I have a 2016 Ford Escape with the 6F35 6 speed transmission.I plan on having Ford changing the fluid very 30K.Since this car has no replaceable transmission filter except for repairs and splitting the case does it pay to keep this car past 150K.The engine/body will be in great shape but to spend over $1,000 just to have the filter replaced does seem excessive or go remanufactures transmission.Any thoughts.Joe
Transmission with "lifetime filter"
- Thread starter Joeforester
- Start date
- Status
I don't know why Ford thought this was a good idea. My Taurus has the 6F35 as well, AFAIK at least, and I wish so badly I could change it.
The best course of action is exactly what you mentioned, get it changed every 30K. Of course it's worth keeping past 150,000. If you change the fluid that often the transmission should last much longer than 150,000. Some people never change it and get 200K+ without problem.
I did read though that in Ford's new 10-speed they really paid attention to the filter and made it out of higher quality materials.
The best course of action is exactly what you mentioned, get it changed every 30K. Of course it's worth keeping past 150,000. If you change the fluid that often the transmission should last much longer than 150,000. Some people never change it and get 200K+ without problem.
I did read though that in Ford's new 10-speed they really paid attention to the filter and made it out of higher quality materials.
Last edited:
My Equinox has a non serviceable filter and has been doing fine with 30k fluid changes for 142k. No flushes or anything, just a drain and filter.
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
My Equinox has a non serviceable filter and has been doing fine with 30k fluid changes for 142k. No flushes or anything, just a drain and filter.
How are you replacing the filter if it's non-serviceable?
I'm assuming you meant "drain and fill"?
My Equinox has a non serviceable filter and has been doing fine with 30k fluid changes for 142k. No flushes or anything, just a drain and filter.
How are you replacing the filter if it's non-serviceable?
I'm assuming you meant "drain and fill"?
Last edited:
Over 500K miles on two Honda cars in the last 12ish years. They dont have a serviceable filter. I just do a drop and fill on the fluid every 30K miles. No problems yet, dont anticipate any either.
Do you still change your oil every 3k? Assume you don't. Because you know technology is better, fluids are better than they used to be. I would do a oil and filter change close to 100k. Maybe 75k.
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
- Messages
- 1,903
Anytime I see "lifetime" I always take that to mean for the life of the warranty period. If it's a car I am running into the ground then you can bet that I am going to change that filter along with my preventative maintenance schedule.
Never even touched my ATF and both Toyotas got to 240k miles and are still running fine today.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
Originally Posted By: Leo99
Never even touched my ATF and both Toyotas got to 240k miles and are still running fine today.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
Nothing to brag about. Your good fortune is based on your conditions and should not be used as a blanket statement. My Escalade has lived its life climbing hills. When I acquired the truck at 100k and started changing fluids I found most were toast. Bad. Black! I'm definitely on borrowed time.
Never even touched my ATF and both Toyotas got to 240k miles and are still running fine today.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
Nothing to brag about. Your good fortune is based on your conditions and should not be used as a blanket statement. My Escalade has lived its life climbing hills. When I acquired the truck at 100k and started changing fluids I found most were toast. Bad. Black! I'm definitely on borrowed time.
Over 500,000 miles on a Honda transmission??? Honda might want to buy that car back to see what went wrong, Honda is not known to make a good automatic Transmission.
Most automatic transmission filters, even if they are serviceable, are not meant to filter fine particles, only bigger chunks of metals, not caught by the magnets, aka rock catchers. Servicing the fluid only and not changing the filters is perfectly fine.
If the filter is buried inside the transmission and not accessible with the pan drop, I would change the ATF only and not worry about the filter. My Mazda 3 still has the original ATF filter at over 140k miles because I never dropped the pan on it, only drain and fills and cooler line ATF changes. I will change it next summer as the pan is rusting and needs to be changed. If it wasn't for that I would not be touching it.
If the filter is buried inside the transmission and not accessible with the pan drop, I would change the ATF only and not worry about the filter. My Mazda 3 still has the original ATF filter at over 140k miles because I never dropped the pan on it, only drain and fills and cooler line ATF changes. I will change it next summer as the pan is rusting and needs to be changed. If it wasn't for that I would not be touching it.
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: Leo99
Never even touched my ATF and both Toyotas got to 240k miles and are still running fine today.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
Nothing to brag about. Your good fortune is based on your conditions and should not be used as a blanket statement. My Escalade has lived its life climbing hills. When I acquired the truck at 100k and started changing fluids I found most were toast. Bad. Black! I'm definitely on borrowed time.
Doesn't sound like he is bragging to me.. I have so far done the same.. drain and fill's, spending a grand on changing filter? Nope, dont think I have spent a grand on all maintenance since owning my car. (excluding tires of course)
Originally Posted By: Leo99
Never even touched my ATF and both Toyotas got to 240k miles and are still running fine today.
