PTU service

[cror1]

We should make a petition, or involve NHTSA to make Ford recall these units and replace them with revised units, and or have Ford replace them at least once even if out of warranty, if and when these fail.

 

[BiGMaC]

We should make a petition, or involve NHTSA to make Ford recall these units and replace them with revised units, and or have Ford replace them at least once even if out of warranty, if and when these fail.

We could, but we'd have to be able to document a demonstrable (and injury causing) defect for them to elevate it to the level of a recall. Believe me... Ford has done the math... They'd rather buy a few than buy them all... Just like replacing a whole head, instead of cleaning intake valves, if intake valve coking causes a big problem.

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

This my first real post here so forgive me if I should've started a new thread but I figured more threads on the same subject aren't very helpful. Mods please feel free to do as you please.

I just went to change mine and at 43k miles, the best I can describe is grey metallic toothpaste. The smell was horrible. There was still some fluid in liquid form that I pumped out. I refilled it with royal purple 75w140. No noise to begin with and no noise now. If you haven't done it, DO NOT WAIT. I called my dealer today and he told me they can't keep the PTU's on the shelf. The California Highway Patrol is burning through them in their Explorers and Police Interceptors. He told me to come in and not mention anything but noise and they would replace the PTU under powertrain warranty since the unit isn't serviceable. To be fair, my shop buys a lot of parts from the dealership and my parts guy told me the name of the service advisor to ask for. The point is is that it's a known issue and Ford will handle it as long as there is a concern besides the condition of the oil. I'm sure those heavy line techs are hungry.

LEO's buy lots of cars.

Ford takes good care of them.

Mrs FoMoCoSHO says many of the LEO failures are due to under maintained vehicles with wear/circumference issues.

Personally, I wouldn't have anything to do with that dealership based on that conversation.

If they are willing to screw Ford over and replace a part that even you say isn't broken, do you really think they'd hesitate to lie to you if it was convenient to them?

 

[pmezo33]

Anyone warm up their car to thin out that thick oil before extracting?  I was planning on doing this oil change this weekend and was thinking it might be easier to extract if the oil wasn't so thick.  I'll be using a mityvac to suck out the old stuff.  My car, that i recently purchased, has about 65k miles and i'm assuming has never had a ptu oil change.

 

[ecoboostsho]

It's not a bad idea in theory just realize that you will be resting your arm/hand on the CAT to get access to the hole to pump it out.  Warm might be okay but you probably know how hot CAT's can get so it would be difficult to do it when hot.

 

[glock-coma]

It's not a bad idea in theory just realize that you will be resting your arm/hand on the CAT to get access to the hole to pump it out.  Warm might be okay but you probably know how hot CAT's can get so it would be difficult to do it when hot.

my thoughts exactly. If the PTU is warm enough the thin the fluid the down pipe/cat is going to be HOT

 

[Larrylu]

I tried that and I think it helped. I think the CAT's cooled quicker than the PTU or at least that's what told myself. Old gunk was thick and stiff anyway but I suppose it would have even thicker had I not warmed it up. I only got a couple of ounces out as it was almost empty so good thing I checked the lifetime fluid!

 

[SammyB]

Personally, I wouldn't have anything to do with that dealership based on that conversation.

If they are willing to screw Ford over and replace a part that even you say isn't broken, do you really think they'd hesitate to lie to you if it was convenient to them?
[/quote]

I agree to an extent. It's like that girl from High School that cheated on her boyfriend with you and were naive enough to think she wouldn't cheat on you.

At the same time, I will be lifting up at work and if no PTU was replaced but the bill says it was, they will have a whole different angry boyfriend.

Like you said, LEO's tend to use cars to their limits and beyond. I'm sure the dealer doesn't mind the warranty work. As a side note, he did state CHP is now on a every 30k miles PTU oil change schedule according to this Service Adviser I spoke with.

 

[SHOdded]

Sounds more like the service interval our members have come up with based on their experiences.  Cool deal!

 

[donky4444]

This my first real post here so forgive me if I should've started a new thread but I figured more threads on the same subject aren't very helpful. Mods please feel free to do as you please.

I just went to change mine and at 43k miles, the best I can describe is grey metallic toothpaste. The smell was horrible. There was still some fluid in liquid form that I pumped out. I refilled it with royal purple 75w140. No noise to begin with and no noise now. If you haven't done it, DO NOT WAIT. I called my dealer today and he told me they can't keep the PTU's on the shelf. The California Highway Patrol is burning through them in their Explorers and Police Interceptors. He told me to come in and not mention anything but noise and they would replace the PTU under powertrain warranty since the unit isn't serviceable. To be fair, my shop buys a lot of parts from the dealership and my parts guy told me the name of the service advisor to ask for. The point is is that it's a known issue and Ford will handle it as long as there is a concern besides the condition of the oil. I'm sure those heavy line techs are hungry.

aj is correct... It always smell burnt and awful...

