I just inherted a 95 crown vic with 99,000 on it and i don't think the trans has ever be serviced. Should I get it drained filter change and new fluid or leave it alone as it runs OK?

 

If the fluid looks ok, just go with a normal filter and fluid change, if its very dirty go with the full flush and fill.

 

I'm no tranning tech, but I've heard that if it is dirty don't mess with it if it is still drivable. If fluid looks okay then go ahead and change it.

 

I'm on my 3'rd Crown Vic, (1993, 1999 & now a 2004 LX Sport). The 1999 had 92,000 miles on it when I traded & was still running strong. The individual that bought it from my dealer sent it to Iraq to be used for limo service I've found that the CV's run & shift better if you go for the complete flush, (they use the cooler lines under the hood with a machine made just for that). The old way of dropping the pan & changing the filter leaves all the fluid in the torque converter. Miles are hard on fluid & it breaks down after time. My 04 was just done with 30,000 miles (factory specs.) Even with a new car I could feel a change in the shifting, (Crisp & precise) With proper maintenance CV's will last for 200,000-300,000 miles. The transmission flush runs around $100+ but a tranny will run $1000+. I think that's a no-brainer. Lots of luck with your CV. They're like a beautiful woman, treat her right & baby her & she'll be around for a long time. (Relax, ladies, I speak from experiance, I'm 70 years young)

 

Tranny fluid is a very high detergent oil , what happens if people neglect to change the oil on a reg. basis. it will turn that dark burnt color , odor. Cause its lost it additive package. which in turn coats every thing in the trans with that coked up varnish. So then someone will come along trying to correct the problem , an add fresh oil. In a very short time the new fresh oil doing its job of keeping every thing clean . It breaks all that old coked up varnish , an spreads it through the tranny . Plugging up all the very small orfice's in the tranny an then its starving for oil. Coats your clutch packs they start slipping , once again more heat , an then its done ---DEAD,, You need to really change the oil on a reg. basis, if you drive a car - not towing every 30,000 miles should be ok , if you do a lot of towing you need to drop it down to like 20,000 miles, or less with very large loads . Even if you run one of the newer syn. oil it still needs to be changed ( think about it if you run the syn, in your engine you still change it ) ,, Heat will kill a Tranny quicker then anything. Also if you do have a tranny failure. You need to replace the cooler , you cant flush clutch plate material , an metal shavings from them. An as stated in the post above . Most new cars dont have drain plugs on the Converter , so when you change the oil at best your only changing like a 1/4 to 1/3 of the oil in the system . So in effect your just adding some fresh oil to the old dirty stuff . If you dont have a converter plug then a power flush would be the way to go , I know their more money , but they save you in the end , . The only other choice you got is to change the oil several times in a row to help flush out the old oil. Which will just about kill a day . If all the auto makers installed an Aux. Tranny Cooler on their cars it would just about put private tranny shops outta bussiness . You can get Tranny coolers complete kits for like $50.00 at most auto parts store. A very cheap investment, compared to 1500-2000, dollar tranny rebuild .