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First E150, have some questions...


Art5

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I have added to the collection a 2001 E150 XL. 4.6, 2WD, 85K on the clock. I paid $2500 for it. I am the 3rd owner. The van originally belonged to Lehigh County Corrections, has bars on all the windows, no door handles in the back, and was likely a prisoner transport vehicle. I've got a bunch of Ford stuff, a few Rangers, a Grand Marquis, Bronco, F150, but this is the first van that I've pulled the trigger on. Brought it home, and I'm currently running through the maintenance on it. Fresh filters and fluids, plugs, grease job, all that fun stuff. Just had a few questions about things that I'm not real familiar with.

1st, when I drained the coolant, the stuff that came out was not the color I was expecting. My Haynes book says it takes regular green stuff in the recommended fluids section. That definitely isn't what came out. Should I just switch it to green stuff or does this need special coolant for some reason?

2nd, for the rear diff, the Haynes book calls for 80W-90 in the 8.8, but the tag on the diff says to use 75W-140. Why the discrepancy? Also, at the bottom of the page, it says," *For Traction-Lok axles add friction modifier when lubricant is changed. ... Ford 8.8 and 9.75 inch add 4 oz."
How do I tell if I need to do this or not, and where do I find it if I do need it?
Forgive me if these are dumb questions, but I've never had any of my old junk call for additives in the diff, and they all just used regular green coolant.

Any other tips or tricks are always helpful, and as always, any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Art

 

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Anyone ever put in one of those aftermarket trans drain plugs? I feel like every time I've had to pull a pan to change a filter it ends up being a mess. At least I put down cardboard this time. Seems like it would be smarter to install one of those to drain it down before taking the pan loose.

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32 minutes ago, Art5 said:

Anyone ever put in one of those aftermarket trans drain plugs? I feel like every time I've had to pull a pan to change a filter it ends up being a mess. At least I put down cardboard this time. Seems like it would be smarter to install one of those to drain it down before taking the pan loose.


You could just have the dealer use the cooler lines to swap out the fluid.  Gets 98%+ of the old fluid including the torque converter.  
 

If the filter is clogged then the tranny is toast anyway.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/8/2022 at 8:25 PM, akirby said:


You could just have the dealer use the cooler lines to swap out the fluid.  Gets 98%+ of the old fluid including the torque converter.  
 

If the filter is clogged then the tranny is toast anyway.

Definitely can't afford to take it to the dealer. 

 

Filter and fluid replacement was listed as part of routine maintenance for the van. Not knowing for certain when it was last done, I changed it. Didn't appear to be clogged. 

 

Ended up fitting a Dorman trans pan that came with a drain plug. Seems like a much better solution than the aftermarket plug kits.

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