2017 Ford Escape Transmission Service question - drain/fill or full swap?

[mrdctaylor]

Originally Posted by badtlc
Even the machine won't do much more than a drain/fill will do because of the transmission design.


And that's great--I'm sort of afraid of some sort of flush. And the fact that the BG machine at the dealer uses some sort of solvent makes me a bit nervous.

 

[Whimsey]

And that's great--I'm sort of afraid of some sort of flush. And the fact that the BG machine at the dealer uses some sort of solvent makes me a bit nervous.[/quote]
Originally Posted by mrdctaylor

Even the machine won't do much more than a drain/fill will do because of the transmission design.


As I said before, doing a drain & fill on this transmission is a piece of cake to do and doesn't involve disconnecting any hose connections, that can lead to potential leaks. It's "gentle" and doesn't introduce any shock to the transmission. Maybe do another one or two drain & fills in an additional 15,000 miles each should clean out the transmission and set you up for longer drain and fills and keep the transmission happy and your wallet too, if you plan on keeping this vehicle past the warranty.

Whimsey

 

[leeaspell]

Originally Posted by Whimsey
Originally Posted by mrdctaylor
Originally Posted by Whimsey

I have my trusted mechanic do services that I don't feel comfortable to don't want to do. In the end it'll be less expensive and you know exactly the fluid going in with a drain and fill.


That's exactly what I normally do--thanks. I also don't know anyone at either dealership. I'm sort of afraid they'll put some kid on it that normally does oil changes. :-(

How much do you normally get out when you drain it? If I take it to my mechanic I want to go ahead and buy the fluid and take it to him.


Draining it cold I always get 4 quarts out and I put in 4 quarts. So far that's been working fine. Since you're under warranty like me I 'd use either the Mercon LV or the Castrol Transmax Full Synthetic Multi-vehicle ATF which is licensed by Ford for the Mercon LV use transmissions. Other fluids may me "recommended" but for warranty purposes that may be debatable by Ford. It's your choice.

Whimsey

Same amount I got out of my 13 fusion with the 6F35. Heres how it looked at 60,000km.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted by leeaspell
[

Same amount I got out of my 13 fusion with the 6F35. Heres how it looked at 60,000km.


For the approximate 37,500 mi(60,000km) your Mercon LV actually looks decent. My first drain and fill at 12,000 miles the Mercon LV was basically black, 10,000 miles later the D&F was "only" real dark grey and after another 10,000 miles it looked similar to what as yours does at ~37,500 miles. I think this is really too light of a duty transmission(6F35) for the much heavier and and more powerful Explorer. That might explain why the Mercon LV goes black/grey in so few miles versus in the 6F35 transmission when used in the Fusion and Escape. Since drain and fills are so easy to do and cheap~$20 per drain and fill with Mercon LV I'll keep doing mine more frequently. ATF is cheap, transmissions are expensive and we keep our vehicles for a long time.

Whimsey

 

[JC1]

Just do a drain and fill.if there is a filter that you can replace I would drop the pan and do that as well.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted by JC1
Just do a drain and fill.if there is a filter that you can replace a would drop the pan and do that as well.


This transmission filter can only be changed by removing the transmission and splitting the case to remove and replace it. That's a good reason to do easy and cheap drain and fills more frequently if you plan on keeping your vehicle for any great length of time/miles.

Whimsey

 

[Fifty150]

When you drain & fill, all that you are doing is adding fresh fluid to contaminated fluid. End result is that you have just contaminated your fresh fluid. Sure, It's only half as dirty now. So go through the motions again......you've got to drain & fill 3 times, before you have reasonably clean fluid. Then the math adds up that you've wasted a lot of fluid. Fluid exchange with a machine will replace all of the contaminated fluid with clean fluid. Not leave you with fluid that is only partially contaminated, after 3 drain & fills. Only problem is that you don't have a fluid exchange machine at home. So if you go to a shop, that would cost even more money.

 

[mrdctaylor]

Yeah, my trusted mechanic actually has a machine and he said if I bought my own fluid he'd just charge $60 labor for the whole thing. That seems reasonable to me. I'd planned to do this over Xmas break, but I'll do it after the spring semester when my son comes home.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by Fifty150
When you drain & fill, all that you are doing is adding fresh fluid to contaminated fluid. End result is that you have just contaminated your fresh fluid. Sure, It's only half as dirty now. So go through the motions again......you've got to drain & fill 3 times, before you have reasonably clean fluid. Then the math adds up that you've wasted a lot of fluid. Fluid exchange with a machine will replace all of the contaminated fluid with clean fluid. Not leave you with fluid that is only partially contaminated, after 3 drain & fills. Only problem is that you don't have a fluid exchange machine at home. So if you go to a shop, that would cost even more money.



Disagree but you have done a good job advertising Ttech machines.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Since an automatic makes most of its debris in the first part of its life it is best to consider a filter change/pan drop for its first service. generally speaking around 30k miles is a typical severe service interval.

After that a fluid exchange is usually far easier and changes ALL the fluid, not just some of it.

FWIW I bought a B&G fluid exchange machine at auction years ago. It was simply a cabinet with two reservoirs and a nifty little sight glass to see the fluid exiting the car being serviced. Its real value was the amazing rack of fittings it came with to fit virtually any car. Completely passive, not really a "machine" at all. We do the same thing in the driveway with a bucket.

 

[MParr]

I did mine on the 2017 Ford Escape, today. It is a pain in the rear. The 2017 MY, the fill port on the transmission has changed. There is no longer a removable cap there. There is now just a vent on one end of a rubber tube. On the other end is a spring type hose clamp. The whole tube, hose clamp and vent must be removed. There are better ways to get the job done. One is to buy a fluid transfer pump and pump it in via the inspection hole on the side of the transmission. The other is to have the dealership do it. I broke my lower air box housing getting the job done. Now, I have to have that replaced. I think for $179, I will let the dealership do it from now on.
I didn't measure the drained amount. I put in 4 1/2 Qt. I drove it to get the temperature up and checked the level by the side inspection hole. The level was dead on. Mercon LV was used.

