Transmission fluid change questions

[broadicustomworks]

That's a tag off of your internal wiring harness inside the tranny. No, not supposed to park there but it did (and probably really good thing you found it in one piece).
I also heavy-handed the bolts putting them back in and snapped one of the more difficult to reach ones in the very front.
Luckily 30K miles or so and no leaks from it yet. Next time I drop the pan I'll remedy it correctly.
Do yourself a favor (anyone DIY'ing this) and re-check it after driving around for a bit/ getting it up to full temp.
Once all of the air is purged out you may find it alarmingly low when you go back and check it.

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[LSW]

That's a tag off of your internal wiring harness inside the tranny. No, not supposed to park there but it did (and probably really good thing you found it in one piece).
I also heavy-handed the bolts putting them back in and snapped one of the more difficult to reach ones in the very front.
Luckily 30K miles or so and no leaks from it yet. Next time I drop the pan I'll remedy it correctly.
Do yourself a favor (anyone DIY'ing this) and re-check it after driving around for a bit/ getting it up to full temp.
Once all of the air is purged out you may find it alarmingly low when you go back and check it.

Drove around and got the temp almost to 200 to check it. 194 is best I could do

This was the dipstick level at 194. Almost to 3, I’m going to call that good. So 7 QTs out 7 QTs back in worked pretty well.

The Pan

 

[Ducati1098]

Drove around and got the temp almost to 200 to check it. 194 is best I could do

This was the dipstick level at 194. Almost to 3, I’m going to call that good. So 7 QTs out 7 QTs back in worked pretty well.

The Pan

Yeah that’s probably overfilled by 1/2 quart or so, but it should be fine. Just goes to show how much thermal expansion there is with ULV between ambient and operating temperature.

 

[LSW]

Yeah that’s probably overfilled by 1/2 quart or so, but it should be fine. Just goes to show how much thermal expansion there is with ULV between ambient and operating temperature.

thanks for all your help on this thread and others, very much appreciated. I sucked up about 1/4-1/2 quart with the mityvac and will leave it at that. Too many burns to want to check it again at temp!

 

[Ducati1098]

thanks for all your help on this thread and others, very much appreciated. I sucked up about 1/4-1/2 quart with the mityvac and will leave it at that. Too many burns to want to check it again at temp!

No problem. And yeah it’s not fun getting your hands in there, or anything else lol

 

[BigHoof]

I would not recommend trying to torque the drain pan bolts to 18-22 ft lbs like PPE said. I just firmed them up with a 1/4” socket wrench in the specified cross pattern. Mea culpa for not realizing right away that was way too much torque for an 8mm bolt.

I think you are reading the instructions incorrectly. PPE says the pan bolts get torqued to 8 ft lbs. It's the drain plug that gets 18-22 ft lbs.

Tighten in a crossing pattern
(Fig.1). Torque to 8-10 ft lbs.

(Tighten Drain Plug to 18-22 ft lbs
and snug NPT plug)

 

[LSW]

I think you are reading the instructions incorrectly. PPE says the pan bolts get torqued to 8 ft lbs. It's the drain plug that gets 18-22 ft lbs.

Tighten in a crossing pattern
(Fig.1). Torque to 8-10 ft lbs.

(Tighten Drain Plug to 18-22 ft lbs
and snug NPT plug)

I don’t doubt that’s what they meant but look at how it is phrased here. It says to tighten (the pan bolts) in a crossing pattern then on the same line next sentence says torque to 18-22 ft lbs. I should’ve had enough common sense not to do that but at 1 AM crap happens. Luckily just 1 out of 18 stripped so I think it’ll be fine until I drop the pan again in 3 years.

I had to do a double take when it stripped to make sure I wasn’t imagining what I was reading. These instructions came in the same package as the pan.

Edited to add: their online manual for this is different and correct. That's what I get for being a boomer and using a paper manual I guess.

