PTU Fluid Change?

[shumax]

Can someone give me a photo of where the PTU fill hole is? I am thinking about opening it up, pumping out what's there and replacing it with new. The seal was replaced on mine at 50k, so I suspect they put new fluid in then. It now has 113,500 on it. I think replacing it again would be a good idea.

Thanks,

Shumax

[Brian K]

I don't have a photo - but it is easily found. Run the vehicle up on rams and crawl under the passenger side. On the back side of the engine, up under an exhaust pipe you will find the PTU. Follow the passenger side drive axle back into the PTU. The fill plug is a 3/8 square ratchet drive type of plug and if you look up behind and up above the exhaust pipe you will see it. There is enough room to put a ratchet on the plug from the rear of the PTU. It is kind of tough to suck the old oil out. You will need a vacuum pump and some ability to insert a 3/8 plastic tube into the fill hole. Apparently the PTU takes about 1/2 a liter - my Service Manual says to fill it to the bottom of the fill plug so you can't overfill and the add quantity will depend on how successful you are at sucking out the oil sludge. I'm contemplating a drain and plug but have to build up some confidence before I drill a hole in the PTU and tap it. Good luck.

[mschluns]

I drove my edge up onto 4 ramps, with the rear set of ramps 1" taller than the front set. This allowed the oil in the PTU to settle toward the front of the car. When removing the plug a small amount of oil will seep out of the hole, use rags to sop it up. I then used a magnetic battery operated light and stuck it onto exhaust and pointed it at 3/8" square female plug. I used an ALEKO hand operated pump. Bought from Amazon for $12.00. I also purchased clear tubing, 1/4" od , 5/16" od and 3/8" od. I bought 2' of all 3 sizes from a local Hardware store. The pump comes with tubing and I used the 1/4" and attached it to the pump tubing. Warm up larger tube in hot water and the smaller tube will slip inside creating a tight seal. The 1/4" od tube will reach to the bottom of the PTU cavity. I was able to easily push it in 5 or 6 inches. I marked the ALEKO container to show a capacity of 18 ounces. That way I knew if I was getting most of fluid out. On my first attempt I was able to suck out almost 18 ounces. I also had driven car for 20 minutes prior to driving up on ramps. Oil was quite disgusting, very black and terrible smelling. I then measured out 18 ounces of Mobil 1 syn. 75w-140 and poured it into a empty and clean Golden Rod oil can. I used a piece of the tubing about 12" long and attached it to the end of the flexible snout. I then hand pumped all 18 ounces into PTU. I used a 1/2" street ell and loosely threaded in into PTU. This allows you to get all 18 ounces in. The PTU drain plug has a magnet on the bottom, let it stick to the exhaust pipe while you unscrew street ell, oil will come out but quickly insert PTU plug and tighten. I used this process 3 times, bought 2 quarts of fluid, the tubing, the ALEKO vaccum pump and the Golden rod pump style oil can for around $60.00. I will change it on a yearly basis from here on out. The car shifts better and its quieter. My PTU plug did not have any metal on it after any of the changes which were one week apart. It really is an easy service to perform too bad FORD wont do it as part of its service intervals.

[enigma-2]

It really is an easy service to perform too bad FORD wont do it as part of its service intervals.

I could not agree more, any part that contains a Lubricant should have an easy way to change the fluid.

 

I believe the idea behind this is that the unit was designed to last the life of the car. Note that auto manufacturers define the "life of a car" to be the life of the warranty, not for as long as you own it. So if the warranty is say, 50,000 miles, that's how long it's designed to last.

 

I've got a little over 100k on mine and has been subject to towing a boat and towed to Florida and back; still going strong. (Did have the seal replaced around 90-95k so that probably prevented a future failure.)

[mschluns]

I bought my 2013 to tow behind a Class A , I have installed the blue ox towing system and am now in the market for my Class A. Does the PTU gearing spin/turn while the Edge is being pulled? As that would put even more stress on the gear oil. I didnt have any leaks just the PTU gear oil puking out the vent after hard driving/towing. Cost me $85.00 for ford to tell me the PTU was overfilled. That's when I started to research the PTU filled for life troubles.