'22 15k mile transmission fluid drain steps.

[Optimus]

I can only applaud the original poster for being proactive on maintenance. Fluids are cheap. Post warranty repairs aren’t. Heck, what good is a warranty in this day and age when parts aren’t available or a dealer reports “can’t reproduce problem” and leaves a customer hanging.

Quality control also isn’t what it used to be in many fields. I will not expect my Maverick’s engine to have been assembled in sterile “clean room” conditions. It was assembled by people and machines. This means I will be changing my Maverick’s engine oil and filter within the first few hundred miles—to get all the milling, machining, and granola bar bits out of MY engine. Other initial/first time fluid change intervals would be “to be determined” but would also NOT wait super long.

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[Chrysler]

Thanks for posting. Any tips for the ptu and rear unit or was it pretty straightforward? Changing fluids early is very smart and prudent maintenance if you plan to own it for the long haul, plus you get to know the vehicle better when you do it yourself.

Hello,
My tips are very crude.
1. Go to rock auto, ( cheapest I found 3 months ago)
Type "2022/2021 Ford escape 2.0 AWD"
Search for ptu fluid and rear diff fluid.

***Power Transfer Unit (PTU) fluid (All Wheel Drive): Motorcraft® SAE 75W-140 Synthetic Rear Axle Lubricant XY-75W140-QL***
1 quart
***Rear differential (All Wheel Drive) fluid:
Ford Rear Axle Fluid- XY-75W-QL - Motorcraft® Disconnect Rear Drive Unit Fluid***
1 quart.

2. Buy a quart fluid pump ($5-10 Walmart/any auto place)
3. You will want to buy a thread locker for rear diff. Part number "Permatex 59214 High Temperature Thread Sealant".
4. Both procures are identical to youtubes of Ford escape 2.0 AWD 2020-2022. Look up "fordtechmakuloo". Very good channel.
Both drain relatively easy, both will use 1 quart ( you will pump until drain level plug starts to spew out fluid on both units. Expect 90% of your quart to be consumed).

My only honest advice would be to watch the videos for torque specs and procure, and to NOT buy from Ford direct unless you want to pay double. I did only because I had Ford points at the time. Hope this helps you, I am a big peace of mind guy, and seeing a half inch of metal sludge on my diff magnet was a big alarm bell to the rest of my truck so I kinda jumped the gun on the transmission fluid today. Understanding break in is normal, I don't want it to sit longer then it has to in my truck. Have a good one.

 

[Chrysler]

I can only applaud the original poster for being proactive on maintenance. Fluids are cheap. Post warranty repairs aren’t. Heck, what good is a warranty in this day and age when parts aren’t available or a dealer reports “can’t reproduce problem” and leaves a customer hanging.

Quality control also isn’t what it used to be in many fields. I will not expect my Maverick’s engine to have been assembled in sterile “clean room” conditions. It was assembled by people and machines. This means I will be changing my Maverick’s engine oil and filter within the first few hundred miles—to get all the milling, machining, and granola bar bits out of MY engine.

I changed my Maverick oil at 488 miles, 1500, and then normal 5k changes. Oils cheap, engines aren't. First change had bright alien green oil. Some say break in oils that shouldn't have been removed early. some say coolant/gas leak during break in. I say both... But, break in oil on the shelf of stores say 500 miles or a dyno or two so I don't mind changing early. Have a good one, hope your Maverick lasts you well. If mine doesn't, I give up on prevention maintenance.

 

[thevol]

I changed my Maverick oil at 488 miles, 1500, and then normal 5k changes. Oils cheap, engines aren't. First change had bright alien green oil. Some say break in oils that shouldn't have been removed early. some say coolant/gas leak during break in. I say both... But, break in oil on the shelf of stores say 500 miles or a dyno or two so I don't mind changing early. Have a good one, hope your Maverick lasts you well. If mine doesn't, I give up on prevention maintenance.

I changed my engine oil at 1200 miles and it was very green as well. Sort of shocked me and I thought it was coolant as well but after some research found that they put dye in the oil to spot leaks as they are most likely to occur early in engine life.

 

[Motorjunkie]

When you drain the transmission, you only get half. A flush is 99%, a drain is about 50%. Correct me if I'm wrong. But yes, I did a drain. Feel free to make a post showing how to do torque converter. I merely wanted to tell people how to do a drain on maverick as there is no info on the matter with "Maverick" specifically in the title.

I don’t think it is possible. Mercedes used to put a drain plug in the torque converter but I doubt the Maverick has one. I hope I am wrong.

 

[801Maverick801]

I'm confused. Ford doesn't recommend a transmission fluid change until 150K miles (or 30K miles in "Severe" operating conditions). Why did you feel the need to change the fluid at 15k miles?

How is this still confusing to people? Manufacturers have a vested interest to keep maintenance cost appearing low. They only care to keep your transmission operating to the warranty period. Changing your oil in intervals like the OP will prolong the life of the transmission. Don't go off what Ford says. Any experienced technician will tell you that.

