I just bought an '04 4x4 with 64K miles and want to go through changing the all fluids as the previous owner used to tow a camper. How is the fluid drained/filled on the rear and front diffs ? I've been looking for a procedure or pictures but can't find anything.

 

Rear diff:

unbolt the diff cover,and let it drain. Leave 3 bolts on the top still threaded in, but loose. With all the rest of the bolts off the cover, take a screw driver and seperate the cover from the housing, and let the fluid drain out. Once it's drained, pull the remaining bolts off, and pull thecover off. Clean mating surfaces along with the cover it's self. Lay down a layer of black silocone on the cover, and bolt it back on. make sure to get silocone around the mounting holes. A little tip on tightening procedure: start from the top and work your way down. That way it'll push some silocone toward the bottom where it's most likely to leak. Or you can just use a cork gasket. On the front of the rear pumpkin, youll see a fill hole. fill the diff til it starts draining out of the hole. There you go...done. If you has a limited slip, youll need to put in that limited slip additive stuff. Another note: when cleaning, get both surfaces nice and clean...and when its clean, take some laquer thinner to both surfaces to make a very nice surface for the silocone to adhere to.

Front diff:

Well...take a look at it. It's a big pain to pull off the cover. Get your self a hand pump with those little clear hoses and pump the fluid out through the fill hole. You can get almost all the old fluid out using this technique. Then just fill it up using the same pump, but in reverse as before. That's the easiest way to change the front fluid.


I hope all that jumbled mess makes sence.

 

Thats pretty strait forward. What do you guys recommend for diff oil?

Also is it tuff to change tranny fluids? Is there a filter etc...
- I have an manuel

 

I'm a fan of Mobil 1 75w-140

 

Easy as pie. Get down there...and look at the driver side of the trans. Youll see a drain plug, and youll see a fill plug. Fill it til fluid is running out the fill hole. Really straight forward. ATF is the fluid for the trans and tcase.

I use royal purple for all my fluids, except brake fluid.

 

That seems really easy. To easy to take it some where and have them charge you $90 for doin it. So just to clairify there is no filter, right?

 

Your manual transmission does not have a filter, just a magnetic drain plug that you can wipe off when it's out.


Other thoughts:

It's really simple to drain the manual transmission but the refill is a bit awkward - no room to tip an oil bottle up easily to pour it in. Here are some ways to make it easier:

• use a fluid pump as described above for the front diff;
• use a tube/adapter tool that screws on the top of the plastic ATF bottle and squeeze it in;
• position a funnel in the engine compartment attached to a hose running down to the fill hole.

Your owners manual says to use Mercon ATF in the transmission and transfer case. The manual also warns the owner not to interchange the Mercon and Mercon V ATFs. However, Mercon has since been discontinued , so Ford now says that the recommended replacement for Mercon is the synthetic blend Mercon V.

Aftermarket synthethic ATFs generally meet/exceed the Mercon V spec - check their website or bottle label.

As long as you have everything out to change the transmission fluid, you might as well do the t-case, too. It has a drain plug and a fill/level plug, similar to the transmission. On many Rangers, the drain plug is hidden under an iron damper assembly held on by 4 bolts. Just unbolt it to gain access.

The transfer case has an internal pump and strainer but no externally serviceable filter.

Trans takes roughly 3 quarts, transfer case about 1 1/4.

 

Somethign interesting I found.. when I did my recent gear oil change.. I was looking in my Hayes and it specified to use automatic transmission fluid for the manual tranny O.O

I called up teh ford dealership to double check this.. because Im used to using the heavy duty stuff in my old '88 ranger, and he definatly confirmed it on the phone.. use the standard automatic transmission gear oil, it even says on the bottle its recommend for ford vehicles '97 and up.

I thought that was strange, but my truck works just fine :-)

 

yea...atf came out, why not put atf back in. I referred to the manual and the haynes on what it takes. ATF for the tcase too....yea, all my other cars/trucks takes 90W for the trans.

Here's what I recently added:

 

So you use that royal purple 75w-90 on the diff's right?

 

Just to make sure I get the right stuff:

T-case needs ~1.25 qts RP Syncromax
Auto Trans needs ~3 qts also RP Syncromax

What about the front and rear diffs? Is that what the max-gear is for? How many qts of that stuff do I need?

I am planning on putting the Syncromax in my Contour MTX soon, so might as well order it all at once! I did find this palce that has good pirces on the syncromax and free shipping!http://http://search.americanmuscle....r=Royal+Purple

 

max ATF in the tranny. and max gear 75w90 in the diffs.. fill the diffs up till it comes out of the fill hole..

this should be a sticky.. im gona change all my fluids and take pics. im gona do everything RP.