No scheduled maintenance on Ford Superduty

I can understand your nervousness about it but I have two older vehicles with sealed transmissions, an F150 that has been used quite a bit for trailer towing and 150,000 miles on the clock, and a 2011 Kia Optima with about a 160,000 on the clock. No transmission troubles from either one so far. I did recently get the fluid changed in the F150 as a precaution.

My 2016 F150 only has about 61,000 miles on it but shows that 33,000 of those miles where pulling a trailer over 10,000lbs. And that is not the only trailer that it has been used to pull. If I am not hauling or pulling I generally drive something smaller. I intend to do a transmission fluid and filter change on it soon out of caution. It doesn't seem like it is going to be that hard. You just have to do everything from underneath the vehicle. That makes checking and adding fluid a little more challenging.

Synthetic fluid!

My wife has a 2007 Toyota Camry. Never has been changed per owner manual.

My Cummins powered motorhome has a 50,000 mile change out IF if has synthetic fluid.

It's nothing new. My 2006 BMW has a fill for life transmission. It's not a truck but it's still going strong.

Fluid change intervals for automatic transmisison fluids are related to fluid oxidation/fluid additive depletion over a test cycle that is meant to represent an assumed worst case operating pattern for the oil. The ULV fluid utilized in the 10R140 utlizes a very refined base oil (Type III base stock) that results in a very stable fluid with stable viscoisty over the life of the fluid. It is this hihg quality base stock combined with the fluid's additive package that defines the lifespan of the oil. The stability of this oil is what drive's the high mielage fluid change recommendation. While changing fluid more often may seem like a good thing, fluid changes do carry the risk of introducing contaminants into the system, particulary if the shop does not use fluid exchange equipment. Modern automatic transmission controls are very sensitive to small particle contaminants so a shop that is not careful wtih their fluid change procedures runs the risk of introducing contaminants into the transmission fluid that can be detrimental to the valve body resutling in valve silting and sluggish valve operation. For this reason I generally am not a fan of early fluid changes unless the fluid has been subjected to a severe duty cycle (extended towing at maximum vehicle capabiltiy in high ambient temperature on grades, for instance).

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Likes to tow wrote:
I have a 2021 Ford F250 with the 7.3 gas engine and the 10 speed transmission. It was bought new and has 20k on the odometer. Supposedly there is no scheduled maintenance on the transmission! I've always changed transmission fluid in all my previous trucks at 30k miles but the dealer says this will not need it. There is no dipstick!

Also......... Is the 10 speed in my F250 7.3 gas the same as the 10 speed used in the F350 thru F550 with the 6.7 diesel engine????

Its the same transmission but has a different torque converter.

The owners manual states to change the oil every 150k miles but I would change it around 60k. As for the dealer I would never go back to that one again.

I have to ask if Ford states 150k why 60?

Because that's the service frequency I use and with over 250k miles my transmission has been flawless.

FishOnOne wrote:

Likes to tow wrote:
I have a 2021 Ford F250 with the 7.3 gas engine and the 10 speed transmission. It was bought new and has 20k on the odometer. Supposedly there is no scheduled maintenance on the transmission! I've always changed transmission fluid in all my previous trucks at 30k miles but the dealer says this will not need it. There is no dipstick!

Also......... Is the 10 speed in my F250 7.3 gas the same as the 10 speed used in the F350 thru F550 with the 6.7 diesel engine????

Its the same transmission but has a different torque converter.

The owners manual states to change the oil every 150k miles but I would change it around 60k. As for the dealer I would never go back to that one again.

I have to ask if Ford states 150k why 60?

Likes to tow wrote:
I have a 2021 Ford F250 with the 7.3 gas engine and the 10 speed transmission. It was bought new and has 20k on the odometer. Supposedly there is no scheduled maintenance on the transmission! I've always changed transmission fluid in all my previous trucks at 30k miles but the dealer says this will not need it. There is no dipstick!

Also......... Is the 10 speed in my F250 7.3 gas the same as the 10 speed used in the F350 thru F550 with the 6.7 diesel engine????

Its the same transmission but has a different torque converter.

The owners manual states to change the oil every 150k miles but I would change it around 60k. As for the dealer I would never go back to that one again.

way2roll wrote:
It's the same transmission and you are correct there is no scheduled maintenance. That said, I've read that it's recommended you change the transmission fluid around 90k miles.

I have a 2020 F350 6.7 and the transmission is starting to concern me. Aside from shifting very hard in 2 and 3 (it's always done that), the other day it shifted out of drive. I started to pull out of my drive and it just disengaged for about 10 seconds, coasted and then only revved until it banged into gear eventually. Thank goodness I hadn't pulled out onto a busy road. I've also had issues in 4WD. I was towing in some sand a few weeks ago and I put it in 4WD. it started to work fine at first and then wouldn't take fuel at all. It just died when I hit the the throttle. Of course I've had these things investigated at the dealer and they can't ever seem to replicate the issue. We are downsizing to a smaller motorhome and frankly I'll be glad to be rid of the truck. It's nice when it's working but I cringe at potential issues on such an expensive truck. I sleep better knowing it's still covered under warranty but I really worry about long term issues with it. Been lots of reported issues with the new transmissions and in most cases Ford doesn't want to step up.

Sounds like a lemon. Ford is not using any new 4wd systems. And the trans? Idk.
Usually when I have a warranty issue like this I try to make sure I break it good so there’s no question what the dealer goobers need to replace!

way2roll wrote:
It's the same transmission and you are correct there is no scheduled maintenance. That said, I've read that it's recommended you change the transmission fluid around 90k miles.

I have a 2020 F350 6.7 and the transmission is starting to concern me. Aside from shifting very hard in 2 and 3 (it's always done that), the other day it shifted out of drive. I started to pull out of my drive and it just disengaged for about 10 seconds, coasted and then only revved until it banged into gear eventually. Thank goodness I hadn't pulled out onto a busy road. I've also had issues in 4WD. I was towing in some sand a few weeks ago and I put it in 4WD. it started to work fine at first and then wouldn't take fuel at all. It just died when I hit the the throttle. Of course I've had these things investigated at the dealer and they can't ever seem to replicate the issue. We are downsizing to a smaller motorhome and frankly I'll be glad to be rid of the truck. It's nice when it's working but I cringe at potential issues on such an expensive truck. I sleep better knowing it's still covered under warranty but I really worry about long term issues with it. Been lots of reported issues with the new transmissions and in most cases Ford doesn't want to step up.

This 7.3 gas with the 10 speed pulls my 5th wheel as good as my old 2005 Ram 5.9 Cummins. I did not want a new diesel due to all the changes in recent years due to EPA regulations MPG is almost the same, maybe a mile or two less towing but without the trailer it gets about the same mpg.... Just can't understand why no scheduled maintenance!

yup. Transmissions are now "filled for life". My truck will be 12 years old soon and I have never even checked the transmission fluid level. I think I will change it soon though. I believe the only 10 spd trans available in the super duty is the 10R140, so it should be the same one.