Sealed Explorer transmission oil?

[Earlyboomer]

When the Explorer first came out I was going to buy one and didn't, but lately after driving a 2002, I think I might find myself buying one. I found out they have a sealed transmission, supposedly for the life of the transmission, so I would like to know what kind of oil they use? I hope they are at least using a synthetic transmission oil. Does anyone know for sure. There have been issues with some Explorers, like a lot of other vehicles, so I am not criticizing Explorers. My brother just bought a mint, garage kept 2002, with all of the options and my first impression was that its a bit like a Mustang on stilts. We were both suprised how quick the steering is and its not hard to see inexperienced drivers rolling the greasy side up. We couldn't find the transmission dipstick and thats how this I got curious about the oil type.

[way2old]

The vehicle still needs the fluid changed. Ford makes a tool to install the fluid. You can do a fluid flush on it and be OK. It is sort of hard to change fluid in your driveway.

[Earlyboomer]

Thanks for the reply way2old. Are you saying there is synthetic fluid in these modern 5 speed Explorer transmissions? (They no doubt use them in other Ford vehicles also.) I have the transmission oil changing procedure printed out from another thread. I am lucky enough to have a heated garage to work in but changing the fluid seems like a job in itself. I realize that transmission fluid does need to be changed every so often with consideration for the type of duty the vehicle is used for, towing for example. Lots of vehicles have towing hitches today, so that doesn't always tell you whether a used vehicle was towing something or not. This 2002 Explorer has 88k miles on it and it seems great, it runs and rides very well, except I swear you can see the fuel gage going down, very slowly, but going down. We will start "servicing" this vehicle soon. Not changing the transmission fluid can be very costly and without a dipstick, you can't even give it the old color and smell test to see if its burnt brown. Remember doing that?

[way2old]

We still do that test every day. Some old things still work. Yes the fluid is a semi-synthetic in the transmission. If you have the skills and patience needed to do it at home, it can be done. Just take your time when refilling it. Good luck.