Hey Scotty, I’ve been watching a ton of your videos and I have a maintenance question that I wanted to be totally sure about. I’m just out of college and trying to save money, so through a friend I got hooked on a great deal for a 2007 Ford Mustang that has given me no mechanical issues in the last 3-4 years I’ve had it. I bought it at 130,000 miles and it now has 150,000. It’s the V6 model and I’ve been trying to change the fluids regularly. After my last oil change I realized I have no idea when the last time this things transmission fluid has been changed. Granted the transmission seems mostly ok. Sometimes there can be a hard seeming shift from second to third but that’s very rare. Otherwise this machine shifts fluently with no issues and has been a great highway car. After watching your videos, I know you’ve given the advice generally, that if the machines transmission is running ok and it’s generally a high mileage car that hasn’t had its fluid changed regularly, that you should just leave the fluid as is, because changing it could cause slippage. Trouble is I really don’t know when this thing has last had a transmission fluid change. I’ve only put 20,000 miles on it in 3 years because for the most part I was in college in Boston with a lot of public transportation. But now I’ve started a 45 minute commute (one way) and I really love this car and want to make sure it doesn’t break down on me any time soon (had an 05 cherokee before, I’m sure you can guess how well a chrylser product did for me). How do you think I should handle the transmission fluid situation? Is changing it an option at 150,000 miles+ even if I don’t know if it’s been touched? Or is it best to leave it as is? Thank you so much for all you do. Really love the channel and appreciate all your advice.
Clarification: What is the condition of the fluid itself? (Color?, smell burnt?, any metallic particles in it?)
I would leave it alone.
Leave it be and don't risk making things worse.
Just to add on I would change the fluid and filter if possible. To be on the safe side save the old fluid incase an issue develops.
You have already stated that you have experienced hard shifting from second to third. Do you really think it's going to correct itself or get better by itself? I am just the kind or person who wants to actually know where I stand. If it were me, I would change out the fluid and filter. Then I know. I don't like waiting for tow trucks. It's up to you. I am not a gambler. If you are, that's great.
Many people out there are pretty much confused about changing the transmission fluid after a long time.
The thing is if you just simply drain out the old fluid and fill it up with brand new fluid it’s definitely gonna cause some problems to your transmission.
Since transmissions have something like smell sensor (idk what it’s called exactly) but with time it gets used to the old fluid and if u drain it all of a sudden and fill it up with new fluid it will cause damage because it isn’t used to the brand new fluid.
So there’s a simple procedure to follow. You need to change the transmission fluid in three installments and there should be a gap of atleast three weeks in every installment.This way the transmission will slowly get used to the smell of new fluid
So for the first two times you need to drain only 2 ltr of fluid and top it up with 2 ltr of fluid.(This process should be done atleast twice with a gap of one week in between)
And the third and final time you will have to drain all the fluid and change the filter.Fill it up with brand new fluid.
Regards,
