Hey gang.

(2006 MMH 1,600 miles)

I had my oil changed at the dealer a few days ago. I'm contemplating having them change all of the driveline fluids. Let's see... that'd be the auto tranny fluid, the diff, and what else? Is there a separate transfer case?

My goal in doing this would be to remove manufacturing debris/residue.

Has anyone else done this?

Best regards -

 

There haven't been any reports of residue problems. Changing the 'Break-in Oil' is an old school idea - I did that in my Prius. What is the ATF replacement period in your maintenance manual? Mine was never! I replaced the ATF at 61,000 and had it tested. The Toyota type WS ATF was about used up. There have been reports of the earlier Toyota Type IV ATF being used up by 15,000 miles, but I don't know about the ATF in the FEH/MMH.

JeffD

 

I'm an old-school kind of guy when it comes to changing the fluids. I had a BMW with "lifetime fluids" and I believe it to be a total crock (BMW recently changed their mind and assigned a 50k life to their auto tranny fluid).

Anyway... I think I'm going to change them out. It's cheap insurance.

 

You will be hard pressed to find a dealer to change your transmission fluid without charging an astronomical amount. The transmission actually contains two seperate fluids that can not be mixed or you will damage your transmission. That is why there is no dipstick to check trans fluid. And since they use special fluids that no other car in their line up uses, it will cost quite a bit.

 

I don't know if CANiHaveGasCash is still around, but does anyone know what he's talking about regarding the two fluids in the transmission and astronomical costs to change? (see his post in this thread)

When I look at the ECVT information in the Ford workshop manual, it looks like it just has regular old Mercon and the fluid change doesn't look all that problematic.

Am I looking at the wrong item?

 

If you go to the trouble to change the fluids I would switch to synthetic fluids of the correct viscosity. I don't see this necessary until at least 30K though. Modern machining and manufacturing don't leave the "debris" that the old school components did.

BMW is losing auto transmissions left and right because of the "lifetime" fluid.

 

BMW's are fun to drive, but they have never been a particularly reliable car. I have a neighbor that has both a 3 series Beemer & an Acura RL.

I asked him how the two cars compare once. He told me that the Beemer is a lot of fun to drive, but he has 56,000 miles on it (he bought it new) & it has spent 1/2 its life in the repair shop. When he described the RL, he said "it has 139,000 miles on it & I think I changed the wiper blades once". He is not a fanatic for maintenance either, & he said the RL has never even had a bulb blow out......

~John

 

My BMW was reliable for the 60k it had on it when I traded it for the Mariner. I was getting nervous about the tranny, though.

The BMW was nicer in almost every way than the Mariner, but I knew that going in so it's not really a complaint.

My biggest dissapointment has been the quality of service with the Mercury.

I remember seeing two techs working on my BMW at the dealer. I was getting an oil change and the car was on the lift. There were two technicians, both capable looking adults in lab coats, walking under my car checking things. They both had flashlights, and for about 15 minutes they looked things over. They would call each other over and point at things and write what they found on clipboards. It was expensive, yes, but I always had a nice loaner whenever I wanted one and I always left there 100% confident that they had done a good job.

With my mercury dealer, it's success if they don't make things worse and I am not confident at all that they are doing what they say they are doing. It may have more to do with the dealer, but it's far and away my biggest dissappointment. It's why I purchased the Ford service manual and have just started doing it all myself.

Which brings me back to the tranny issue. Anyone know if Gregg is right about the two tranny fluids? I can't find reference to that in the manual.

Lastly, let me say that I'm pulling hard for the US domestic auto industry. I want them to succeed, and I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Hopefully this came across as constructive criticism.

 

BMW shop rate here in College Station is $105 an hour. The Ford dealer is $72. German techs are expected by the customers to look the cart over and usually repair anything found. American car techs usually don't because most customers won't do the additional work.

 

2 fluids he might be refering to are the motor electronic coolant and the eCVT transmission fluid.