Had my '18 Flex FWD 61K miles in for oil change and a minor repair with a facility that has seemed trustworthy so far. They recommended doing a transmission flush citing that the recommendation from Ford is at 60K. I asked about the condition of the fluid and response was that it was still somewhat pink but I should replace it before it gets much darker {black}:idontknow: . I have seen other sources advise replacement at 100K miles. Quote was for ~$200 so i held off. Should I get this done and is it necessary at this point? And is a flush necessary or simple replacement? Or is a flush the only method on this model? I'm not handy enough to do it myself. I may keep this car another couple years, maybe another 50K miles.
Is there a maintenance schedule in the manual?
the drain and fill procedure looks really easy. Same as an oil change. Save yourself the $200 and do it yourself. There is no user serviceable filter so you don't have to worry about that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBKC6ZhDwhY
According to Ford's maintenance schedule for your vehicle, it recommends changing the ATF and filter fluid every 120k miles. Does your vehicle have a ATF dipstick? I doubt they would've actually checked the ATF if there isn't a dipstick.
In my opinion, 120k miles is a bit too much. I'd say to do it at around 80-100k miles. But only do a drain, filter replacement, and re-fill. DO NOT FLUSH. The process of flushing doesn't involve removing the pan to change the filter.
Drain and fill as recommended by Ford. Do not flush it ever.
