Motorcraft Mercon LV @ 12K miles

[Whimsey]

I did a drain and fill on our 2017 Explorer with the 2.3 Eco Boost and the 6F35 transmission. It was the factory fill with 12,200 miles on it. I've been reading these transmissions tend to beat up the ATF early. It's ridiculously easy to change. I bought a 12 qt case for $60. I used almost 4 quarts for the change, 3.85 quarts to be exact. The attached photo shows the old Mercon LV on the left and the new Mercon LV on the right. The used Mercon LV was pretty dark, almost black at only 12,000 miles. I'm sending it to Blackstone for analysis, for S&G. We keep our vehicles for a LONG time and many miles, our 2005 Explorer has almost 194,000 miles with the original transmission which works like it did new. We've changed the fluid every 25-30,000 miles. That's a lot less expensive than a new transmission. I find it hard to believe that Ford calls for the first ATF drain and fill at 150,000 miles . Amazingly that's well out of warranty . I'll post the Blackstone analysis when I get it back. Whimsey

 

[RF Overlord]

Good on ya' for being proactive...especially since I've heard bad things about the 6F35. Maybe it was just the early units, but from the looks of that fluid I'd say 15,000 miles is about it.

 

[Whimsey]

I forgot to add that almost 7,000 miles of this was highway high speed driving in a 2 month period, not a lot of shifting which tends to cause more wear in the transmission. Whimsey

 

[merconvvv]

Yup i m glad i got my sis 2016 chevy equinox tranny flushed at 15k.

 

[cb_13]

There is actually a tsb out for how soon the Mecon LV starts looking dark. Ford considers it a normal characteristic of the fluid. I believe they say it due to certain additives.

 

[LotI]

My E450 looked about the same at 20k. I dropped the pan, cleaned the magnet and changed the filter. At 30k I just used the drain plug to swap out 7qts. Sitting at 35k and it's still bright red. I'll be doing the same to my Mazda6 in a few months. No recommended change interval from the mothership. But they still took the time to install a drain plug and dipstick. At least it will be easier than my 2005 Mini Cooper S with the Aisin 6spd. My last 2 Accords were extremely easy too. Drain plug and a dipstick on the '12; max fill plug on the '14.

 

[FermeLaPorte]

I agree with what cb_13 says. It could be the fluid itself and not really the tranny, though that would lead me to change it sooner, too.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: cb_13

There is actually a tsb out for how soon the Mecon LV starts looking dark. Ford considers it a normal characteristic of the fluid. I believe they say it due to certain additives.

Toyota T-IV is like that...turns a dark purple-ish colour fairly rapidly, but doesn't mean it's bad. I hadn't heard that about Mercon LV.

 

[gabriel9766]

i did a drain and fill on my malibu at 25k and it was prob just a tad bit darker. GM says to service it at 45K under sever service conditions, and 150k under normal conditions. i plan on doing a drain and fill every 25k.

 

[Onug]

Very interesting. I think Ford recommends 100K miles on the F-150 6-speed trann. But poplar online mechanics recommend 50k at the most. I'm approaching 25k...gues I need to pull a sample.

 

[Nyogtha]

I did the first pan drop & filter change on the 6R80 in my wife's V6 Mustang this summer, at 43K miles. The factory fill Mercon LV that came out was a dark wine colored translucent purple but had zero brown or black in it. It was however darker than the Kendall Versatrans LV fluid I put in to replace the drained portion of the factory fill. I got about 8 qts changed of the just under 12 qt capacity. So perhaps transmission model matters.

 

[pbm]

I have that 6F35 in the wife's 2016 Escape which is coming up on 16K....I plan on changing it when I have the bellypan off at the next oil change which is coming up in about a month. Did you change it cold?....if not, how did you measure the amount to replace....Thanks

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: Nyogtha

I did the first pan drop & filter change on the 6R80 in my wife's V6 Mustang this summer, at 43K miles. The factory fill Mercon LV that came out was a dark wine colored translucent purple but had zero brown or black in it. It was however darker than the Kendall Versatrans LV fluid I put in to replace the drained portion of the factory fill. I got about 8 qts changed of the just under 12 qt capacity. So perhaps transmission model matters.

. What I've read and seen is this transmission model has had issues early on in the Fusion. Hopefully they corrected those issues. I don't know whether it matters but the 2.3 Eco Boost is fairly powerful, maybe that puts more strain on the transmission, though it's not driven like a hot rod. The total factory fill is only around 9 quarts, not a lot. However in the end since it's super easy to change the ATF and costs $20/change using Motorcraft Mercon LV it's a no brainer versus a new transmission down the road from not changing the ATF more frequently. Whimsey

 

[dustyroads]

The Explorer only has the 6F35 trans? Are you sure it's not the 6F55 ? My '11 Taurus had the 6F50 and I figured that the Explorer had the "55". I replaced the Taurus' factory trans fluid (came out deep purple) around 30k miles with Maxlife and it not only shifted the same, but it maintained a bright red color for the last 45k miles that I owned the car.

 

[4WD]

We did this before - 3.5 boost has 55 ...

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey

The attached photo shows the old Mercon LV on the left and the new Mercon LV on the right. The used Mercon LV was pretty dark, almost black at only 12,000 miles. I'm sending it to Blackstone for analysis, for S&G. I'll post the Blackstone analysis when I get it back.

I'll bet you'll be disappointed by the analysis results as it appears you're expecting the worst.

 

[Whimsey]

[/color]

Originally Posted By: pbm

I have that 6F35 in the wife's 2016 Escape which is coming up on 16K....I plan on changing it when I have the bellypan off at the next oil change which is coming up in about a month. [color:#CC0000]Did you change it cold?....if not, how did you measure the amount to replace....Thanks

Yes I did it cold. I drove it up on the ramps the night before and drained it the NEXT morning into a bucket with quart graduation markings on the inside so I could see how much drained out "cold". The bucket cost $1.67 at Walmart . It filled just short the gallon(4 quart) marking. I estimated that it was shy 5 oz from 4 quarts. I put 3.85 quarts back in, the same taken out cold and it shifts perfectly. Unless yours is a "leaker" just put back in what you took out cold. On this Explorer it's unbelievably easy to do. Whimsey

 

[dustyroads]

Originally Posted By: 4WD

We did this before - 3.5 boost has 55 ...

Thanks for that. I thought the weight and size of the Explorer would necessitate the stronger transmission regardless of the engine.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: 4WD

We did this before - 3.5 boost has 55 ...

I have the 2.3 Eco Boost and it definitely has the 6F35. The transmission code on the sticker is 6, which is the 6F35 I'm pretty sure. Whimsey

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: hallstevenson

Originally Posted By: Whimsey

The attached photo shows the old Mercon LV on the left and the new Mercon LV on the right. The used Mercon LV was pretty dark, almost black at only 12,000 miles. I'm sending it to Blackstone for analysis, for S&G. I'll post the Blackstone analysis when I get it back.

I'll bet you'll be disappointed by the analysis results as it appears you're expecting the worst.

No, not expecting the worse but hoping for the best . Whimsey