Transmission Fluid Change

[Neil]

My transmission has been making grinding/scraping noises for almost 2 years now.  When I took it to the dealership they said the the bearing on the hybrid generator was probably bad, and unfortunately it is located in the transmission bell housing and is not independently serviceable.  The only way to fix the problem is to replace the entire transmission - $9,600.  Obviously I decided to not do it and just keep driving until it fails.  This weekend I had a thought maybe I could extend the life some by replacing the transmission fluid early, assuming the bad bearing was wearing out the fluid prematurely.  The car has 125k miles, and the maintenance interval for the ATF is 150k, so it really isn't that early.  I expected to find some metal shavings on the magnetic plug but it was clean - good sign. 

 

I bought 6 quarts of Mercon LV full synthetic ATF ($7.99/qt.) and a manual fluid transfer pump ($6.99 at Harbor Freight).  The job was surprisingly easy.  I had to remove the undercarriage cover and then just turn the front wheels all the way to the left.  You access the Transmission drain plug and fill plug through the driver side wheel well.  Draining the fluid was a breeze - you need a hex key to remove it - I can't remember the size.  It's the only hex plug under the car, at the bottom of the transmission.  The fill plug is a 14mm bolt directly above the drain hex plug.  The fill plug is forward of the front axle, about 1/2 way up the transmission housing.  It's the only bolt in the area that isn't clearly used to bolt parts together.  

 

The only problem I had was the fill plug hole is kind'a small, so I had to use a very small diameter hose on the fluid transfer pump which slowed the refill.  It literally took over an hour to pump 5.5 quarts into the transmission.  I drained out 4.5 quarts, so I know that it was low at least a quart.  You know it is full when the fluid begins to drain out of the fill plug.  It has significantly quieted the grinding noise.  I don't think anyone would hear it unless they were looking for it.   The problem isn't fixed, but just the sound being almost gone was worth the $60 in parts.  The dealership wanted almost $300 for the same job.  

Edited May 3, 2021 at 09:10 PM by Neil

[howardbc]

Neil, I am so sorry you’re having these serious issues with your car. If I could, I would snap my fingers and put you in a true 100% electric car. I traded my 2013 Energi for a 2016 Tesla Model S and I will NEVER go back to anything that runs even partially on gas. Buy a Mach-E if you like Fords. Or buy a  Chevy Bolt or a Tesla or another EV. I think the Tesla Model 3 starts at around $37k but after that you have zero gas expenses. And no oil changes, no maintenance except for tires. The torque on a Tesla is something you have to experience to understand. There are so many lies about Teslas and EVs in general. I meant to quit this forum but just never got around to it. I expect to now be kicked off and that’s okay. Wishing you all the best. 

[murphy]

howardbc,

 

I also bought a 2016 Tesla Model S..

I still have my 2013 Energi although it is about to be traded for a Mach-E Premium.

It is scheduled to be built the week of May 24.  It was ordered 1/6/2021.

 

I'm not going to "kick you off the forum" and I think I am the only moderator still visiting the forum.

 

John

 

 

 

[Davidoo]

19 hours ago, howardbc said:

Neil, I am so sorry you’re having these serious issues with your car. If I could, I would snap my fingers and put you in a true 100% electric car. I traded my 2013 Energi for a 2016 Tesla Model S and I will NEVER go back to anything that runs even partially on gas. Buy a Mach-E if you like Fords. Or buy a  Chevy Bolt or a Tesla or another EV. I think the Tesla Model 3 starts at around $37k but after that you have zero gas expenses. And no oil changes, no maintenance except for tires. The torque on a Tesla is something you have to experience to understand. There are so many lies about Teslas and EVs in general. I meant to quit this forum but just never got around to it. I expect to now be kicked off and that’s okay. Wishing you all the best. 

I'm not going to bash Teslas as I think they look great and are excellent vehicles.  I have thought about getting one, but would only do it if I had 2 cars.  I go on lots of long (thousands of miles) road trips.  I just don't ever want to worry about where I'm going to charge and how long I'll have to wait.  That's why I got the Energi.  Most weeks just going to work and back my engine never starts, but when I decide to drive from AZ to WY, IN or FL, I can do it in confidence.

