carguy75

No problem. I will use only the Ford LV transmission fluid. I have always just use the OEM transmission fluids when i do changes since some cars transmissions are very sensitive to additive levels. While some aftermarket transmission fluids may be better that OEM, they can be too slippery for a specific application and cause slippage. However, in non-clutch applications I will always use the the most slippery spec oil that meets the qualification. RP is a GL-5 spec oil. http://www.royalpurpleconsumer.com/products/max-gear/ I changed out my OEM 80w- 90 RDU gear oil for 75w-90 RP gear oil, however the rear diff in our cars are rarely used by the PTU so I will change my gear oil every 60k miles in the RDU. Which would be about 90k miles for my car since I just changed the gear recently at just over 25k miles.

From my understanding most aftermarket gear oil contain friction-modifiers now. However, some locking-diffs are very specific about if or what type of friction modifiers are used or not depending if they have clutches(could cause the clutch to slip if the wrong type is used).. For the clutch-less gear set-up in out PTU units the friction modifiers added to gear oils are not a problem, hell it may even help our PTU last longer due to reduced friction and heat in the gear mechanism. I will be using Royal Purple full synthetic 75w-140 gear oil in my PTU. I will do a suction-and-fill every 30K miles when I do my transmission fluid so that I will keep fresh oil in my PTU since I can not drain it completely. I figure if I change the PTU fluid every 30k miles the fluid will never wear down enough to do any damage to the gears or turn to sludge, It may be over-kill to some, but oil is cheap while PTU/transmissions are not.

I have learned over the years to listen to the owners more than the manufacturers when it comes to reliability of certain components. Hence, when a large number of owners complain about a certain part or component failing I listen and try to do the recommended preventive measures if posted. I have owned many cars from Pontiac to Mercedes over the years, and have found the owners are usually always right. Hell, the customer complaints listed in forums usually become service bulletins, recalls, or better yet extended warranty coverages issued by the manufacturers when they admit that there is a problem. I used to be like most people that read complaints on forums and say that the people are just complaining because my car is not doing that, but soon after my car usually gets one of the talked about problems and I feel like fool because i read that is could happen but I followed the manufacturer recommended service instead(2001 Volvo S80 T6 automatic transmission failure that could have been prevented by changing the fluid earlier than what Volvo recommended in my case for one example). However, I have now been very proactive and do preventive measures on issues that can be avoided with additional maintenance and have had less problems over the years with my cars.

Sorry, i do not mean to imply that you are at fault from not changing the fluid sooner. I blame Ford for not recommending a normal fluid change schedule for the PTU. I also thought the same thing about the PTU until i read all the bad rumors of it failure and the causes. The seal issue has nothing to do with maintenance, but the unit internally failing due to the fluid completely breaking down due to wear just over 100k miles can be prevented by changing out the fluid about every 30k miles or so I believe. Well that is what I am going to do anyway, change my PTU fluid every 30k miles since I can not just drain it all at once without removing the PTU from the car. So I will keep mostly fresh oil(only 30k miles old) in the unit so hopefully the PTU will not break down due to wear from broken-down fluid.

LOL. Sound like how some automakers are doing their warranties now.

If you first changed your PTU fluid at 120k miles, then you waited too late from what I have read. The PTU is constantly driving the front axle(and occasionally both the rear and front axles) and it has less that a quart of fluid to lubricate the gears so the fluid breaks down quickly well before 100k miles, hell from what I read the PTU fluid start breaking down as soon as 60k miles. Lesson learned. Sorry you had to go through a PTU failure to educate the rest of us on how the PTU is not maintenance-free component like Ford is describing it to be. The 75w-140 fluid is good, but I believe that it not enough fluid inside the case to be considered a fill-for-life unit due to heat and stress the small amount of fluid has to contend with.

Well today I finished the rear differential fluid swap. Next time I will just suck out the old RP fluid and fill it with new fluid without removing the diff cover. I will not be messing with it until maybe 60k miles since the rear axle does not get hardly any power from the PTU. Next will be a PTU fluid change, but I will have to do that one every 30k miles to be sure since i heard some bad rumors about the PTU life expectancy when going too long on old fluid. It looked like my rear differential was over-filled some how, but I am not surprised since I have read that other Ford owners have had the same thing happen to their cars from the factory. http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/2011-2014-mustang-gt-tech/263401-rear-differential-overfilled-leaking-breather.html

Right and wrong. Yes fluid is better than a decade ago, but the technology in the transmission is more sensitive to dirty oil. So fluid changes are still important if you want to keep the Edge for a long time after 100k miles without costly transmission repairs. Here is some videos on why I think this way about it.

