5R55e Trans Fluid change/thoughts

[warment]

I recently changed the transmission fluid in my Dad's 2002 Ford Ranger 4.0 4x4 with 5r55e transmission.

A couple thoughts...

1. I should have sucked out the trans fluid from the dipstick tube before I started the process. I think it would have prevented the mess that I created on the floor of my garage. A little sawdust cleaned up the mess easily though.

2. I just about crapped my pants when I finally got the pan out...it had a bunch of little round metal pucks (about the size of bb's). I quickly found out that there are 2 of these pucks around each of the 18 bolt holes on the stock trans pan gasket to prevent overtightening of the trans bolts. Seems like a poor/cheap design to me. The FelPro replacement gasket I bought did not have these pucks. The trans pas gasket on my Mom's 2003 Ford Taurus Vulcan was reusable and had a stiff, beefy design.

3. The replacement filter I bought came with 2 new O rings and a new (shorter) bolt. On my application, I used the stock filter bolt. The shorter bolt is to be used on older applications.

4. I put around 4 quarts of Mercon V into the trans through the dipstick tube to get things back to a reasonable level.

5. The truck almost has 100k on it and the fluid looked pretty good. In addition, the magnet in the pan was not too dirty. My Mom's 2003 Ford Taurus has slightly over 100k when I changed the fluid, and it had a load of sludge on the magnet.

6. The truck shifts much smoother now and is not exhibiting the slight 1-2 slip/shudder that it had before.

 

[adsm08]

You have changed about 1/4 of the transmission's total capacity. To get it all you need to have it flushed. Or add 4 quarts, run it for 10 minutes, change it again, rise, repeat about 4 times.

 

[warment]

I understand. I plan on sucking as much as I can through the trans dipstick tube and replenishing what I take out in the near future. The truck does shift a lot better now.