Best ATF Ford 5R55W 09 Explorer

[jrustles]

Dropped the pan and managed to get nearly 50% fluid change about 8000km ago, at 90000km. It was refilled with Mobil 1 ATF, and now I'd like to pull the plug and refill every engine oil drain, which only gets aboout 2-3qts out. What's the best fluid for these transmissions in your experiences?

 

[V8man]

Amsoil ATF

 

[satyr64]

i been using maxlife

 

[dnewton3]

Originally Posted By: jrustles
Dropped the pan and managed to get nearly 50% fluid change about 8000km ago, at 90000km. It was refilled with Mobil 1 ATF, and now I'd like to pull the plug and refill every engine oil drain, which only gets aboout 2-3qts out. What's the best fluid for these transmissions in your experiences?



I'm not sure I understand what you're stating, but I'll take a stab at it.

You removed the pan and got an estimated 50% out, and filled with M1 ATF.

Now, going forward, every time you OCI the engine you are going to also dump a bit of ATF at that same service interval, estimated at 2-3 qrts?


Do I have that right?

If not, then ignore the next paragraph.

If so, then that sounds plain silly. There is no reasonable need to so manage your tranny. Addtionally, there is no "best" lube; you have not defined what "best" means to you, and therefore you're apt to get a w-i-d-e range of answers, predicated on personal opinions of what "best" means to each individual. Why not better define what your conditions will be, including OCI, fiscal thresholds, availability, serverity of use, etc, and then you'll get a much more refined answer.

 

[jrustles]

Originally Posted By: V8man
Amsoil ATF

Amsoil is probably a good product, though it's kind of co$tly around here and hard to get.

Originally Posted By: satyr64
i been using maxlife

In a Ford 5r55? Was considering ML but found out the viscosity dropped to a more Dex VI ~6cSt level? It still "satisfies Mercon V", but how good can it be at meeting all the specs?

Originally Posted By: dnewton3

You removed the pan and got an estimated 50% out, and filled with M1 ATF.

yes

Now, going forward, every time you OCI the engine you are going to also dump a bit of ATF at that same service interval, estimated at 2-3 qrts?


Do I have that right?

If not, then ignore the next paragraph.

If so, then that sounds plain silly. There is no reasonable need to so manage your tranny. Addtionally, there is no "best" lube; you have not defined what "best" means to you, and therefore you're apt to get a w-i-d-e range of answers, predicated on personal opinions of what "best" means to each individual. Why not better define what your conditions will be, including OCI, fiscal thresholds, availability, serverity of use, etc, and then you'll get a much more refined answer.


Yes because trying to do an exchange is a lot of trouble. The lines are thermostatically controlled and will shut down an exchanger, and for some reason this transmission retains an incredible amount of fluid, even when you start it up with the pan off, trying to squeeze that extra out. Honestly, I think I got no more than 35-40%, not even half, out last time. The fluid was brown, opaque but not burnt. The truck just drives empty most of the time, although it was loaded yesterday and I caught a slight flare up between gear 2-3. These transmissions have some problems like internal hemorrhaging caused by the hydraulic band servo pin wearing out it's bore in the aluminum case. I'm looking for an ATF with above average wear protection because of this. My first course of action is these frequent partial changes, at least for the next 2-3 OCI, to keep the insolubles down. Thought?

 

[jrustles]

Also considering using something a bit less costly than the M1 ATF also, because those bottles of M1 ATF I got earlier were on closeout!

 

[threeputtpar]

Then just go with the MaxLife. Yes, the viscosity has dropped to 6.0 cSt, but it has so much sulfer in it, it will provide the protection that you are looking for. That's why it smells soooooo bad, the sulfer.

I've had it in my Mountaineer's 5R55S for 25k miles and have not experienced any issues yet. I did a full line off exchange of 12 quarts.