I'm gonna try my dealer again as I'm rolling 24K now... They agreed that nothing is adequately lubed for 100K miles, but declined to do the oil change because if they do, then Ford wouldn't warrant their work and charge them for a replacement PTU if needed in the future,,,,

What noise do I need to describe to get a new one?

I second this question.  What sound do I need to describe?  I'm at 65K miles and haven't done the service.  The BG service center in my area closed and now I don't have one any where close to me.  I have asked around and was basically told not to change it, just let it fail and get a new one.  I prefer to maintenance my car and not let them fail though.  Local dealers won't touch them to service the PTU.

 

[ajpturbo]

How and why are these dealers refusing to service the ptu when there is a service procedure in the ford repair manual lol?

 

[SHOnUup]

My local dealer wouldn't service it either. Said it was un serviceable.

With the cheap pump, I found it harder to get the hose to bottom of PTU if the fluid was too warm.

I think the sweet spot is straight down and slightly towards front of car from the "fill/vac" plug.



Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[USMCSHO341]

excuse my ignorance but what is the importance of this and how often/why does it need to be done?

 

[BiGMaC]

How and why are these dealers refusing to service the ptu when there is a service procedure in the ford repair manual lol?

How and why -->FMC service procedure is for 100K miles.  If the dealer services sooner and it fails Ford won't cover the PTU and the dealer is stuck with the entire cost of part and replacement. I know, I know... My dealer agrees that nothing is lubed for 100k miles, but that's what FMC says

 

[glock-coma]

This my first real post here so forgive me if I should've started a new thread but I figured more threads on the same subject aren't very helpful. Mods please feel free to do as you please.

I just went to change mine and at 43k miles, the best I can describe is grey metallic toothpaste. The smell was horrible. There was still some fluid in liquid form that I pumped out. I refilled it with royal purple 75w140. No noise to begin with and no noise now. If you haven't done it, DO NOT WAIT. I called my dealer today and he told me they can't keep the PTU's on the shelf. The California Highway Patrol is burning through them in their Explorers and Police Interceptors. He told me to come in and not mention anything but noise and they would replace the PTU under powertrain warranty since the unit isn't serviceable. To be fair, my shop buys a lot of parts from the dealership and my parts guy told me the name of the service advisor to ask for. The point is is that it's a known issue and Ford will handle it as long as there is a concern besides the condition of the oil. I'm sure those heavy line techs are hungry.

aj is correct... It always smell burnt and awful...

I'm gonna try my dealer again as I'm rolling 24K now... They agreed that nothing is adequately lubed for 100K miles, but declined to do the oil change because if they do, then Ford wouldn't warrant their work and charge them for a replacement PTU if needed in the future,,,,

What noise do I need to describe to get a new one?

I second this question.  What sound do I need to describe?  I'm at 65K miles and haven't done the service.  The BG service center in my area closed and now I don't have one any where close to me.  I have asked around and was basically told not to change it, just let it fail and get a new one.  I prefer to maintenance my car and not let them fail though.  Local dealers won't touch them to service the PTU.

When I was having drivetrain issues @26k I described a pulsing vibration between 60-70 mph.
They replaced all the wheel bearings, driveshaft, awd control module, PTU and then the RDU replacement fixed the issue.
There is a thread here someplace detailing all of it.

 

[ajpturbo]

Bigmac what do u mean 100k?....doesn't the book say lifetime fluid?

 

[wasinger3000]

Bigmac what do u mean 100k?....doesn't the book say lifetime fluid?

They covered their @ss since "lifetime" is open to interpretation.

 

[ajpturbo]

I don't see how that covers them at all.....I'd sue them...lifetime is until I die...so if the ptu fails because of fluid condition and I'm still breathing even if I'm out of warranty it would be their fault because they said don't change the fluid....I would win I always do

 

[SHOdded]

excuse my ignorance but what is the importance of this and how often/why does it need to be done?

The PTU has a puny fluid fill spec (18 oz) compared to the herculean task it has to do.  The more it works, the more the gear oil gets chewed up.  It loses its original viscosity, and the gears start to grind & wear out.  When the fluid is drained from the PTU, seldom does anyone get anywhere near 18 oz out.  Leading theories include evaporation through the vent tube and factory underfill.

From experience, the ideal fluid change point is in the 25K-30K mile range.  Less if you really drive it hard.  Amsoil and Royal Purple products are favorites to replace the OEM Motorcraft.

I don't see how that covers them at all.....I'd sue them...lifetime is until I die...so if the ptu fails because of fluid condition and I'm still breathing even if I'm out of warranty it would be their fault because they said don't change the fluid....I would win I always do

Lifetime of the owner = NO, sorry wrong answer
Lifetime of the vehicle = NO, sorry try again
Lifetime of the part = DING DING DING, we have a winner!

What is the lifetime of the part, you ask?  Silly question.  It's how long the part keeps working, of course!!!

 

[BlackJac]

I'm at about 12,000 miles and decided to have my Ford dealer change mine next week with OEM oil for $89. They owe me 2 free oil changes so maybe I could get one put towards it.