First Power Transfer Unit (PTU) fluid service done - results & photos

[EMD_Driver]

To OP, What was your reasoning for not using the recommended viscosity fluid. 75 140 vs. 75 85? Just curious, I have an Escape I need to do soon with the same PTU. Thanks,

According to Ford, the recommended fluid is 75W-140.

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[crunchie_frog]

mmm. That is odd, the 2020+ Escapes use 75w-85, same as posted by @Maverick2022XL as below. Prior 2019 Escapes used 75w 140. If the shop manual calls for 75w-85 synthetic… makes me wonder. I looked in the owners manual for the Maverick and I did not see it called out. I think I would be going back under and swapping it out. Just saying…

Recommended oil
Motorcraft® SAE 75W-85 Premium Synthetic Hypoid Gear Lubricant / XY-75W85-QL (WSS-M2C942-A)

 

[Decayed]

According to Ford, the recommended fluid is 75W-140.

Link? that's not in the manual.

Edit: also the site link in that image is not an official ford site as near as I can tell,.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

According to Ford, the recommended fluid is 75W-140.

Shop manual specifically says 75W - 85 with that said what this means in real life terms.

For SAE 75W-140

SAE = Society of Automotive Engineers

75W = the viscosity of the oil when measured at 0 degrees Fahrenheit (the “W” means winter grade)

140 = the viscosity of the oil when measured at 212 degrees Fahrenheit

To put simply if the weight or viscosity is too low the oil will become too thin and cause friction wear on metal, if it is too high, the PTU will struggle to circulate the oil, resulting in loss of energy. The question becomes hot does the PTU run and are the speed, load and temp consistent or not.

Short answer 75W-85 is best when temp in the PTU is constant and close to the optimal viscosity and/or the load and speeds on the PTU are constant.

75W-140 is best when the ambient temperature around the PTU varies greatly, varying speeds and loads or to increase the service life of the PTU and oil.

To @crunchie_frog post about 2019 and earlier Escape's PTU oil, the 75W-140 is recommended for a specific reason it had to do with the exhaust manifold or pipes being too close the the PTU which in turn cooked the oil from the much higher than normal ambient temps around the PTU. The newer versions of the engines used on the Escapes and 2.0L ecoboost on the Maverick have the exhaust manifolds integrated into the engine block so you don't have that excessive hot air circulating around the PTU unit anymore.

 

[EMD_Driver]

Link? that's not in the manual.

Edit: also the site link in that image is not an official ford site as near as I can tell,.

This is directly from the html version of the Maverick owner's manual. Straight from Ford.

Click this!

 

[Darnon]

To @crunchie_frog post about 2019 and earlier Escape's PTU oil, the 75W-140 is recommended for a specific reason it had to do with the exhaust manifold or pipes being too close the the PTU which in turn cooked the oil from the much higher than normal ambient temps around the PTU.

Yep, one of our Tauruses killed its PTU that way even though they have liquid cooling. Oil turned into the consistency of grease. And then the replacement PTU decided to violently disassemble itself so got to do the job twice. At least by then I was well acquainted with the process for removing the catalytic converters when those failed, too.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

This is directly from the html version of the Maverick owner's manual. Straight from Ford.

Click this!

That is also an older revision of the manual, see here
https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/OwnerManual/Home/Content?variantid=8431&languageCode=en&countryCode=USA

The FX4 offroad package was originally supposed to come witth a rear locking differential before being dropped from the package and this manual still mentions it as being part of that package.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

This is directly from the html version of the Maverick owner's manual. Straight from Ford.

Click this!

It's 75w85 in the Maverick.
Your Owner's Manual link is for a 2017 (about) Ford Escape. Notice how the engine oil capacity is wrong (5.7L, should be 5.5L), and the engine oil spec is the old WSS number, all clues that it is not for a 2022 anything.

That said, I've seen Toyota AWD PTU call for a thicker 75w-140 if Towing, so I doubt if it would really hurt a '22 Mav ecoboost transfer case to use 75w-140.

 

[EMD_Driver]

This is the link I clicked on, to get to the manual I referenced.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

It's 75w85 in the Maverick.
Your Owner's Manual link is for a 2017 (about) Ford Escape. Notice how the engine oil capacity is wrong (5.7L, should be 5.5L), and the engine oil spec is the old WSS number, all clues that it is not for a 2022 anything.

That said, I've seen Toyota AWD PTU call for a thicker 75w-140 if Towing, so I doubt if it would really hurt a '22 Mav ecoboost transfer case to use 75w-140.

Well except if you live far enough north that you should follow the alternative oil recommendations for cold weather then you'll definitely want to stick to 75W-80 for the PTU in that case.

 

[Decayed]

This is directly from the html version of the Maverick owner's manual. Straight from Ford.

Click this!

Yeah ok, it's weird. That site is where ford redirects you when you search for the manual. Why do they redirect? Odd.

Anyway no matter how I search I can't find that particular page. Can you post the full URL?? The one to that page.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

Well except if you live far enough north that you should follow the alternative oil recommendations for cold weather then you'll definitely want to stick to 75W-80 for the PTU in that case.

Far north is brutal. So many stories of how Alaskans keep their vehicles going up there. One thing some do is put Liqui Moly MOS2 in the thinnest GL-5 differential/transferCase oil they can find. The moly saves the gear teeth for those cold starts, until the gear oil can kind of "glob" on to the gears.

For the best performance, any temperature, it is probably https://www.redlineoil.com/75w85-gl-5-gear-oil , which is great for high temperature environments, towing, racing, and has a Pour Point down to -49F , cold enough for the Canadian & Alaskan crowd.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

The current Ford Escape Hybrid AWD uses a driveshaft to the rear, not an electric motor like a RAV4 hybrid awd for example. I don't know if Ford will go with an "e-axle" as they call an electric motor+differential, on the rear in the future or not.

I will vote for the "e-axle" due to a high voltage wiring harness (on my hybrid Fe lariat) with a plug where there is room for a motor. The down stream wire out of the plug returns towards the front of truck. I see these plugs separated and plugged into motor controller and the return used for Regen braking, but who actually knows.

 

[MaverickTopGun]

I will vote for the "e-axle" due to a high voltage wiring harness (on my hybrid Fe lariat) with a plug where there is room for a motor. The down stream wire out of the plug returns towards the front of truck. I see these plugs separated and plugged into motor controller and the return used for Regen braking, but who actually knows.

Those are not high voltage. Not near thick enough wires, not near enough insulation, and all regen is done on the front wheels on our Mav Hybrids;;;; nothing going on in the rear. Those are tail light and towing power harnesses, and wires for wheel speed sensors for the ABS back there.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Those are not high voltage. Not near thick enough wires, not near enough insulation, and all regen is done on the front wheels on our Mav Hybrids;;;; nothing going on in the rear. Those are tail light and towing power harnesses, and wires for wheel speed sensors for the ABS back there.

But are in orange wrappings? I assumed that I have a wiring harness originally intended for AWD hybrid. Also was made in Jan 2022. That comes from front to that plug and returns toward front. On passenger side there is wat appears is s major black harness. I have not been under any other hybrid to see what they have.

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