I have a Ford that will be 10 years old next month. It has the 4F50N transmission and 77k on it.
I got the car with 25k on it when it was just over a year old.
Maintenance is up to date, vehicle is garaged, rarely has a start below 45f. I do about 5k a year and make sure it gets on the freeway for 1-2 hours every week or two.
The car has new struts with 10k on them, catalytic converter was dealer replaced 15k ago. I now do all regular maintenance myself. Engine runs great once I realized exclusive short trips and non top tier fuel were gunking the fuel system up something serious.
The car is worth $4k to $5k which is great because I paid $11k for it almost 9 years ago.
My intention is to keep it for; the car we can take to busy car parks, leave at the airport, drive other kids around, have the kids learn and drive it in ~5 years.
But if the transmission fails, the car loses most of its value.
Also, although it is a large car, it doesn't utilize its capacity for larger cargo items very well.
So I am wondering whether to get rid of it while it has value.
What are folks opinions on the 4F50N? The service history is that the Ford dealer serviced it at 30k at which time it was almost 2 years old. I then had it serviced at 66k, 5 years later so it was overdue and the fluid had darkened. This change was a complete change with MC MV and the filter was changed as well.
The current fluid remains bright purple. The only issue that I have with the transmission is a squeal when going into reverse from park on start up and a scratching noise when shifting at about 3k rpm on a particular uphill stretch. The squeal only started this winter and the scratching noise seems to have been there for the last several years.
What are people's opinions generally on the transmission and the vehicle in general with respect to keeping it maintained and running vs the risk of losing its value if the transmission fails. My next major expense is going to be tires for ~$500.
Also, how should I treat the vehicle / transmission? Is it the shifting or the torque that wears out this transmission? So should I accelerate gently all the time and even on the freeway? Should I avoid city type trips to reduce the amount of shifting?
I got the car with 25k on it when it was just over a year old.
Maintenance is up to date, vehicle is garaged, rarely has a start below 45f. I do about 5k a year and make sure it gets on the freeway for 1-2 hours every week or two.
The car has new struts with 10k on them, catalytic converter was dealer replaced 15k ago. I now do all regular maintenance myself. Engine runs great once I realized exclusive short trips and non top tier fuel were gunking the fuel system up something serious.
The car is worth $4k to $5k which is great because I paid $11k for it almost 9 years ago.
My intention is to keep it for; the car we can take to busy car parks, leave at the airport, drive other kids around, have the kids learn and drive it in ~5 years.
But if the transmission fails, the car loses most of its value.
Also, although it is a large car, it doesn't utilize its capacity for larger cargo items very well.
So I am wondering whether to get rid of it while it has value.
What are folks opinions on the 4F50N? The service history is that the Ford dealer serviced it at 30k at which time it was almost 2 years old. I then had it serviced at 66k, 5 years later so it was overdue and the fluid had darkened. This change was a complete change with MC MV and the filter was changed as well.
The current fluid remains bright purple. The only issue that I have with the transmission is a squeal when going into reverse from park on start up and a scratching noise when shifting at about 3k rpm on a particular uphill stretch. The squeal only started this winter and the scratching noise seems to have been there for the last several years.
What are people's opinions generally on the transmission and the vehicle in general with respect to keeping it maintained and running vs the risk of losing its value if the transmission fails. My next major expense is going to be tires for ~$500.
Also, how should I treat the vehicle / transmission? Is it the shifting or the torque that wears out this transmission? So should I accelerate gently all the time and even on the freeway? Should I avoid city type trips to reduce the amount of shifting?