I don't think Toyota transmissions are that much better than Ford that mine with no maintenance at all made it 240k miles and your Ford will die at 150k miles with your frequent drain and fills.
Nothing to brag about. Your good fortune is based on your conditions and should not be used as a blanket statement. My Escalade has lived its life climbing hills. When I acquired the truck at 100k and started changing fluids I found most were toast. Bad. Black! I'm definitely on borrowed time.
Doesn't sound like he is bragging to me.. I have so far done the same.. drain and fill's, spending a grand on changing filter? Nope, dont think I have spent a grand on all maintenance since owning my car. (excluding tires of course)
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Over 500,000 miles on a Honda transmission??? Honda might want to buy that car back to see what went wrong, Honda is not known to make a good automatic Transmission.
First of all, reading comprehension: he said he went a combined 500k on two vehicles, not that one transmission went 500k.
Second of all, Honda in general makes good transmissions. They had one or two model transmissions that were junk that they put in Odysseys and V6 Accords; the rest last just fine. The auto trans in my Accord routinely goes 200k-300k miles no problem. I'm currently at 190k on mine and have never had an issue with it. And it also has a lifetime filter that's never been changed.
Over 500,000 miles on a Honda transmission??? Honda might want to buy that car back to see what went wrong, Honda is not known to make a good automatic Transmission.
First of all, reading comprehension: he said he went a combined 500k on two vehicles, not that one transmission went 500k.
Second of all, Honda in general makes good transmissions. They had one or two model transmissions that were junk that they put in Odysseys and V6 Accords; the rest last just fine. The auto trans in my Accord routinely goes 200k-300k miles no problem. I'm currently at 190k on mine and have never had an issue with it. And it also has a lifetime filter that's never been changed.
Aisin-made 5-speed AT transmission in saturn ion is that way. i bought a $20 filter for it not realizing it was not serviceable (buried deep inside). it works fine near 150,000 miles. if anyone needs that filter i still have it, LOL. I didn't look closely, but i think it's more than just wire screen.
Anecdote, ~250K miles on 01 Civic EX with just single ATF d&f's (Z1 then MaxLife) every ~30k miles and non serviceable filter, still shifting fine. Other parts of car like parts of front suspension worn out first. As for whether the 01 Civic AT specifically noted for it's solid reliability, check it out on car compliants.com......
1989 Accord - made it to 300,000 on original transmission doing 30K D&F's. No serviceable filter. I did a D&F on my 2012 Mazda3 w/Skyactiv at 60K. You're not supposed to touch it according to Mazda. The fluid was about the cleanest I'd ever seen in my life for 60K miles. I did not do a pan drop to change the filter. Not feeling like having to scrape off all the sealant and try my luck at sealing it up again since there is no gasket made for it.
I don't care how many times the fluid and filter is changed. An automatic transmission has parts inside that WILL wear out eventually. I don't think D&F's hurt them much, but I think doing it excessively is just a waste of time and money. The definition of "excessive" has to be determined on a case by case basis, but I know that around here people think that if you do it every time you change your underwear that the thing will last forever.
I don't care how many times the fluid and filter is changed. An automatic transmission has parts inside that WILL wear out eventually. I don't think D&F's hurt them much, but I think doing it excessively is just a waste of time and money. The definition of "excessive" has to be determined on a case by case basis, but I know that around here people think that if you do it every time you change your underwear that the thing will last forever.
Originally Posted By: Joeforester
does it pay to keep this car past 150K.
Why get rid of it, and lose ~15,000 in dollars? (The difference between what you paid and what you sell it.) Just drive it until it breaks, like any other appliance (TV, fridge, etc)
And don't worry. My Dodge never had its transmission filter changed, and it lasted over 360,000 miles without problem.
does it pay to keep this car past 150K.
Why get rid of it, and lose ~15,000 in dollars? (The difference between what you paid and what you sell it.) Just drive it until it breaks, like any other appliance (TV, fridge, etc)
And don't worry. My Dodge never had its transmission filter changed, and it lasted over 360,000 miles without problem.
If your concerned, put an inline filter in it.
Frequent fluid changes should easily take care of it though. There are many transmissions with no serviceable filter and they last 250,000 miles.
Frequent fluid changes should easily take care of it though. There are many transmissions with no serviceable filter and they last 250,000 miles.
Many manufacturers are moving to non-serviceable filters that are more like strainers. As someone eluded to above, they aren't the paper element filters of yore. My 4L60e transmission still has the old school paper element, however, the instructions for my sister's Cruze are to change the fluid every 45k miles, no filter change indicated. And yes, it's a non-replaceable internal filter.
- Status
Similar threads
