few more all at once and be done for a while. Getting under there to pull the leveling plug isn’t fun.

Thanks for all the replies.