 

[Nc211]

This was unfortunately all I could get out with the MityVac before dropping the pan. About 2 quarts.



Lookey what I found in my filter! Some kind of “made in Mexico” tag hanging out of it. First time I’ve ever had this thing open in 15,000 since new. Glad I did this, lol.

This was hanging out of the filter, I’m going to guess it’s not supposed to be there.

Well...sh*t. Guess I'll let the paranoia creep in now too, and will plan on taking my pan back off to get that damn tag out of there! Here's mine...see it? If that thing blocks the filter port and restricts the fluid flow, then no bueno.... Ford needs to issue a recall for this tag!

My fluid was at that same level, cold, when I started the process as well.

 

[Ducati1098]

Well...sh*t. Guess I'll let the paranoia creep in now too, and will plan on taking my pan back off to get that damn tag out of there! Here's mine...see it? If that thing blocks the filter port and restricts the fluid flow, then no bueno.... Ford needs to issue a recall for this tag!

My fluid was at that same level, cold, when I started the process as well.

I wouldn’t worry about the tag. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of 10 speeds apart and I’ve never once seen that tag come off or plug the filter. It’s an absolute fluke

 

[Nc211]

I wouldn’t worry about the tag. I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of 10 speeds apart and I’ve never once seen that tag come off or plug the filter. It’s an absolute fluke

Whew, good to hear!! Looks like a different part number too between the two tags. Odd how his was folded up like that too instead of bunched up. I'm in agreement with you, and certainly going to listen to your experience, in that I can let this worry go to the side! When I do the drain/fill in about 20k miles, I'll see if I spot anything in the old fluid that looks tag related. Whole reason for me to upgrade to the PPE pan was for the ability to do the drain/fill every 30k-35k miles or so. My OCD is showing, I don't deny it...

 

[BigHoof]

I don’t doubt that’s what they meant but look at how it is phrased here. It says to tighten (the pan bolts) in a crossing pattern then on the same line next sentence says torque to 18-22 ft lbs. I should’ve had enough common sense not to do that but at 1 AM crap happens. Luckily just 1 out of 18 stripped so I think it’ll be fine until I drop the pan again in 3 years.

I had to do a double take when it stripped to make sure I wasn’t imagining what I was reading. These instructions came in the same package as the pan.

Edited to add: their online manual for this is different and correct. That's what I get for being a boomer and using a paper manual I guess.

That is different so I can understand. Must have updated the instructions.

 

[Combustion_King]

is there any good video link to this project? are you guys just parking on level ground or?

 

[Nc211]

I'm not aware of any videos, other than one I found on YouTube for an F150. I'd search on there for PPE pan and see what you can find. Sorry I'm not much help.

I have home made lifts that are 3 10x2's bolted together and cut 45 degrees on each side that plateau at the top. I drive up them then stop, gives me about 6 more inches of space. I've had them for maybe 20 years now. Rears on the ground, front on the lifts, is how I did mine.

 

[dgorsett]

I finally got around to checking mind

Fully agree and would add that it should be changed early in the transmissions life to remove the break in metals.

EDIT - after watching this video (from this point), it verifies that at ambient, if you are a "box" level below the required level at full temperature then it will be at the proper level when it is at full temperature.

Ergo, since the 10R60 in the Bronco is supposed to be between 3 and 4 at full temperature, if you fill to between 4 and 5 at ambient, you should be good at full temperature. I would still check, but at least the filling will not need to happen when the catalytic converter is at branding temperature.

Initial fill from the service manual with fluid at ambient temperature:

Final fill from the service manual with fluid between 206°F and 215°F:

I finally got around to checking mine at 23K, all good dot 3 hot running. They really could not have made that cap any tighter!

All other fluids were about a Pint low last year so I kept thinking I should check, piece of mind knowing it's good.

 

[SWLABRONCO]

Anyone use Amsoil ULV tranmission fluid?

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