I have a 2000 Ford Taurus with the DOHC 3.0 liter engine and 160K miles. I bought it two years ago and dithered for a while about changing the ATF. The fluid was not terribly dirty or dark black, but did not have the fresh red color of ATF, just a little bit of red. The transmission runs OK, but occasionally shifts a little hard, particularly from 3rd to 4th under light acceleration. I finally decided to pump a couple quarts out of the dipstick tube and replace with fresh fluid, along with a bottle of Lucas, and see how it went. I did that and the transmission is just a bit smoother. I ended up removing a little over a gallon of ATF. I was going to do a little less, but misjudged the size of the container I was pumping into.
Should I remove and replace another couple quarts and add a little more Lucas, or leave well enough alone. I know I'm probably on borrowed time with this tranny, and it will be time to junk the car when the xmission dies, but I would like to get another year or two out of it. I just ended up buying a new Camry for the family car and would like to finish paying off the new car before replacing the Taurus, although it doesn't really owe me anything right now. Also, the used car market is horrible right now.
@clovishound
Just baby the car and don't drive it hard and maybe you won't have any issues with it. Sometimes the rough shifting can be caused by a bad shift solenoid and not the transmission. I've watched several videos where corroded wiring or replacement of the a bad solenoid completely solved the problem.
The capacity is around 3 gal, so I think you got a good portion of it.
I don't think the transmission is going to die in the next year or two as result of a bit of dirty fluid.
Thanks for the replies. I was leaning toward leaving well enough alone. I don't drive this car very hard, so hopefully I can get another couple years out of it. It is actually a pretty decent driving and looking vehicle, and everything works except the power door locks. It's a lot more comfortable than the 91 Celica it replaced, although not as much fun to drive. I HATE slush boxes, but needed something my daughter could drive when needed. Now she can drive the new Camry. Lucky her.
I like the extra power of the DOHC engine, but it sure is a pain to work on. I've replaced the PS pump, water pump and a couple COPs. Not a lot of fun, but doable. I'm keeping an eye on the coolant hoses. They look fine, but trying to replace all of them appears to be a mammoth job. There are tons of different hoses running all over the place, and some of them are special hoses that may be hard to get. I don't think the heater hoses are available anymore, although I can likely replace the metal/rubber originals with standard all rubber hoses. Other hoses may be difficult or impossible to get, and many are hard to get to.