No scheduled maintenance on Ford Superduty

[Likes_to_tow]

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????

[Groover]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

ksss wrote:

Wow! That is an interesting and expensive situation. Reading that little book in the glove box is getting more and more important.

My 2022 F150 came with a "Cliff Notes" edition of the owners manual. The real one is on line, or you can request they send one to you.

I don't think that very many people ever read the paper manual anyway.
Did you check to see if you can call up the full version on the screen? I had the impression that it is in the truck's memory. Lighter, less expensive and takes less space than the printed version. Plus, specific to your vehicle.

[Grit_dog]

The whole no dipstick sealed trans thing is like said going on 20 years old.
Coincidentally or not, other than one problem work truck, haven’t blown a trans on any of those vehicles. Also maintained em. I don’t go overboard but try to keep trans fluid and filter changes to around 50k miles intervals or so.
I also always get most/all of the old fluid out not just a pan drop and refill. I’ll do a Polish trans flush if I have to. (Pan drop and refill (which is about 1/2 the fluid) 3 or 4x.

[theoldwizard1]

ksss wrote:

Wow! That is an interesting and expensive situation. Reading that little book in the glove box is getting more and more important.

My 2022 F150 came with a "Cliff Notes" edition of the owners manual. The real one is on line, or you can request they send one to you.

[theoldwizard1]

Transmission being "filled for life" is not a new thing. That has been the "spec" in many vehicles for over 20 years. I am sad they removed the dipstick tube (there is still a very short dipstick you can get to from underneath). The color and smell of ATF will tell you if you have a problem. Of course, by then, it is probably too late.

Almost all modern transmissions have a temperature sensor. This is the most important thing to be monitored.

If you are still not happy, ask to see the official "severe duty" maintenance schedule. Or drop the pan (but not the filter) every 25K-50K, measure what you took out and replace it with the exact OEM ATF.

[ksss]

mkirsch wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
Filled for life is great for trans shops and dealerships. Fluid is cheaper than a trans. At the very least drain the fluid and refill it. I’m sure the fluid is pricey, but again it’s better than getting stranded because you didn’t change the fluid!

Except there is no place to put new fluid in!

Previous next door neighbor had a new Toyota or Nissan truck. Drained the transmission fluid on his "usual maintenance interval." Went to fill it. No dipstick! Crawled all over the transmission. No fill plug anywhere on it! Sealed from the factory.

Suffice it to say, he instantly voided the warranty. Had it hauled to the dealer. They could not put fluid in it. As I recall he had to pay for a new transmission to be installed. All his fault for not following directions.

Wow! That is an interesting and expensive situation. Reading that little book in the glove box is getting more and more important.

[Grit_dog]

There’s about zero chance that a fluid change voided the warranty and zero chance that it’s not able to be filled. Just different methods on different vehicles. They don’t fill em by osmosis at the factory.
Yes trans service intervals have gotten much longer as both transmissions and fluid has gotten better.
And maybe most of them will last 250k miles or whatever. But there’s no magic that keeps the fluid “like new”. And especially if working it hard or planning on keeping it long term high miles, a reasonable service interval is a good thing.

[mkirsch]

dodge guy wrote:
Filled for life is great for trans shops and dealerships. Fluid is cheaper than a trans. At the very least drain the fluid and refill it. I’m sure the fluid is pricey, but again it’s better than getting stranded because you didn’t change the fluid!

Except there is no place to put new fluid in!

Previous next door neighbor had a new Toyota or Nissan truck. Drained the transmission fluid on his "usual maintenance interval." Went to fill it. No dipstick! Crawled all over the transmission. No fill plug anywhere on it! Sealed from the factory.

Suffice it to say, he instantly voided the warranty. Had it hauled to the dealer. They could not put fluid in it. As I recall he had to pay for a new transmission to be installed. All his fault for not following directions.

[Huntindog]

In 1986 I had a AMMCO Transmission with their lifetime warranty installed in my 73 Blazer. One of the main features I liked about it was that I no longer had to do any maintainence on it. I just had to take it in every year for them to look at it. At first they were changing the fluid and filter, but that soon stopped. The yearly check consisted of them driving it around the block, checking rhe dipstick, and trying to sell me additional serfvices. I did not care, if they actually serviced the tranny at all. If it failed, they had to fix it, About 15 years ago, they told me that the tranny fluid and filter needed to be changed. I told them to go ahead. They told me how much it was going to cost me. I told them to read my warranty. After much hemming and hawing and some phone calls to corporate, they honered the warranty and did it for free.... And then told me that it did not need to be done very often, and that the Lifetime warranty I have is not like the one they offer now. They have not changed the fluid/filter since. And they have really backed off on trying to upsell me other services.
If one thinks about it from a mechanical mindset, tranny fluid is not like engine oil.There are no combustion contaiminents finding their way into the fluid.And the fluid really doesn't wear out. So long as it doesn't get too hot, it can last forever.

[valhalla360]

Obviously older but on our 2008 F250, our local mechanic refused to do it when we asked. They had too many times when they changed it and 2-3k miles later the transmission crapped out.

Currently around 215k miles with no issues, so not fixing what isn't broken. I might think differently, if we had overheated the transmission and cooked the fluid.

[dodge_guy]

Filled for life is great for trans shops and dealerships. Fluid is cheaper than a trans. At the very least drain the fluid and refill it. I’m sure the fluid is pricey, but again it’s better than getting stranded because you didn’t change the fluid!

[Groover]

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.

[larry_cad]

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.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

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

[ggardne2]

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).