Ford Explorer / Taurus PTU service

[Fordiesel69]

Its no secret that the ford PTU's fail from bad engineering with regards to cooling and not holding very much fluid......

So I have a 2013 Taurus Police Interceptor Sedan with 186k on it. Its saving grace is that the PTU has a cooler and the state police have a great maint program. However this does not mean things cannot slip by every now and then.....

I drained the old hot unknown fluid out and it was the typical silver black color and smelled skunky. There is bold text in their TSB that says this is not an indicator of failure. I see the drivers side CV shaft are is damp, and the output shaft to the rear is also damp but the good news is there is no leaks or drips. I filled it with a sacrificial 75w-90 supertech fluid and drive 1 hour to heat it up and drained it again. The fluid came out equally as bad as the unknown fluid that was in there. The weather started to deteriorate and I decided to simply re-fill it with the correct 75w-140 mobil 1 and sealed it back up.

Is this good enough or should I continue changing it over and over again until it comes out clean?

 

[JustinH]

I would change it in the spring when the weather breaks. You should be fine with the M1 in there.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Why the increase in viscosity? I would figure with 186k on the odo, the 90 weight was doing just fine, but I'm far from an expert on these units. Just curious what benefit the higher viscosity might yield. Being in PA, that's going to be some pretty thick stuff in the middle of winter.

 

[350Rocket]

Why the increase in viscosity? I would figure with 186k on the odo, the 90 weight was doing just fine, but I'm far from an expert on these units. Just curious what benefit the higher viscosity might yield. Being in PA, that's going to be some pretty thick stuff in the middle of winter.

He said the 75w140 was the correct stuff, the 75w90 was just used as a short flush fluid, at least that's how I read it.

 

[Number_35]

How did you change it - siphon it out the fill hole? Those don't have a drain plug, do they?

 

[92saturnsl2]

He said the 75w140 was the correct stuff, the 75w90 was just used as a short flush fluid, at least that's how I read it.

Ah, I must have skipped right past the word "correct". Makes perfect sense now.

 

[Dave9]

How did you change it - siphon it out the fill hole? Those don't have a drain plug, do they?

Some do not have a drain plug so are siphoned out, but any with the cooler have a drain plug.

Don't forget the PTU oil life monitor reset.

NOTE: To reset the PTU oil life monitor after the "Change AWD Power Transfer Unit Lube" message is set and the fluid has been changed, use the following procedure:

1. With the vehicle in Park, switch the ignition from the off position to the on position (the engine speed and vehicle speed must be 0 to perform the reset procedure).
2. Within 10 seconds of the ignition in the on position, fully apply and completely release the brake pedal 4 times within 10 seconds.
3. Within 10 seconds of applying the brake pedal 4 times, push the accelerator pedal to WOT and completely release 4 times within 10 seconds.
4. Within 10 seconds of pressing the accelerator pedal 4 times, press and hold both the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal to WOT . After pressing both the brake and accelerator pedals for 5 seconds, a message in the information center displays, " AWD Power Transfer Unit Lube Set to New".

You'd think they could just make that a menu item, lol.

Its no secret that the ford PTU's fail from bad engineering with regards to cooling and not holding very much fluid...... So I have a 2013 Taurus Police Interceptor Sedan with 186k on it.

Kinda contradicting yourself there, with almost 200K mi already on it. I mean it's highly likely, some people just drive their vehicles into the ground, especially if a PIU or Sport. With a PTU that has an unknown service interval previously (don't know how long since last service), flush it once. Otherwise, just change fluid more often rather than multiple flushes in a row.

 

[92saturnsl2]

NOTE: To reset the PTU oil life monitor after the "Change AWD Power Transfer Unit Lube" message is set and the fluid has been changed, use the following procedure:

1. With the vehicle in Park, switch the ignition from the off position to the on position (the engine speed and vehicle speed must be 0 to perform the reset procedure).
2. Within 10 seconds of the ignition in the on position, fully apply and completely release the brake pedal 4 times within 10 seconds.
3. Within 10 seconds of applying the brake pedal 4 times, push the accelerator pedal to WOT and completely release 4 times within 10 seconds.
4. Within 10 seconds of pressing the accelerator pedal 4 times, press and hold both the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal to WOT . After pressing both the brake and accelerator pedals for 5 seconds, a message in the information center displays, " AWD Power Transfer Unit Lube Set to New".

You'd think they could just make that a menu item, lol.

Sorry, but I had to LOL when I read this. I want to meet the engineer that dreamed that up!

And I used to think some manufacturer's OLM resets were bad! Joke is on me