 

[shark978]

All this with the fact in mind that some of these components you warrant from defects for a set amount of time, so if you can make these components last long enough to make it out of warranty, and yet keep your maintenance cost per "xxx" miles/years competitive, to the consumer who pays attention to these reports, you are going to look good. Long story short (oops too late), there is not a darn thing wrong with doing your fluid maintenance/ changes well short of what the manufacturer recommends, especially if you are planning to keep the vehicle for a long time. And, by doing them while the vehicle is still under warranty you may catch a defect or premature wear( eg. the metal in the differential fluid) that you can report to your authorized warranty repair facility( dealer service) and monitor before the warranty is expired. Obviously if " Chrysler" here takes his Maverick in now they are going to say" your fluid looks great", but with a 5/60K powertrain he can check it again in 15-20K miles or have the dealer check it for abnormal wear/metal content if so be the case. If nothing else, as " Chrysler" stated, at least he has removed what may be normal break in metal wear from his components that could cause damage down the road.

yes this is why ford warranty the maverick hybrid battery only the legally mandated 8 yrs. they know it's possible to fail soon after, costing buyers thousands. altho disposing of lots of excess perfectly good toxic fluids isnt good for landfills or the environment.

Anyways my 08 canyon purrs at 152k miles and I never changed the trans fluid. Very likely never will at this point. I think it's recommended at 100K miles but the recommendations are obviously overkill by the manufacturers just to be on the safe side. Somewhere I read if you miss the recommended 100k change, then just dont bother as changing the fluid too late can actually be bad as somehow the system is accustomed to that old fluid at some point, or something idk lol. additionally i'm not necessarily planning on more than 200k miles so why bother now, although i suspect over 200k miles will accidentally happen lol. although this truck has a 4 speed i believe, as it was before epa mandated 8-10 speeds minimum to get more mpg, even though at 20 mpg (mine gets 20.5 mix city/hwy with the 4 cylinder, most of the new trucks i look at besides the Mav, colorado/ranger/tacoma etc get ~20) all trucks seem to get exactly the same mileage lol. except the huge aircraft carrier status symbol ones that everybody loves that get 13.

 

[Senior Master Ford Guy]

I can only applaud the original poster for being proactive on maintenance. Fluids are cheap. Post warranty repairs aren’t. Heck, what good is a warranty in this day and age when parts aren’t available or a dealer reports “can’t reproduce problem” and leaves a customer hanging.

Quality control also isn’t what it used to be in many fields. I will not expect my Maverick’s engine to have been assembled in sterile “clean room” conditions. It was assembled by people and machines. This means I will be changing my Maverick’s engine oil and filter within the first few hundred miles—to get all the milling, machining, and granola bar bits out of MY engine. Other initial/first time fluid change intervals would be “to be determined” but would also NOT wait super long.

You are correct on the lack of quality control, currently there is a recall out on Bronco, Ranger, and Explorer with 2.3 engines built on specific build dates and assembly plants for complete long block replacement due to a damaged machining tool that is causing poor fit of a block plug and leaking oil. However, here's something to think about, as you stated performing an early oil change to remove the milling, machining, and granola bar bits: the engine does at least have a filter system which theoretically should trap any of this and prevent damage. The ptu, rear drive axle(if equipped) and transmission do not. Sure the transmission has a named " filter", but it is nothing more than a mere screen and not a true filter like old guys like me remember from back in the day.

 

[kcamp317]

I changed my engine oil at 1200 miles and it was very green as well. Sort of shocked me and I thought it was coolant as well but after some research found that they put dye in the oil to spot leaks as they are most likely to occur early in engine life.

I changed mine at about 850ish miles and noticed the same thing.

 

[801Maverick801]

I have just done my Ford Maverick 22 2.0 AWD transmission fluid drain at 15xxxmiles. I did my rear "diff" and front ptu at 13k. I HIGHLY recommend people doing the ptu and diff immediately. Both on my truck were low on fluid. (0.7qt vs 0.9-1qt to fill) and the rear diff drain bolt had a thick film of metallic debre from the magnetic catch. ( I drive respectful, and towed a small boat probably 1xxx miles of the 13xxx (1,000 pounds of people, boat, equipment).
I do not recommend buying parts from Ford. Cost more then double compared to rock auto.

The transmission fluid change is actually easy. The tranny takes ULV mercon.

