Unless you mean doing so as a part of replacing the entire transmission
fluid, there is not much point in dropping the pan and replacing the
filter.
Less than one third of the fluid is in the pan - the rest is in the torque
converter. And if you ever looked at that filter, they rarely need
replacement. Unlike engine oil, there are no combustion products entering
the transmission fluid. Most of the particles are clutch lining material
that is captured by magnet in the pan. If there is enough junk in the pan
to
clog the filter, the transmission is probably shot and needs rebuilding.
That's not to say that the filter is not worth replacing - if you are
already in there. Most dealers use a machine that taps into the cooling
lines for replacing the fluid and don't even bother with dropping the pan
or
replacing the filter. I believe that years ago Ford stopped listing filter
replacement as required maintenance, so they can get away with it.
Incidentally, in their great wisdom (or should I say in an attempt to
generate income for their dealers) automakers stopped installing dipsticks
on many automatic transmissions sometime in the early 2000's. The original
poster's 02 may be in that category. When there is no dipstick, there is
no
fill tube and no way to easily refill the transmission, not to even
mention
knowing how much fluid is in there. One has to resort to the dealer's
fancy
equipment for the task. Yikes
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Jeffrey" <wjeffreyAT@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:24 AM
Subject: Re: 02 Explorer 100k mile maintenance
>
> It's time to drop the transmission pan and replace the filter.
> Surprisingly, not too expensive.
>
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