Hi I've got a 2007 Ford Expedition that's about to roll over 100k miles. I'd like to get out in front of transmission problems but ford has made it very difficult with no drain plug or readily accessible opening to the pan or dipstick. I am considering buying a pan with a drain plug. My question is should I do that and drain and add fluid a few times to get new fluid in the system? Also should I clean the filter? I know the Ford dealer does some kind of hot flush and never cleans the filter or drops the pan.
I have a 2004 Expedition. Not sure if you have the same tranny. I dropped the pan to replace the filter and replaced the pan with one that has a drain bolt. Got it from Advance Auto pretty cheap. Those transmissions hold a lot of fluid, so you are only replacing maybe one fourth or fifth when you do this. I have about 136000 miles on mine, going strong.
I would inspect the fluid first before dropping the pan. If the fluid condition is very bad (dark color with burnt smell), I would not touch it.
By the way, it is about the time that the tranny goes out for those vehicles. Get rid of it.