 

[howardbc]

Thanks,  Murphy! I remember your name now. I'm so glad to hear that you have tried other cars. I drove my 2016 Model S 70 from Arizona to central Florida and back with no problems in 2018. The range on it was only 230 miles but I didn't mind since I wanted to stop frequently. But the S I have now will go 400+ miles on a charge. But Covid has kept me homebound. 

 

So excited about your Mach-E Premium! I really don't care which EV people drive. I just want to see more TVs out there. Have a friend who just started a job at Lucid. 

 

Wishing you all the best. 

[murphy]

Thanks howardbc.  When the Mach-E arrives it will sit beside the 2016 Tesla S90D in my garage.

At that point the only thing left that uses gasoline will be the snow blower.

And that may change before it snows again in PA.

Everything else, including the zero turn lawn mower, is electric.

 

Covid put a huge dent in my driving last year but I'm now fully vaccinated and it looks like everything will loosen up in the next couple of months.

 

 

[howardbc]

Good for you for getting off the dinosaur juice! Where I am (central Arizona), I don't need a lawnmower and certainly not a snow blower. I had solar panels put on my roof in 2006 and then the rest in 2014, so my EV is literally powered by the sun. 

[murphy]

I put 10 kW of solar panels on the roof of my house in September 2013.  That was 5 months after the Energi was delivered.

 

[Russael]

I just had 7.56kw of solar installed on my own roof about 3 weeks ago.  Just waiting on inspections, POA (Parallel Operating Agreement), and having the first responders button installed in the back, and then I'll be able to turn the system on (expecting 4 to 8 weeks for that).  I also had a 26kw battery backup solution coupled with it.  I know you have a generator, but my house is likely a lot smaller than yours and I can get away with batteries over a genny.

 

I've asked the wife multiple times if she wants to trade in the Fusion for either a Model 3 or some other pure EV, but she would rather drive a vehicle until destruction... which might be a while.  My Expedition is 22 years old and the Fusion 8, and since I've been working remote for like 4 or 5 years, I don't drive much.  Wife has to commute to work 3x a week (she's a nurse in Covid Central), and whenever we go somewhere, I generally drive the Fusion.

[howardbc]

Hi, Russael. First off, my thoughts go out to your amazing wife as she is on the frontlines of the battle against Covid. I hope she stays safe and well.

 

On the solar panels, I don't have a power wall/battery or a generator. My panels cover at least 90% of my monthly power bills and outages are extremely rare.

 

Your Expedition is 22 years old?? That's amazing. I'd say that whatever works for you and for your wife, that's what you should be doing. It's the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" system. 

 

Wishing you all the best. 

[jsamp]

Wow, howardbc and Russael posting back-to-back...this is getting to be like homecoming week!  Good to see you 'old timers' around again.

[Russael]

I'll pop in on occasion, maybe once a month to see if anything's going on and see who still has an Energi.  If I do run into difficulties, I'll post those too to make others aware.  I just changed the oil in the Fusion on Saturday, so that's all set.  Aside from the transmission replacement a year or two ago, it's behaved.  Just shy of 55k miles on it now... getting ready to rotate the tires on it, maybe tomorrow.

 

20 hours ago, howardbc said:

Hi, Russael. First off, my thoughts go out to your amazing wife as she is on the frontlines of the battle against Covid. I hope she stays safe and well.

 

On the solar panels, I don't have a power wall/battery or a generator. My panels cover at least 90% of my monthly power bills and outages are extremely rare.

 

Your Expedition is 22 years old?? That's amazing. I'd say that whatever works for you and for your wife, that's what you should be doing. It's the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" system. 

 

Wishing you all the best. 

