5r55e transmission fluid change intervals - normal conditions

[Justin Wilcox]

I have a 02 ST w/the 5R55E trans. (58k miles)



I have heard of & seen posts that talk about people having problems after changing their AT fluid. (like the flashing O/D light of death)



I have also seen many posts and explanations about how people are changing their AT fluid & filter. (Apparently w/no problems)



Since I don't want to "create" any probs w/my tranny which is running fine now, I have been trying to figure out WHEN & IF I should change my fluid.





This seems logical, right??? Preventative Maintenance 101 ??





PROBLEM: The Ford Maint Sched that came w/our STs doesn't specify when to chg

our fluid. It DOES specify when to change for OTHER transmissions such

as the AX4S, 4F50N, 4R100, ETC. and just says to 'check the level' on all others

(which seems like us).

The first & only time that we are indicated by the manual to change our fluid is at

150,000 miles OR if we are driving under "Special Operating Conditions"

(which I'm not).





so......





Does anyone know for sure when WE (5R55E trannys) are supposed to change our fluid & filters??



Thanks in advance for all your help & knowledge!



Justin W.

 

[Gerald Pierce]

IMHO, you should change it, and in fact, I would have done it before now.



I had mine flushed at approx 36k and I knew then that I was pushing my luck. I used to tow a camper, and even though it was below the rated limits of the ST, it still put more stress on the tranny than normal driving.



The ST tranny has had issues -- an unreasonable number? Who knows. No one goes on the internet and posts "my tranny is great", it is normally after a failure when they start looking for answers that they stumble on groups like this and post 'my tranny is a POS".



Mine has been great for 72k. Knock on wood. I drive very mildly, and take care of my vehicles. I hope, since I am a long time Ford fan, that it continues to provide great service for me.



Change it, just make sure you use the correct fluid. Easy directions are available here for the DIY'r.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

It just seems like I've heard of many people (not even on posts - real life) who have said "I changed mine when my trans was OKAY, then everything went to heck in a handbasket... had to replace/rebuild. Etc.



So when I looked in the manual it didn't say to do it for our tran. (at least until 150k)



You can probably see my confusion. I hate to think it could MAKE a problem.



Could it cause a problem somehow ?????

 

[Richard L]

I have had two Sport Trac's. A 2001 and now a 2003, and I have not had any transmission problems (Knock on wood).



I had the fluid flushed at my local Kwik-Car Lube center on both Sport Tracs and have received excellent service at a very resonable price. They only charge $85 which includes up to 14 quarts of 100% synthetic Mercon-V fluid made by Pennzoil.



Ford says you should check the fluid and replace as necessary ??? Typically that should be in the 25K-30k mile range, however that is only under ideal conditions.



If you tow a trailer over 2K lbs with any regularity, you should change sooner. The same holds true if you live in a very hot climate like I do in Texas. Heat is the biggest enemy of any automatic transmission. Excessive heat will damage the fluid causing the transmission to slip. Slipping also generates a tremendous amount of heat and that further damages the oil, which leads to more slipping, etc. etc, etc.



If you have your fluid flushed frequently, you do not need to drop the pan and change the transmission filter. That should last a good 100K miles, but you have to change or flush the fluid regularly.



I flushed my tranny on the 2001 at 30K miles. I never had any problems before the flush, but I definetely felt a big improvement in acceleration and crisper shifts after the flush.



I had the fluid flushed on my 2003 at just over 20K miles. Again no problems but the heat in Texas is brutal and I just wanted to play it safe. The improvement in shifting was noticed after the flush but it was not as dramatic as it was on the 2001.



The advantage to having the transmission flushed is that it will replace about 98%+ of all the old transmission fluid, while dropping the pan only changes about 50% of the fluid. About every 3rd or 4th flush I will have the pan dropped and the filter changed as well.



PS: I personally believe that people who claimed that changing/flushing their tranny fluid resulted in problems with the transmission either had the wrong fluid installed, or they were have some hints of a problem and when the fluid change didn't work, they passed the blame on the folks who did the fluid change.



...Rich

 

[Ron N]

The manual I have says it is filled for life under normal driving,hahahaha. Under Special Operating Conditions it should be changed every 30,000 miles. I just got my Trac this year,at 123,000 miles and one of the first things I did was pull and change the filter and put in synthetic fluid. There is a project to install a plug in the pan and changing the filter.Also while you are in there do the EPC adjustment._Ron

 

[Jeff C]

Mine has been great for 72k. Knock on wood. I drive very mildly, and take care of my vehicles. I hope, since I am a long time Ford fan, that it continues to provide great service for me.

Mine's been great for 76k. I drive like a bat outta hell. I beat on my truck daily. It's a machine, and a Ford truck at that. It's made to be worked and last. I do my oil changes, keep the filters clean, and get my tranny flushed every 25-30k. This is the best (and first) vehicle I've ever owned, and unless I'm presented with the opportunity to buy exotics or sports cars in my future life (or Chevy doesn't F*** up the Camaro and makes it affordable), I will only be buying Ford vehicles.