I agree that the dealer would be the best place to have it machine flushed. Dropping the pan works well if done at specific intervals say like every 30k miles or so like mentioned in these videos, the same as changing the oil in a car. You really do not get all the old oil from the car in one drain, but over time the old oil is constantly being removed, therefore like with my Edge I would have done about three transmission drain and fills by 100k miles on my transmission since mine is just at 26k miles which hopefully means that my transmission will be pretty clean by 100k miles. If a person is only going to change the transmission fluid every 100k miles than I would recommend a dealer only machine flush/fluid swap, but if a owner is willing to drain the transmission fluid from the pan every couple of years or so then it should work just fine if not better than a machine flush on a transmission that has old oil that has been in the transmission for 100k or more miles.

What were your mileage when you changed out your PTU fluid?

Today I noticed that the fill hole on the PTU in the 2011 Ford Edge is mostly blocked by the exhaust pipe leaving the exhaust manifold. It seems like the best way to removed the fill-bolt from the PTU is to unbolt the front and rear bank exhaust from the manifolds and move the exhaust pipe to the side to have enough room to easily drain the PTU. I could try using socket extensions to remove the fill bolt, but I can not fit my hand pass the exhaust at all, so replacing the fill bolt and messing with the gear oil will be a pain in the ass if i do not move the exhaust it seems. Has anyone else who changed their PTU fluid in the Edge had to do that or is there a better way than I mentioned to change the PTU fluid? Removing the exhaust from the manifold is not hard, but I will buy some new exhaust gaskets if I do unbolt them to prevent having an exhaust leak later since I heard that exhaust gaskets should be replaced when removed. Any tips on PTU fluid replacement would be much appreciated, especially if it prevents me from having to move the exhaust pipe.

Again, your shop is a good base to use as a indicator for a shop to use. One that has a newer flush machine that is idiot-proof when it comes to purging old fluid, and the shop seem to have knowledgeable techs. However, we can not just say that every shop is that way or has the newest flush machines. Hence the problem with having a transmission flushed by machine and why so many mechanics warn against having it done. You are apparently one of the lucky ones that have found a solid facility that does the job right, but I have the feeling that your shop is not the majority. Also you are not the average car owner, because you flush your transmissions before it get too far gone unlike many owners who only take care of something when it breaks and never do preventive maintenance. Add that to your fine choice in repair shop equals a wonderful transmission flush story with a happy ending. However, will we all be that lucky and have such a wonder outcome after a machine fluid flush like you if we go to different shops? That is the question and a very important concern.

Most AWD cars/crossovers are not designed to be used off-road. AWD drive vehicles usually lack a true transfer-case or locking differentials, which prevent them from spinning the tires in loose sand or rocks and to make matters worst the PTU or equivalent type of power distribution unit does not provide low-gearing like a real 4WD transfer-case to power up steep inclines. My wife old Nissan Murano had a manual AWD lock function that disengaged after 15 mph and were known to damage the PTU(forgot what Nissan called it) if used too much due to over-heating and stress. http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/66-problems/7413-transfer-case-poll.html Therefore, AWD drive vehicles are mostly used to get through snow on roads and maybe some light dirt road paths that can be driven with low ground clearance.

I assume the answer is yes. My 2011 PTU has the newer white plastic seal on the PTU shaft opening and it looks dry as a bone. However, i bought my 2011 Ford Edge AWD used with 22k miles, so the white seal could be from a repair done before I bought it.

That is why the Ford service guy in the video states that the fluid should be changed at 30k intervals to prevent the gunk from building up in Ford transmissions with non-serviceable filters like in the Edge and toasting the transmission. Here is another good informative video that better explain why.

