the dreaded tranny light
 

just bought (3 months ago) a 04 freestar that now has 114,000 miles. tranny light comes on at highway speeds. haven't noticed any problems yet, however, i know they are coming. can i prevent the problems by changing the filter and fluid? or is it too late at this point and i should start saving for new trans?

Personally, I would drop the tranny pan, clean the pan, replace the filter and then top the tranny off. Then have a 100% "FLUID EXCHANGE" performed. DO NOT have a transmission FLUSH performed. The "FLUSH" normally will loosen crud up that will end up plugging oil journals causing oil starvation. This in turn will cause tranny failure in short order (about 1,000 miles).

These trannys are supposed to have the fluid/filter replaced every 30,000 miles. People are not doing this and then complain about their tranny failing at low mileage and then blaming Ford. These vans have a RWD engine placed into a FWD configuration, thus the cooling system has to be adapted to this configuration. Due to this the rear cylinders run hotter than normal exposing the transmission fluid to higher than normal temperatures. This in turn causes the fluid to start breaking down sooner (oxidation, deposits and such). If you look at a FWD engine placed into a FWD configuration (VULCAN vs DURATEC engines), then the transission fluid change goes to 100,000 miles as the cooling system is designed for the FWD configuration for proper cooling.

If the maint schedule was followed and the tranny failed at a low mileage, then I would say YES, MFG defect as a tranny should easily last 100,000+ nowadays. I replaced my filter at 31,000 miles (pan was full of serious crud) and performed a 100% fluid exchange with AMSOIL (good for 100,000 miles) with no flush performed. I'm at 102,901 miles and just did another filter another change (pan was spotless inside) and 100% fluid exchange. My tranny still shifts like it did the day I drove it off the lot with 62 miles. I've never had a peep out of my tranny.

But remember, this is just my opinion. And as I always tell people, AMSOIL is very cheap insurance and cheaper than an extended warranty.

thank you very much. i will be doing this. have learned much about the freestar just by reading your post. just read ur post on the "100,000 mile check up." i'll most likely being doing those as well. do any stores carry AMSOIL? or is it an online only product?

AMSOIL on-line only unless you can find a local Dealer, or a retailer that has a retail account. Most dealers will charge retail pricing. However, you can purchase a PREFERED CUSTOMER MEMBERSHIP which more than pays for itself as it allows you to purchase the products at dealer pricing from AMSOIL. I was an AMSOIL Dealer for years, but never really had time to sell. Mainly became on to purchase the products at dealer cost. When AMSOIL started the PREFERED CUSTOMER program, I changed my Dealer membership to the PREFERED CUSTOMER membership.