 

You're fortunate to not have many power outages.  I suffer from 2 - 4 a year, from a couple hours to a solid week.  I have a 3000 watt inverter generator (120v only) to run about half the house, but the battery solution I have will happily run everything here, including the central air, indefinitely so long as it's sunny after the storm.  The system is sized (according to the installer's tools) to produce 101% of my annual consumption.  I'm trying to be patient with the installer to get the inspections done and getting the power company to send me the POA, but every time I see a bright, sunny day, I grumble to myself as I look at my disabled panels... hahahaha.  

[howardbc]

It's nice to "talk" to everyone again. And I really am an old-timer. I got my first Tesla at age 73. I remember asking the saleswoman if I was her oldest customer and she laughed and said "Oh, no, I had a couple in their 90s!" That was 5+ years ago. But I have to say that I still get a little bit of a lump in my throat when I see an Energi, although they are very rare. I have always gotten emotionally attached to all my cars. But I am never going back to a gas car. I will be watching Ford unveil their Lightning electric truck. I hope it's a big success. 

[jasper7821]

On 5/3/2021 at 2:03 PM, Neil said:

My transmission has been making grinding/scraping noises for almost 2 years now.  When I took it to the dealership they said the the bearing on the hybrid generator was probably bad, and unfortunately it is located in the transmission bell housing and is not independently serviceable.  The only way to fix the problem is to replace the entire transmission - $9,600.  Obviously I decided to not do it and just keep driving until it fails.  This weekend I had a thought maybe I could extend the life some by replacing the transmission fluid early, assuming the bad bearing was wearing out the fluid prematurely.  The car has 125k miles, and the maintenance interval for the ATF is 150k, so it really isn't that early.  I expected to find some metal shavings on the magnetic plug but it was clean - good sign. 

 

I bought 6 quarts of Mercon LV full synthetic ATF ($7.99/qt.) and a manual fluid transfer pump ($6.99 at Harbor Freight).  The job was surprisingly easy.  I had to remove the undercarriage cover and then just turn the front wheels all the way to the left.  You access the Transmission drain plug and fill plug through the driver side wheel well.  Draining the fluid was a breeze - you need a hex key to remove it - I can't remember the size.  It's the only hex plug under the car, at the bottom of the transmission.  The fill plug is a 14mm bolt directly above the drain hex plug.  The fill plug is forward of the front axle, about 1/2 way up the transmission housing.  It's the only bolt in the area that isn't clearly used to bolt parts together.  

 

The only problem I had was the fill plug hole is kind'a small, so I had to use a very small diameter hose on the fluid transfer pump which slowed the refill.  It literally took over an hour to pump 5.5 quarts into the transmission.  I drained out 4.5 quarts, so I know that it was low at least a quart.  You know it is full when the fluid begins to drain out of the fill plug.  It has significantly quieted the grinding noise.  I don't think anyone would hear it unless they were looking for it.   The problem isn't fixed, but just the sound being almost gone was worth the $60 in parts.  The dealership wanted almost $300 for the same job.  

 

I did the same thing and replaced the fluid last weekend. My tranni is fine, just when the car is really hot there is a slight jerk every time the motor generator starts the engine, feels like the cars with the auto stop at a stoplight with the engine that quickly starts. It's better now.

I too had an issue and needed a smaller tube cause the hole is too small. It was pouring rain and I just got done detailing me Porsche and wasn't about to take it out in the rain to get a different tube.

What I did was in the Harbor Freight pump package, there's a red plastic tip for blowing up rafts or whatever. I used that and cut the tip off about 1/4" so it was much larger and it fit into the hole. It wasn't snug but good enough to pump the fluid in and only leaked out a tiny bit. 

When I first took the screw out, about 9oz came out and was told before that I had to put in the exact same amount. I bought the car new and has 130k miles so it was like that from the factory.

After draining, the total that came out was 4qts 6oz. I didn't know how I was going to get an extra 9oz over the fill hole line. I was going to test drive then jack it up on that side and hopefully 9oz would go in. I was already frustrated cause it was taking so long that I just ended up putting in 4qts 9oz knowing some was going to spill out when I pulled the tube out and hurried to get the screw in.

Ended up working just fine and been a few hundred miles and all good so far.