1. Remove engine carpet/ undercarriage cover. T30 screws
2. Open up engine hood, remove air filter.
3. Find transmission cap. ( It will be a black rubberized cap with a red triangle on it.) *Location is just left of your battery* take cap off, it pulls right up.
4. Remove drain plug. (14 mm bolt)
5. Wait, take pride that you saved money doing yourself.
6. Re attach drain plug. (14mm)
7. Measure amount you removed. * I used a kitchen measuring cup (my cup could go to 3qt, so I measured, drained into a oil container, repeated till drain pot empty)
8. Add the amount you took out back in.
9. Start Maverick, 5 seconds in each gear. P,R,N,D. repeat going back to park. D,N,T,P. Go for a 15 minute drive, or enough to heat everything up for a bit. Keep Maverick on, in park after completion.
10. Find level plug on driver side by tire. Can get to by cranking wheel, or Remove tire. ( Remember to keep vehicle level if removing tire/ put back to level. Measure from floor to a trim line.)
11. Level bolt is a 10mm hex. It is about a foot into the wheel well. It will be next to a sticker that says "ULV mercon -_+2+'8+2w';#" (I can't speak engineer)
12. Remove bolt.
13. Allow excess to drain. *Keeping engine running while this is happening?* ( If someone disagrees, please verify.)
14. Once it is level fluid, re attach drain plug.
*Drain plug and transmission level plug are low torque. ~8# on level, not sure on drain specs. Don't uga duga them with a impact drill.
15. Post on a Maverick forum for others to say you did something completely wrong and then consider if you broke your truck.

Thanks for your time guys n gals, I am a nursing student. I am no means a professional mechanic. I used YouTube and searched for 2020/2021 Ford escape videos of 8f35 procedures as well as for front PTU/ rear Diff procedure. I do not see any information on YouTube for a true Maverick transmission, so here y'all go. If you feel pretty enough to sit in front of a camera n do this procedure for views, more power to you. I for one, am not pretty enough. . The only difference I found, is Escape drain plug is a 7/16th and Maverick was a 14mm.
Cheers.

How many quarts of ATF did you use? I see the capacity is about 9 quarts but im guessing you need about 5 for a drain and fill?

 

[Chrysler]

How many quarts of ATF did you use? I see the capacity is about 9 quarts but im guessing you need about 5 for a drain and fill?

I had 6 quarts drain. I added 6 quarts and 200 mL, ( to make up for the catch residue in pan, and for the tubing from transmission to funnel not all going to make it in.) So I used 6.2 bottles. ( Probably more technical would be 6 quarts n 100mL to be proper. I have not done the drain plug equalizing yet, just drain, measured, filled. Don't drive much, so when I have it warmed up I will check out the fluid level status. On rock auto, they are $5 a quart, so very reasonable to do your self.

 

[notfast]

My question is this. Are you draining the torque converter? If not then you are only changing about half of the transmission fluid.

You could also repeat the process in order to change out more of the trans fluid, albeit with diminishing marginal returns each time. After one fluid change, you'd be at 50% new, two would be 75% new, three would be 87.5% new, four would be 93.75% new.

 

[LC48]

The factory service manual shows 2 options: Drain and Refill & Fluid Exchange.

For drain and refill the procedure is pretty close to what OP has done here, main difference being they don't have you shifting thru the gears prior to checking the level, they give you a volume to replace before you check the level.- actually 2 volumes. Manual says for "Transmission overhaul with torque converter drain" = 6.34 qts., and then lists 5.28 qts without torque converter drain. Strangely enough the manual lists the capacity for this trans as 8.45 qts for initial fill of dry transmission and notes level must be checked after the drivetrain has been operated. OP's method of measuring what you drain is perfect.

To check level they tell you to get the trans to normal temp (185 - 200 deg f) and pull level plug, then slowly add fluid until it just gets to the bottom of the threaded opening.

The "Fluid Exchange" procedure has the tech hook the Fluid exchanger machine up on the downstream side of the trans cooler and a d following the machines instuctions......

 

[Chrysler]

The factory service manual shows 2 options: Drain and Refill & Fluid Exchange.

For drain and refill the procedure is pretty close to what OP has done here, main difference being they don't have you shifting thru the gears prior to checking the level, they give you a volume to replace before you check the level.- actually 2 volumes. Manual says for "Transmission overhaul with torque converter drain" = 6.34 qts., and then lists 5.28 qts without torque converter drain. Strangely enough the manual lists the capacity for this trans as 8.45 qts for initial fill of dry transmission and notes level must be checked after the drivetrain has been operated. OP's method of measuring what you drain is perfect.

To check level they tell you to get the trans to normal temp (185 - 200 deg f) and pull level plug, then slowly add fluid until it just gets to the bottom of the threaded opening.

The "Fluid Exchange" procedure has the tech hook the Fluid exchanger machine up on the downstream side of the trans cooler and a d following the machines instuctions......

Thanks for adding insight to the post. Hope more people can get the job done at home n save $$$$.

 

[Exranger]

You could also repeat the process in order to change out more of the trans fluid, albeit with diminishing marginal returns each time. After one fluid change, you'd be at 50% new, two would be 75% new, three would be 87.5% new, four would be 93.75% new.

Not sure already covered but tc fluid is exchanged with an external trans tool. It pumps through the whole system and is also part of a flush.

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