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Am I Getting Hosed by my FORD dealer?


DUCKRACER

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None of the Ford dealers in my area (4 all together) will flush ANY Escape, Mariner,Fusion, or Milan Transmissions regardless of year. They will just drain the fluid and refill. My 06 Mariner has 70,000 miles on it and I just had it drained for the 3rd time. It drives me CRAZY that they won't flush it as I too am a little anal with maintenance as well (fuel filters every 15K, oil and tire rotation every 3K, coolant flush every 60K etc.) but I haven't had a single issue with the tranny doing just the drain and refill and they only charge me $70 to do it.

 

It is a little odd to me that they won't flush it as they have no problem doing flushes on my other cars and cars I've had in the past. They must know something I/ We don't !?

 

I never thought of a drain. Won't be as effective, but if I can't find a Ford dealer that will flush it, I will just have to be happy with a drain.

 

Does anyone know if this transmission has a filter for the fluid?

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I never thought of a drain. Won't be as effective, but if I can't find a Ford dealer that will flush it, I will just have to be happy with a drain.

 

Does anyone know if this transmission has a filter for the fluid?

 

 

Yes it has a filter, more like a screen. I have never changed the filter in my 05 Escape. I drain and refill the trans every 2nd or 3rd oil change. It takes about 3.5 quarts. 3.5 quarts of Mercon every couple of oil changes is no big deal cost wise and keeps newer fluid in the system. The trans is fine with over 100K miles on it. Sure beats having to remove the transaxle, open the unit, replace the filter, and then have to reseal it and reinstall it. This is also done on Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas. Drain and fill.

 

 

And boy, do a lot of people have some warped ideas on fluids. Its kind of comical.

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Yes it has a filter, more like a screen. I have never changed the filter in my 05 Escape. I drain and refill the trans every 2nd or 3rd oil change. It takes about 3.5 quarts. 3.5 quarts of Mercon every couple of oil changes is no big deal cost wise and keeps newer fluid in the system. The trans is fine with over 100K miles on it. Sure beats having to remove the transaxle, open the unit, replace the filter, and then have to reseal it and reinstall it. This is also done on Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas. Drain and fill.

 

 

And boy, do a lot of people have some warped ideas on fluids. Its kind of comical.

 

A former transmission engineer told me if the filter is clogged then the tranny is already toast. Therefore there's no need to change it.

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A former transmission engineer told me if the filter is clogged then the tranny is already toast. Therefore there's no need to change it.

 

Thanks for the imput, guys.

 

So there is no way to flush it out through the torque converter???

Edited by DUCKRACER
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I am the kind of person that likes to over-maintain my Fords. I ALWAYS have our 09 V6 AWD Escape serviced by my local Ford Dealer. I have them service it and change the motor oil every 3kmi. So when it came time for my 30k mi. service I asked the sevice writer to have the transmission flushed by one of those macines that forces the new tranny fluid through the torque converter as well as the gear box and put in a new transmission fluid filter if there was one. A few hours later they called me and said that they would not do it. He told me that it had something to do with the fact that the technician had to get the transmission fluid at a different temperature for each gear (WTF?). Basically, I got the impression that they just did not want to go to all the trouble. He said it would be fine to do it at 60k mi. I pointed out to him that I did not want to do that because, by then, my warranty would be long gone.

 

They also were the only ones to service my 04 F250 PSD (every 3k mi) that I bought there new until I sold it last year.

 

I am baffled and angry all at the same time. I have purchased 4 new for vehicles from this dealer over the last 10 years. When we bought the Escape, I was informed by the sales person that they make very little profit on the purchase of vehicles and most of the profit comes from service.

 

Why then would they not jump at the chance to service my transmission?

 

What should I do???

 

I don't think you are being hosed by the dealer, I think you have a differance in opinion. Most of the reason for the higher mileage synthetics is to reduce waste. The high mileage engine and trans oils are used to reduce waste, this is the same with the extended life coolant. They are friendlier to the enviroment and retain their lubricating qualities longer which, allow manufacturers to machine in tolerances of very small microns to improve longevity and satisfaction for customers. Its not that you are being hosed, you just have a differance in opinion and hopefully with the input from all viewers you will be able to see that the over maintenance of your vehicle is not necessary. Follow your owners manual and I think you will be fine. Most of the people that have issues with their vehicles are the people that maintenance their vehicle once every three years and can't understand why they have failures.

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Possibly, but it also may have gone another 100,000 miles on the fluid it had. The world may never know.

 

Quick story, my Dad bought a 94 Grand Marquis back in 98 from a guy that was a traveling salesman that had over 200,000 miles on it. My Dad then put another 150,000 miles on it. Then my sister drove it a while and put another 50,000 miles on it. Then they sold it to a guy my brother in law works with and he put another 100,000 miles on it. The last I heard, it had over 400,000 miles on it, with the original transmission & original transmission fluid. Nothing ever went wrong with the engine either. Just semi regular oil changes.

 

Like Brewfan said, nothing stated here will change your mind (nor should it), but I do agree that changing fluid too early is inefficient, and I believe it's wasteful. I still believe your dealer was trying to not hose you by not changing your tranny fluid.

 

"Hosed" was probably the wrong word. It's just that the reason for refusing to do it sounded lame. I recently called the service dept of that dealership and another local Ford dealer and asked for the service dept. I described my vehicle and the process of pushing the old fluid through the torque converter to replace ALL of the old fluid. Both said they could do it. One wanted $196 and the other wanted $169. At the next oil change, I will try again, probbaly going over the head of the service writer and talking directly to the service dept.

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"Hosed" was probably the wrong word. It's just that the reason for refusing to do it sounded lame. I recently called the service dept of that dealership and another local Ford dealer and asked for the service dept. I described my vehicle and the process of pushing the old fluid through the torque converter to replace ALL of the old fluid. Both said they could do it. One wanted $196 and the other wanted $169. At the next oil change, I will try again, probbaly going over the head of the service writer and talking directly to the service dept.

 

 

 

OK here's the end of the story. This Saturday I was the first in line at my Ford dealer. I told the service writer that I wanted an oil change and I wanted the trans fluid flushed out. I described the process I wanted to be performed in detail. He seem a little bewildered, but to his credit he went and got a technician. I described the machine and what I wanted done. He said "oh, you mean the trans/flush machine?" I said "yes" (my heart lept!) He asked me if it was AWD and I said yes. I asked him if he was going to be the person the performing the service and he said yes.

 

About 4 hours later they called me and said it was ready. The service writer had taken time out of his busy day to research the last service order. He said that when I brought it in last time there was probably not a technician availlable that was qualified to perform the process.

 

I wish they had just told me that up front. I would have gladly waited a few days until one was available.

 

I looked at my bill and it appears that the flush was performed. In reading the bill I noted that they had installed some" ATF cleaner" I asked the cashier about this and she had the service writer come to the office. He explained they use that when they flush transmissions.

 

On the way home I left a stoplight with WOT for a few blocks just to see if the trans was working properly ;-). I had forgotten the DELICIOUS sound that little 3.0 Duratec makes when rowing through the gears.

 

So, in 30,000 mi I will know what to say to get my trans flushed.

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