I called the local Ford dealer today to arrange for a regular maintenance related Transmission service. The car runs absolutely perfect and has 53K on it.

When I asked the service fellow what they actually do for the $169.00, he said they do a complete power flush to or through (not sure which) the Torque Converter replacing about 16 quarters of fluid. When I asked if they replaced the filter too he said no, they stopped doing that 5 years ago. Somewhat taken aback, I asked why that was. He said because when they replaced the filters too problems arose with the trannys. When I asked how the magnet gets cleaned off he said the power flush takes care of that.

Anyone ever heard of this? Does this make sense?

I suppose if they do a back flush the flush could potentially clean the filter somewhat, but I'd still want the filter changed and the magnet cleaned if it were my car. I don't see how the flush could effectively clean the magnet.

I know there was at least one other thread on this forum that discussed the pros, cons, and "I've heards..." of power flush versus tranny fluid and filter. I don't remember anyone suggesting in that thread that the filter isn't changed during the flush. There were reports of damage to the tranny following a flush, but I think that was generally related to contaminants plugging the lines. Installing a new filter wouldn't cause that.

-Rod