oil and transmission maintenance

[Russell]

I'm towing in my 2002 Ford Explorer, 4.0L V6 with an automatic transmission about 300 miles round trip every 2 weeks this summer (about 12 trips). I began in late May and will continue through August. Could anyone tell me how I should maintain my oil and transmission fluid? Thanks in advance for your help!

[29BHS ECO]

I would follow the book you got with the car, that will have Fords maintaince intervals. I f that is lost change both before you start. Change the oil at 3k and the trans @ 50 k or if it has a burnt smell and changes color from red ( new) to brown ( old & burnt). Larry

[clutch]

We service our transmission every 30k miles. It dosen't matter if we tow much or not.

[tlhdoc]

I use synthetic oil and tranny fluid. I have the transmission flushed every 2 years. The oil gets changed every 3000 miles. I have a 2004 Explorer with the V8.

[dlfeather]

I go 5k on oil using syn. I change trans, diffs, and transfer at 15k. I am a mechanic, so it is easy for me. I admit, it might be a little overkill, but I hate breakdowns.

[nylyon]

Follow the severe duty. Don't forget the coolant, often overlooked, often the cause of a breakdown.

[poohbear]

often overlooked is the radiators/trans coolers/condenser .Flush the coils,I use ac condenser coil cleaner,and good water flush.My Duramax also has a fuel cooling coil located under the frame by the tank and those get really dirty if doing a lot of dirt road traveling

[kjohn73]

Paraphrase from the fellow that installed the SECOND rebuilt tranny in my old '97 Sub: " Take off those $%@&!* after market grill covers!!!!!!"

I didn't even realize that they were still on the truck. He said they look nice, but restrict the air flow and cause major, major transmission heating, whether you have a fancy tranny cooler or not.

I had a rebuilt tranny put in last summer and didn't go 250 miles and it failed. The gunk from over the years built up in the in-rad cooler, causing a serious restriction of oil flow. The oil comes from the tranny to the built in cooler first, then to the exterior one. When another company installed the first tranny, they obviously never checked into whether there was a restriction or not.

When the first rebuilt failed, I drove the thing until it was nearly ready to catch fire. The torque converter was the same color as the Sub - dark maroon!

[Seann45]

Engine and transmission oil annalasys(SP) it is the best way to know when to change fluids... and also tells you if there is problems brewing as they will see what contaminants are in the oil...