Ptu temp gauge?

[polskifacet]

I work around 30 fleets of machines which consist of at least 100 per fleet. Each machine is 1.5 million dollars. They require constant maintenance even when not running. My previous job I worked with fleets of laser guided vehicles. My father has worked on heavy machinery at Caterpillar for 25 years. I know everything about lubrication, PMs etc. etc .etc etc. on a level so much greater than a simple PTU.

Regularly service the PTU...

http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/13533-13m01-middle-east-ptu-extended-warranty/

hmm 30,000 km = 18,641 miles

 

[ajpturbo]

You guys are being put on....this guy is like my evil twin...he likes to get people worked up but he has diarrhea breath and talks **** whereas i get people worked up and spit truth lol......id say some things but Z would just edit my post because it would be time to hurt feelings and anuses...is that the plural form of anus?

 

[polskifacet]

Sometimes the truth stinks, OP change the ptu gear oil.

 

[FoMoCoSHO]

Here is what I was told about PTU's an why some fail with sludge and some look perfect @ 60K

Basically when they come off the assembly line, if they are manufactured correctly and the tolerances are in line you will get a long life without a fluid change.

Apparently QC isn't all that hot and that isn't happening....tolerances are off, more friction and lack of movement cooks the fluid and ruins the PTU.

Most rational minded folks would agree you really can't over maintain something like a PTU. The problem is it has been alleged by certain unscrupulous service advisers that Ford will void your warranty over it which is absurd IMHO and puts folks under warranty in a bind. Don't maintain it under warranty for fear of cancelled warranty on that part or listen to Ford and risk a failure when it goes out of warranty. Quite the conundrum. I say allege because it's not something Mrs FoMoCoSHO has ever encountered and you guys would be surprised at some of the modded vehicles they are able to get covered with Ford fully knowing what has been done to the vehicles. Ford wants to sell cars and pi$$ing off your loyal customers isn't the way to make that happen. And she has surely NEVER had a warranty denied for over maintaining a vehicle.

The first thing to do is try to find a dealership that will service your car how you want it without threats. Bottom line IMHO is they are lazy and don't want to deal with it. I'd suspect the dealerships that are willing to do what you ask will get it covered if there happened to be a failure. They know these things fail for no good reason and a good dealership will always fight for their customer.

My suggestion is service your vehicle to the level you feel appropriate. If you have a failure under warranty they will not cover make them put it in writing WHY they wouldn't warranty it.

If the worst were to happen....

Call Ford first and hammer them on social media with pics and links to the PTU failures found all over the internet. Be persistent. Be that festering wart on their a$$ that they just want to go away.

If that tactic fails take it to 3rd party neutral warranty arbitration where their lawyers are moot. Give every member a copy of Magnusson Moss and present your case. Remember the burden of proof is on Ford to PROVE that over maintaining your vehicle caused the failure. And as long as you have the correct volume and type of fluid? Good luck with that. Most likely that will never happen and once you let your intentions be known, the PTU will be replaced.

Remember, there is plenty of evidence on the internet regarding fluid condition and premature failures. During arbitration you will get your chance present your evidence and to ask questions like, what specifically would cause newer fluid of the correct specification and filled to the proper level to be detrimental to the life of the PTU??? Seriously, GTFO, it just sounds ridiculous when you say it.

I seriously doubt this situation would ever get to that level. The first line of defense is finding a good dealership which I know is sometimes much easier said than done. Do you think Ford wants to risk your next $50k purchase over an $800 PTU that is marked up 40-60% to start with?

 

[setaonivek]

Thanks FoMoSho .. this is the kind of response i was hoping to receive and appreciate not the inconsiderate responses earlier, really, all i wanted to ask was why ...

the problem i have, is EVERY dealer (in my area) i have spoken to on this has literally told me, in spite of ALL the evidence on-line, that PTU under normal driving conditions should not need servicing ..

i don't know what to believe .. just seems ridiculous to me that this is not considered a serviceable part if there is SOOOO much evidence.  I want to my car to last, do you think i/or any one else for that matter would not ask about this?  WTF? 

 

[SHOdded]

I think the point is that there is enough end-user evidence that you should at least check the PTU fluid regularly.  With any luck, you'll never have to change it, but if you want to get the best out of the PTU, it is best to set a periodic preventive maintenance schedule.  I would find a BG shop and have them check the fluid, if it's not practical to DIY.

The rest of the discussion as to why dealers do or don't, or why Ford does or doesn't is good to know or talk about, but the bottomline is still that the PTU is not set-and-forget.  Has not been since at least the Taurus X.

 

[66 Galaxie]

Great summary!

 

[setaonivek]

I think the point is that there is enough end-user evidence that you should at least check the PTU fluid regularly.  With any luck, you'll never have to change it, but if you want to get the best out of the PTU, it is best to set a periodic preventive maintenance schedule.  I would find a BG shop and have them check the fluid, if it's not practical to DIY.

