DYI Transmission flush with pictures

[01rangerxl]

What transmission does the vehicle have? If you are not sure, what model of vehicle is it?

What I have heard is that it is okay to use Mercon V to top off Mercon, but you can't do it the other way around. Of course, as we now know from RedOak's first hand account, if you have an E4OD or 4R100, stick to Mercon. E4ODs and 4R100s have been used in virtually every Ford full size truck since the late 1980s.

Most other Ford transmissions seem to be fine with Mercon V. If you are concerned, just stick to the DexIII/Mercon fluids. They are still available at any parts store, you just have to be sure to read the label. I don't think it would be an issue with most transmissions to top off with Merc V though. I actually think I did that with my Explorer (4R55E) and it never had any transmission problems.

 

[RedOak]

I would not say it would be ok to mix competing formulations without knowing the model of the transmission and past history of that model. I think Mercon V was cafe driven, plus it has stopped shudder and hard shifts in some older transmissions but me personally I would not mix the two without doing research. I spent hours reading manuals and worthwhile websites to determine that Mercon was the way to go in my transmission. Ford has a TSB back dating to my transmission but if you read reputable information from top notch transmission shops they say to stay with Mercon unless you are willing to rebuild or upgrade valve configuration. Bottom line I would not mix. Mercon V seems to have less friction modification than the old Mercon.

 

[doitmyself]

Hmmmm.....this is a plain jane Ford Escort, 2002. After reading that TSB, it sounded like Mercon V would be the best thing to put into it next change. Now you have me wondering.

Thanks.

 

[RedOak]

Mercon V would be the best selection. Remember my trucks is 14 years old and seals and other parts have improved as well as aft fluids. Do a 1000 cleaning with 6 oz of Auto-Rx and it will clean out your transmission. Do the t-tech flush yourself of use a good mechanic you can trust. I believe a bunch of garages charge for a full flush but just drop the pan and drain the torque converter still leaving old fluid in the lines and cooler.

 

[01rangerxl]

On a 2002, the factory fill may have been Mercon V. My Ranger had it from the factory and it is a 2002. If you go to motorcraft.com and click on "Technical Resources" you should be able to pull up an owner's manual for the car. I would use whatever is suggested there.

*Edit...I went ahead and looked at the owner's manual on motorcraft.com, and it says to use Mercon. According to the TSB Ford issued a while back, it should be okay to use Mercon V in your car, but they also said it was okay to use Mercon V in the E4OD and 4R100 in that same TSB.

Mercon V isn't a bad fluid by any means, it just is not compatible with all Ford transmissions, despite what Ford says.

Here is the TSB:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/fulltext/show_article.php?tsb=06-14-4

 

[Donald]

While I am a fan of Auto-Rx, without before and after pics of your transmission, I cannot conclude what Auto-Rx did or did not do.

 

[RedOak]

Donald you have a point, but much of the cleaning takes place in places you can not look at such as torque converter. I am by no means a expert mechanic. My goal was to save dollars in a tight economic time and share what worked for me. Nothing scientific about anything I did, the only firm stance I will take is Mercon V no matter what ford says does not work in some older transmissions. Mine was one of them. I am a novice in the mechanical area but enjoy to learn new things while keeping more of my dollars in my bank account and out of dealerships who are not well versed on some things.

 

[panthermike]

Cool,

I'm glad your experience was a success redoak. I know I would not hesitate to put ARX in my transmission. My lincoln mark 8 called for mercon but worked much better on Mercon V, ford didn't get em all right.

 

[c3po]

If you did what I did with Auto-Rx in the transmission, then you can conclude that it works. I have a Turbo 350 with 360,000 miles on it, never rebuilt, at 100,000 miles it got Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF then at 250,000 miles I switched over to Redline Synthetic ATF, I have a drain plug on the pan and would periodically drain the fluid, everytime I drained the fluid it came out bright red, at 346,000 miles I added 6 ounces of Auto-Rx and left it in there for about 2500 miles, I just kept putting off draining the fluid, well when I went to drain the fluid it was a very dark burgundy color, I still have the old pan as I had decided to put on another transmission pan, that pan was covered on the bottom with a layer of metallic junk, I will have to get a digital camera and take a picture. The transmission shifts so much smoother that it is unbelievable, Red Oak is right, all of the junk is in your torque converter and valve body where you cannot see it, everytime I dropped the pan before Auto-Rx it was clean as a whistle inside, the only thing I can conclude is that Auto-Rx cleaned everything inside my transmission. I will put it too you this way, my Turbo 350 transmission shifts better than my 4r75W on my 25,000 mile Mercury Marauder in my opinion. Before I did Auto-Rx in my Turbo 350 Trannsmission and engine, my Dad drove the car and later said this car runs like junk, you need too get rid of it, after doing Auto-Rx in the transmission and engine he drove it 1 day and said to me did you get a new engine and transmission, I said no, I Auto-Rxed it.