LOL. I do clean funnels after I use them, but even if I did not i doubt that the residue from a funnel would be even close in comparison to putting a quart or more of incorrect fluid in my transmission. However, most transmission fluids are similar I heard, but automatic transmissions from car makes like Honda for example are very sensitive to non-OEM fluids. I have no ideal how sensitive Ford transmissions are to different fluid mixes. All said and done, I would trust the shop you used since they seem to be on top of their game when it comes to correctly flushing a transmission. However, not all shops are as competent as the one you use so we(owners looking for shops in our areas) need to use a bit of caution before we let any shop flush our transmissions or avoid flushing it altogether..

I read recently that most transmission mechanics discourage the machine flushes due to some shops that do not flush out the old fluids in the flusher machine after each use or different car make. Therefore, a Honda may get up to a quart or more of a Ford spec transmission fluid, so fluid contamination is one of the reasons why some of the car transmissions fail soon after a flush is done. Also I read that the most important reason for early transmission fluid changes were to prevent the in-case transmission filter from filling up with debris and going longer since the transmission has to be removed to changed it. This video helps explains it better.

I guess it also depends on who did the flushes on the cars that failed soon after a flush. Not every repair shop worker does a good job or pay attention to what fluid they were using or how much. You can do just as much damage with too much transmission fluid as too little. Plus, when most people decided to have their transmission fluid changed the transmissions were probably already slipping and was on the way out most likely(around 100k miles). Especially on the older transmissions from the 90's and early 2000's(when I first heard the flush warning), they had some pretty weak performing transmission fluid back then that should have been changed well before 60k miles in most cars.

Some manufacturers like Nissan call removing transmission fluid through the cooler lines flushing(not chemical cleaning) as well, it is recommended in the Nissan/Infiniti service manuals to flush the old fluid out of the transmission cooler lines with fresh fluid added to the transmission dipstick opening during a transmission fluid change. You have to disconnect the trans-cooler return line and let the fluid drain into a pan until only new fluid drain out. Well at least on the V8 models without the CVT transmissions like in my old FX45. I guess the term flush can be used for a various types of fluid changes that pushing out old fluid and replace it with new fluid.

I had a set YK580 tires on my old 2004 Infiniti FX45 and they were great tires. The had my FX45 handling like a car half it size. Improved my braking as well. However, i have never tried them in the snow or ice but dry/wet performance is great with these tires in my opinion. Pics from my wheel bearing change in a different forum. The YK580 tires look good.

Thank you. I will have Ford look at my booster to be on the safe side. I have noticed that my brake fluid reservoir is low, but my front pads are worn so I assumed that worn pads was the reason for the low brake fluid level. To the dealer I go.

My 2011 AWD averages about 22-23 mpg in the city if driven the speed limit with little traffic. I have never taken it on a long highway trip , but I can get it up to about 30 mpg on the highway on short highway(less than 10 miles) runs unless going uphill then it will drop to about 27-28 mpg. However, I can get it to read over 40mpg if I reset the display while already driving down-hill on the highway, but that is cheating. Note, I do use synthetic oil and a performance air-filter which may help my mpg a bit.

Very clean looking engine valves. However, must port injected cars have pretty clean valve stems due to the fuel washing them off. I want to see a Eco-boost engine valve stem after 90k miles due to the direct injection which prevents the fuel from cleaning the valve stem like in our NA 3.5 engines. I bet that will be a different story.

Not to start any arguments, but I was always told that transmission flushes were bad for older transmissions. Is it true? Do not know. I will just do drain and fills at specific intervals. 30k miles for my first fluid change(to get rid of the extra metal bits created during the break-in period), and about every 60k miles thereafter. However,flushes does seem easy enough and not too expensive.

I would change the ptu fluid, rear diff, transmission, and the brake fluid. Note, when changing the ptu fluid you will have to do a flush type service by sucking as much fluid as you can from the fill hole and then filling it up with new fluid until it spills out and then rotate the front wheels by hand(need helper) and then suck out the fluid again and fill it up with new fluid again. You will have to do it about five times to completely flush the ptu of old fluid. However, the best method to remove all the old ptu fluid is to remove the ptu and let the old fluid drain out all at once. The same for the rear differential fluid, except with the rear diff you will get all the old fluid out when you remove the differential cover as opposed to trying to suck the old fluid out of the fill hole. The brake and transmission fluid changes are a pretty standard service like any other car.