was surprised with my 30K service the other day

[Stircrazy]

You MUST change the fluid every 30k miles minimum. There is no changeable fluid filter on this transmission, its internal. The process to change the fluid is fairly easy, remove the under-engine cover, and remove engine air filter box. Locate the drain plug under the transmission, remove the drain plug and drain fluid in container. Replace plug. Measure amount of fluid drained. Pull the vent cap on top of the transmission and refill with new fluid of same amount as was drained. Button up engine and transmission items removed.

That’s it; basically a drain and refill.

we all know that from reading on here, to make it easier you pull the drivers front wheel liner and you can see the level plug better. what I was surprised about is that they did it with the service plan when the manufactures recommendation is 150000 miles. usually the service plans are based off that.

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[Stircrazy]

OP... it's interesting to see how liberal they are with the service. I was about to purchase the maintenance plan and talked to a couple of dealers about it. They explained to me that for everything but oil, they inspect the item and only replace it if it's needed.

So while the manual recommends to change the spark plugs at 105k miles (just an example, I can't remember what it says), if the spark plugs look fine, they won't replace them. Same with belts or shocks.

It made me decide against purchasing it. When I worked out the pricing, it looked like it would be a good deal if they followed their recommendations.

that's interesting, they have to follow the maintenance service schedule as a minimum, if it is a ford service plan you would think, so plugs there will two or three services where it says inspect and change if needed then at the 150K or whet ever it will say change plugs. so you would think they would be changed. my service adviser does what ever he is allowed to do so if it say 2 sets of this a year, your going to get those, if it says inspect and change if necessary he just changes.. he said the dealership doesn't pay for the parts or labour it is all billed to the service plan.

 

[davidg4781]

that's interesting, they have to follow the maintenance service schedule as a minimum, if it is a ford service plan you would think, so plugs there will two or three services where it says inspect and change if needed then at the 150K or whet ever it will say change plugs. so you would think they would be changed. my service adviser does what ever he is allowed to do so if it say 2 sets of this a year, your going to get those, if it says inspect and change if necessary he just changes.. he said the dealership doesn't pay for the parts or labour it is all billed to the service plan.

Maybe that's why they're a little more consumer friendly. They tell Ford it needs a transmission fluid change and the plan pays for it. Maybe they can't say they do that over the phone or to a consumer before they bought it but they take care of them after they're a paying customer.

 

[Stircrazy]

Here’s another video by the same technician describing why not to adhere to Ford’s extended fluid changes for different fluids in different Ford vehicles. He recommends earlier and more frequent intervals in most cases:

ahh the never ending "lets make this as dramatic as possible for likes" youtube...

 

[Stircrazy]

It’s ok, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I sent a sample of the engine oil and transmission fluid to a testing facility and was surprised by the amount of wear metals already present at 30k. The 3 cylinder 1.5L engine and 8F35 transmission are a high revving and heavy loaded power plant. After I read all the posts about looming Bronco Sport transmission failures on this forum and on other forums for other ford vehicles (that use the 8F35), I decided to shorten the transmission fluid exchanges to 30k, purely out of an abundance of caution. It’s easy to do. But if you want to wait until 105k miles or longer, that’s your prerogative. Good luck!

I would imagine those are mostly from the manufacturing process and break in. just like we used to do in the olden days when we built a motor we would go break it in and do the first oil change at 500miles. I never understood why they don't do break in changes anymore.

 

[Glamdring70]

My last car, a Chevy, went 200,000 miles without touching the transmission. No fluid change, no nothing. If you're telling me that the best Ford can do is make a machine that requires service every 30,000 miles, I don't know how there is any competition much less how Ford is even still in business.

 

[Mark S.]

Then don’t do it, and see how long your transmission lasts

We previously owned an Escape that had 150K on it prior to trading. Never touched the transmission fluid. Ran like new when traded. The current Escape has nearly 90K on it. Same same. Still runs like new. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Mark S.]

It’s ok, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. I sent a sample of the engine oil and transmission fluid to a testing facility and was surprised by the amount of wear metals already present at 30k.

What amount is bad or surprising? What does Ford consider to be excessive? Without context a comment like "a surprising amount of wear metal" really doesn't mean anything. YOU might consider the amount surprising while Ford considers it normal.

 

[Stircrazy]

My last car, a Chevy, went 200,000 miles without touching the transmission. No fluid change, no nothing. If you're telling me that the best Ford can do is make a machine that requires service every 30,000 miles, I don't know how there is any competition much less how Ford is even still in business.

you got lucky

 

[Mark S.]

the manufactures recommendation is 150000 miles.

The manufacturer's recommendation is to inspect the fluid every 30K and service as required.

 

[Stircrazy]

The manufacturer's recommendation is to inspect the fluid every 30K and service as required.

that's not what my service schedule says in my owners manual. it says no inspection required change at 150

 

[Mark S.]

that's not what my service schedule says in my owners manual. it says no inspection required change at 150

Sorry, I misspoke. The severe duty schedule requires replacement of transmission fluid every 30K. The normal maintenance schedule requires inspection of the transmission fluid every engine oil change.

 

[Stircrazy]

Sorry, I misspoke. The severe duty schedule requires replacement of transmission fluid every 30K. The normal maintenance schedule requires inspection of the transmission fluid every engine oil change.

the exact wording when I pull it up in my maintenance schedule is
" inspect the automatic transmission fluid level (if equipped with a dipstick) consult your dealer for requirements)

now we don't have a dip stick so there is no inspection required. I went all the way up to 320000km (198838.7 miles) in the schedule, it says that at every schedule milage and no where does it ever say to change the oil. that's why I was surprised in the first place when they did it at 30000miles

 

[Dude]

the exact wording when I pull it up in my maintenance schedule is
" inspect the automatic transmission fluid level (if equipped with a dipstick) consult your dealer for requirements)

now we don't have a dip stick so there is no inspection required. I went all the way up to 320000km (198838.7 miles) in the schedule, it says that at every schedule milage and no where does it ever say to change the oil. that's why I was surprised in the first place when they did it at 30000miles

Transmission fluid change intervals for various scenarios is in the owners manual and fluid “could” be inspected without a dipstick (at every oil change) although it’s not that easy so I can see why the dealership chooses to just change the transmission fluid at 30k intervals.

The “Normal Maintenance Intervals” states “Change the automatic transmission fluid Every 150,000 mi (240,000 km)”

The “SPECIAL OPERATING CONDITIONS SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE” section, in both the “Towing a Trailer or Using a Car-top Carrier” Table and the “Extensive Idling or Low-speed Driving for Long Distances” Table state “Change automatic transmission fluid” “Every 30,000 mi (48,000 km)”.

 

[oharajoynr]

I fall under the Special Operations Schedule and do the 30k mile interval because I tow several types of trailers. And use same interval 30k mile interval for the PTU and the RDU. The transmission, RDU, and PTU each have different fluids and are the backbone of my power train. We live in a very remote mountainous area where our BS BB does a lot of work. The shorter fluid changes work for us to ensure we have less likelihood of power train component failures. And the fluid changes are cheap and easy to do.

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