Powertrain maintenance - anyone had it done yet?

[alrashid2]

Hey guys. I'm planning ahead here. I use to maintain all of my vehicles myself but I've gotten older, and new cars have gotten more complicated. Tie that into the fact that our Rangers don't have a proper transmission dipstick or drain plug, and the diffs don't have drain plugs, I'm going to let someone else do this maintenance for me. I'll stick to spark plugs, oil changes, and brakes.

I'm years away from needing these things, but like to plan ahead. The owner's manual has some wild mileage intervals for the following maintenance but I'm going to stick to doing these things every 60,000 miles instead. Below are the maintenance items and the estimate I got from my dealer:

• Transmission fluid service: $400
• Front differential fluid change: $200
• Rear differential fluid change: $200
• Transfer case fluid change: $200

Just curious if any of you have had these things done and if so, when did you do them and how much did it cost you?

The $400 transmission service seems a bit steep to me but maybe I'm just ignorant. Thinking of calling AAMCO and seeing what they charge, but also not sure if this is something I should let Ford do. I'm coming from a Subaru where the CVTs were basically a dealer-only service item. Thanks all!

Update: I called AAMCO and they quoted me $325 for the transmission fluid change. Savings of $75 but they're about 30 minutes farther than my dealer, so not sure if it's worth it for an additional 1 hour round trip.

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[stemplar]

In preparation for the mainenance mentioned in the OP I bought the rear diff cover from the Ford Performance catalog because it has a drain plug and fill port. I also bought a mishimoto transmission pan because it also has a drain plug. So my first changes of each will be messy, then future maintenance will be more manageable. I don't yet have a clue how easy or hard the front diff will be to service.

 

[Geo8866]

If you are capable of doing so, I can save you $400 - The transfer case and front diff do have drain and fill plugs. (At least mine do.) It is probably the simplest maintenance you can do, at least it was on my Maverick. I haven't done them yet on this truck.

 

[Sharpie223]

You can also get an extended transmission dipstick on eBay. They are listed as being for the F150 but all reports I've seen say they work for any of the 10 speeds. I say extended because the transmission technically contains one, it's just not accessible from the engine bay.

I'd stay away from the dealer if you can, I personally (from experience with multiple dealers) would never trust them to do the job right. I wouldn't trust somewhere like AAMCO to use the right fluid.

 

[BrrRaptor]

I did all you are asking about and they are simple to do minus the dip stick right next to the exhaust. 200 for all fluids.

 

[alrashid2]

I did all you are asking about and they are simple to do minus the dip stick right next to the exhaust. 200 for all fluids.

Good to know, thanks all!

@BrrRaptor just curious, what mileage did you do all that service?

 

[bgn]

Did all fluids but brake fluid and coolant on my Maverick. Plan to do the same here.

 

[alrashid2]

Right on. I guess I'm just a bit anxious as before this, I had a Subaru with the stupid CVT which had an attached Front Differential.

It had 7 different drain/fill/random plugs on it. One night while under it and doing my maintenance, I filled the front diff from the driver's side plug which is an exact mirror image of the passenger side plug - except that the driver's side, despite being on the Diff side and not on the CVT side, internally drains into the transmission instead of the diff...

Ended up driving for a week with an empty diff and an overfilled, contaminated CVT. It was like the engineers purposefully made it confusing so you couldn't DIY. That spooked me a bit!!

 

[BrrRaptor]

Good to know, thanks all!

@BrrRaptor just curious, what mileage did you do all that service?

30k

 

[BrrRaptor]

Right on. I guess I'm just a bit anxious as before this, I had a Subaru with the stupid CVT which had an attached Front Differential.

It had 7 different drain/fill/random plugs on it. One night while under it and doing my maintenance, I filled the front diff from the driver's side plug which is an exact mirror image of the passenger side plug - except that the driver's side, despite being on the Diff side and not on the CVT side, internally drains into the transmission instead of the diff...

Ended up driving for a week with an empty diff and an overfilled, contaminated CVT. It was like the engineers purposefully made it confusing so you couldn't DIY. That spooked me a bit!!

Ours is pretty straight forward. As another person replied I swapped my tranny pan for a drain plug one for next time. Might as well since you are dropping it to drain. Wear some heat resistant gloves when checking level on granny and you'll be good!

 

[superj]

The dealer did my trans fluid but I did the rear diff last month. Its jat as easy as any other vehicle diff fluid change.

I actually did my ranger and my wife's wrangler at the same time. Her wrangler rear diff is the same as my ranger. She has a 2019 wrangler

 

[Ag3ntC00p3r]

For those interested, RockAuto has Motorcraft XY75W85QL synthetic gear oil for $27.79/qt.

 

[BrrRaptor]

For those interested, RockAuto has Motorcraft XY75W85QL synthetic gear oil for $27.79/qt.

That's wear i got mine. They always seem to have good prices and options and fairly fast shipping

 

[josephp732]

I just completed a major drivetrain fluid change. Like others have mentioned, I also installed the Ford Performance rear differential cover and a B&M deep transmission pan. The front differential and transfer case were very straightforward.

I have the 2.7L EcoBoost, and after watching several videos on 10R60/10R80 transmission fluid drain-and-fills, I decided to jump in and do it myself. I think having the 2.7L makes the transmission pan and fluid service a bit easier. I did have to unbolt the transmission lines where they connect at the front of the pan to get everything apart.

One thing worth mentioning is that, on the 2.7L, the stud bolts don't have any heat shields attached to them, unlike the 2.3L EcoBoost. Most importantly, there's plenty of room to access and check the transmission fill tube/dipstick. That's a big difference from the 2.3L, where the catalytic converter can practically cook your arm while you're trying to reach it!

I refilled everything with AMSOIL fluids, my transmission with a larger pan took 8 quarts. Overall, it was a worthwhile project, and it's nice knowing all the drivetrain fluids have been changed.

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