 

[RedOak]

Good going with those high mileage transmissions. I talked with a co-worker that bought my old company ride several years ago.ford tauras. It has 200,000 on it now and he blew a head gasket in it he other day in town. I had always went with five thousand mile oil changes using carquest and motorcraft 5-30. He caught it fast so it did no damage other than having to replace the head gasket. I asked him how it looked inside and he said you could see the original hone marks on the cylinder walls and there were a few deposits on top of the pistons and some slight deposits on the heads and he said the connecting rods were clean and he had the heads checked and there were no cracks so all he did was clean things up and replace the head gaskets and all is well for another 100,000 miles. Those 3 liter vulcans are one of the longest lasting motors on the road. No synthetic oil was ever used just four to five thousand intervals with ford filters carquest and motorcraft oil. I did advise him to run two clean and rinse cycles with arx to aid things along.

 

[Ken2]

As said above, there is no longer any such ATF called "Mercon®." Ford has discontinued licensing that fluid and no business can use that name on new fluid (Ford owns the name). Yes, the exact same fluid is still being made and sold under various names...Dex/Mer, M/D, etc. Ford recommends their latest version of MerconV® in all Ford transmissions that do not require the very old Type F or the new MerconSP®. Do not use Type F in your transmission. It is very wrong. Ford has not listed the various changes to the MerconV spec over the years, while GM did re-name their Dexron-III line--the latest was Dexron-III(H)--so we all knew when we had the latest version.

I suspect that the Auto-Rx corrected your problem, and that either Mercon or MerconV would now work fine for your transmission.

By the way, GM has also stopped licensing Dexron-III under that name, but it is still licensed as Allison TES-389, as well as being widely made without license and without the Dexron-III name (GM owns the Dexron® name).

 

[RedOak]

Any way you look at it I feel very fortunate to now have a smooth operational transmission. At one point I thought I was going to have to tap into my line of credit to have a rebuild. But with patience and help from others and researching lot's of info. it all worked out. I hope to get at least another 50,000 plus on it before it might die. The 94 351 windsor really drinks gas, but at least I owe nothing on it. If you have the desire and will you can save yourself a bunch of money. Dealerships are sometimes like doctors with medicine they just throw parts at a problem until something magically fixes. Problem is with labor rates even in my rural area approaching 80 bucks and hour dyi is sometimes the best way to go.

 

[Donald]

Now that the transmission is clean, install a Magnefine filter and flush with Amsoil ATF is your transmission is speced for it.

 

[RedOak]

I will stay with the basic Dex-Merc fluid by Carquest. This transmission will not work with Mercon V. I don't care what Ford says they missed the boat. The E40D is very finicky, it was manufactured around the original Mercon atf fluid. There are several transmission experts that will tell you the same. Not saying Mercon V is a bad fluid is just will not word in this transmission. I made a 300 mile round trip and just got back with the truck to give it a good work out. I ran temperature checks after climbing steep mountains and these were taken from a laser temperature gun. Transmission Pan-170f Torque Converter 180F. There is one issue the concerns me with this 94 truck. The pipe from the headers runs directly between the back of the oil pan and the front of the housing around the torque converter. The temperature on that was 400F plus. I measured and it is only two inches in front of the torque converter and two inches from the rear of the motor oil pan. That leads me to assume and I say only assume that the excess heat from the pipe could be increasing the torque converter temperature and maybe the motor oil temperature also. The back of the motor oil pan read 280F and the front only 180F. So there may be some radiant heat changing some things but I can't be real sure. My first thought was to research and see if there is a aftermarket shield that could take the high temperatures on the tail pipe which I would think could help the torque converter temperatures. I am not burning motor oil so the back of the oil pan temperature does not seem to have a adverse reaction to the oil now. I think some type of heat shield would work if one is made. These temperatures were taken today on the return trip. The temps were a little higher going down on the first leg of trip. Interesting note the rear differential temperature both going down and back was a steady 120F. I have Valvoline Synpower 75-90 in the rear.

 

[RedOak]

By the way the old 351 Windsor averaged 17.5 mph over the trip. I have about 800 miles left on the fist Auto-Rx flush. You really have to be careful with the throttle, not meaning it is overpowered, you just have to be steady with the throttle input to maximize fuel mileage with this motor. Get on it hard and the mileage is much worse.