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Originally Posted by Huney1
"Well, I know that the fluid is kinda burnt up and I should change it and in doing so, should take care of it . . ." Truer words were never spoken and I fail to see the logic in waiting until a maintenance component fails before it gets the maintenance it deserves. Like the man said, "You can pay me a little now or a lot later." ". . . . these tauruses have quite alot of problems with there transmissions so whatever I can do to make it last any longer, I will comply."
Better late than never . . . . IMO, the reason folks have tranny problems is because they do not follow Fords recommended maintenance schedule and have the fluid changed or flushed and filter cleaner or replaced every 30K miles. Let's do the math. Say a flush is $100. and a basic tranny rebuild $1,500. In 120K mi you spend $300. for prescribed maintenance or $1,500. for a rebuild. Don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Make sure they use Mercon V fluid.
Also see problems with plugged heater cores but I suspect that is due to cooling system neglect which is the most overlooked maintenance on vehicles. I don't buy into 100K mi and I drain and flush mine and put in new antifreeze every three years. Takes about an hour and well worth time and money spent.
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I think that's extreme. Cars are made to take abuse, they're made to run and be dependable. I understand that they're simply machines, but it's funny that a lot of cars will not have problems following maintance schedules as gospel.
Like my friend's Chevy Vandura, the oil was mucky, transmission fluid was brown, it ran like a champ, and still does after the oil was changed and transmission was simply changed from the pan. Same with a Chevy 262 I had, the prior owner ran 20-50, and I beat the crap out of that car. It had an abused TH350 that slipped when it was cold. I dropped a BUILT 327 in, replaced w/ a new stall converter and have been driving it almost daily since without issues. I think I've only had to replace an alternator, IAC, and brakes on my '88 Ranger in the past 2 years.
Even the A4LD in my Ranger that's notorious for failure still works after 5 years of not maintaining it. Not to mention I had installed an extreme cam, MAF conversion, etc. I was expecting it to die so I could swap in a T5...
Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that you SHOULDN'T maintain your vehicle, it's just the simple point that particularly Taurus' need to have constant care much like a baby. My point is, why pay the $300 or $1500 when a quick flush will suffice every 40K or so? That's on top of oil changes, new wires, plugs, brakes, etc... There's people that don't maintain their transmissions AT ALL.
It's been 3 years since I've put brand new coolant in my Ranger. Why am I not going flush it anytime soon? Because the fluid still looks brand new. Granted I rebuilt the engine w/ new heads, radiator, hoses, water pump though. Still the same old heater core though. If it were running a little hot, I might consider it, but I'll spend my money on other more important things, like rent and bills..
You shouldn't be "slave" to your car, your car should be a "slave" to you.
Pete