 

[mrdctaylor]

Thanks for that. I decided to this wasn't something I wanted to myself either. I bought a case of Mercon LV and I'm going to let my mechanic do it. He has one of those "machines" that isn't really a machine. It is just a glorified way of doing the transmission cooler line method (i.e. it doesn't have it's own pump--it is just a couple of passive reservoirs with hoses/connectors). He said if I brought my own fluid he'd do it for $60. I'm going to wait until closer to 50K miles. It only has 39K on it now. I figure getting on an every 50K mile schedule should suffice.

 

[MParr]

mrdctaylor
You know, one of those fluid transfer pumps would be a good investment for folks wanting to do their own drain and fill on the Ford Escape. Just pump the new fluid in through the inspection port on the side of the transmission. The battery is something else that I just don't feel like tackling.
https://www.motiveproducts.com/coll...s/products/powerfill-pro-1-5-gallon-tank

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted by MParr
I did mine on the 2017 Ford Escape, today. It is a pain in the rear. The 2017 MY, the fill port on the transmission has changed. There is no longer a removable cap there. There is now just a vent on one end of a rubber tube. On the other end is a spring type hose clamp. The whole tube, hose clamp and vent must be removed.


That's interesting, for our 2.3 EB 2017 Explorer the fill tube has a yellow cap that's also the vent. The cap is pressed on fairly tight and takes a good tug to remove it. Luckily it's not under the air box but next to it so it's fairly easy to access.

Whimsey

 

[Garman]

Crap, I did the drain and fill on my 2014 Ford Escape, but now I have a 2018 Ford Escape and I just checked, it has changed! No more yellow top cap on fill port! At least I'm still under 3k, time to make a plan. Thanks MParr for the heads up.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted by Garman
Crap, I did the drain and fill on my 2014 Ford Escape, but now I have a 2018 Ford Escape and I just checked, it has changed! No more yellow top cap on fill port! At least I'm still under 3k, time to make a plan. Thanks MParr for the heads up.


That stinks! Vehicle manufactures seem to be discouraging DIY by the owner and independent shops that don't have the fancy & expensive electronic devices need to do the job "properly" . More and more it's becoming more exclusive dealer servicing or it's considered "lifetime", never needing servicing

.

Whimsey

 

[mrdctaylor]

Originally Posted by Whimsey
Originally Posted by Garman
Crap, I did the drain and fill on my 2014 Ford Escape, but now I have a 2018 Ford Escape and I just checked, it has changed! No more yellow top cap on fill port! At least I'm still under 3k, time to make a plan. Thanks MParr for the heads up.


That stinks! Vehicle manufactures seem to be discouraging DIY by the owner and independent shops that don't have the fancy & expensive electronic devices need to do the job "properly" . More and more it's becoming more exclusive dealer servicing or it's considered "lifetime", never needing servicing

.

Whimsey


That's the reason I'm keeping my 2002 Toyota Tacoma until it is absolutely unfeasible to do so.

 

[mrdctaylor]

FWIW, I thought I'd report back. My mechanic did the fluid swap for me with Mercon LV. He even went to the trouble to check/verify the fluid level. It is shifting well. I'm glad I had it done.

 

[OnTheRocks]

The 6F35 is now in several different models. There are several videos on the drain & fill procedure, as well as the written procedure; all available online. I'll share my homework.

When I did mine, the vent cap was on top of the transmission, right under the radiator hose. I found it with a flashlight, reached under the hose with my fingers, and the cap lifted straight up and out. A transmission funnel, slid right down into the vent hole for easy filling.

The fill is 4 liters, which is 135.256 ounces. I added 4 quarts, which is 128 ounces, + 7 ounces.

For me, it was just as easy as an oil change. I bought 3 gallon containers, + 1 quart for the final fill. You can pour out 3 - 4 ounces from each of the first 2 gallons. Use Ford MotorCraft Mercon LV, or whatever fluid you feel comfortable with. There are other brands of Low Viscosity fluid. Some specifically say on the bottle that it is for Mercon V. Some people will want a licensed product. Some people use a multi-vehicle ATF, which they feel good about.

My funnel was the type with a long tube attached.

Drain plug is 7/16" SAE or 11 mm. I used a socket with a ratchet handle, and it removed easily. No breaker bar needed, like the first time you change the engine oil. Fill plug on side of transmission is also available.

Fill plug is 14 mm or 9/16" SAE. Some people will pump fluid in from fill plug. Some people will follow service manual procedure: add fluid from dipstick tube or vent cap until it begins to come out of fill port.

The dealership uses a fluid exchange machine which allows the transmission to pump contaminated fluid out the cooling line, and feeds fresh fluid back into the return line If you shop around, you will find that some independent mechanics, as well as lube shops, have transmission fluid exchange machines. Transmission is a 9 quart total fill. Performing a triple drain & fill uses 12 quarts + 7 ounces top off. 3X drain & fill is in the service manual and considered to be adequate, but does not mathematically replace 100% of contaminated fluid with fresh fluid. Some choose to only drain and fill once, which dilutes the contaminated fluid. You will decide for yourself whether you want a dealership to do it, an independent mechanic to do it.

There is a screen inside of the transmission. The only way to access this screen to change it, is to remove the transmission and open the case. At such point that the filter is clogged, most 6F35 transmissions have failed. A new screen will be a part of the rebuild.

 

[Greggy_D]

Awesome post!