The rest of the discussion as to why dealers do or don't, or why Ford does or doesn't is good to know or talk about, but the bottomline is still that the PTU is not set-and-forget.  Has not been since at least the Taurus X.

Thank you SHOdded ... appreciate this. 

I do agree, now, that it should be checked and with all of this evidence of problems i really find it ridiculous that it is not considered a serviceable part, at least a check at irregular intervals. 

I have contacted my dealer again and they have agreed to finally look at it.

 

[ZSHO]

I think the point is that there is enough end-user evidence that you should at least check the PTU fluid regularly.  With any luck, you'll never have to change it, but if you want to get the best out of the PTU, it is best to set a periodic preventive maintenance schedule.  I would find a BG shop and have them check the fluid, if it's not practical to DIY.

The rest of the discussion as to why dealers do or don't, or why Ford does or doesn't is good to know or talk about, but the bottomline is still that the PTU is not set-and-forget.  Has not been since at least the Taurus X.

Thank you SHOdded ... appreciate this. 

I do agree, now, that it should be checked and with all of this evidence of problems i really find it ridiculous that it is not considered a serviceable part, at least a check at irregular intervals. 

I have contacted my dealer again and they have agreed to finally look at it.

Setaonivek how many miles on your 15 PP SHO?  also was curious if Ford would somehow enact therev service provisions differently in Canada,just a thought.  Z

 

[setaonivek]

I think the point is that there is enough end-user evidence that you should at least check the PTU fluid regularly.  With any luck, you'll never have to change it, but if you want to get the best out of the PTU, it is best to set a periodic preventive maintenance schedule.  I would find a BG shop and have them check the fluid, if it's not practical to DIY.

The rest of the discussion as to why dealers do or don't, or why Ford does or doesn't is good to know or talk about, but the bottomline is still that the PTU is not set-and-forget.  Has not been since at least the Taurus X.

Thank you SHOdded ... appreciate this. 

I do agree, now, that it should be checked and with all of this evidence of problems i really find it ridiculous that it is not considered a serviceable part, at least a check at irregular intervals. 

I have contacted my dealer again and they have agreed to finally look at it.

Setaonivek how many miles on your 15 PP SHO?  also was curious if Ford would somehow enact therev service provisions differently in Canada,just a thought.  Z

that is a good question .. i have 27770kms (roughly 17255mi) .. i will ask my service guy when i speak to him later

 

[Windstang]

Whether or not Ford recommends an oil change is no reason not to change the oil. To me their service intervals are so the parts last for the warranty period plus a day/mile. 

All oil is subject to thermal breakdown. Ford recommends and oil change for the diff - so why not for the PTU?  After trying to suck out old PTU oil from the fill hole and having difficulty getting all the oil out, I decided to drill and tap a drain hole (at 140,000 kms) and have done 6 drain & fills in the last 1000 kms and the oil is still coming out black - but it is getting more oil like and not so sludgy. When I sucked it out the first time the PTU oil looked awful and was very sludgy and there was a grease like substance on the fill plug so that was probably representative of the rest of the PTU as well as the pictures showed in previous posts. Not much lubrication with that crap and bound to fail.

I was wondering about the jiggly vent on the top so went to a Ford parts counter to ask if I could see a new PTU to see what the vent looked like. There is a Taurus TSB to replace the vent with an extension tube and since they both use the same PTU, the TSB could apply to my MKX. The Parts guy laughed and said they actually did stock the PTU's because they go through a lot of them. He also commented that it was their belief that their should have been a drain to regularly service the PTU.

I believe that it is cheaper to change oil than parts - so replacing the PTU oil can only make it last longer regardless of the recommendation by Ford that it is a lifetime fill  - especially after seeing what my PTU oil looked like. Pull your drain plug and see it there is sludge on it - it's not that hard to remove it.  Then try to dip something into the fill hole and see the condition its oil. Then decide for yourself. It sure is nice to have the drain hole in my PTU. It will now get an oil change each time I change the engine oil. Hopefully one day it will appear golden colour and not black as it does now because it is still dissolving the sludge.

 

[sholxgt]

My wife works for a Ford/Lincoln chain of dealers.  Here's the information that I gathered by asking service managers and drive line techs at two dealers.

1. These dealers service the Police department vehicles.  Every department has the dealer change the PTU fluid at 30,000 mile intervals.
2. Ford does not call for maintenance of the item, but the techs and managers said they would still change the fluid if it was their personal vehicle.

#2 comes with the asterisk that they will first tell you that "Ford" does not call for changing the fluid.

I think dealerships are in a bind on this subject much like they were with the non-serviceable transmissions.  Ford is telling them what to tell customers and they then have to decide if they want to spew the rhetoric or be honest with the customer.

 

[SHOdded]

The advantage the PI vehicles have is that the PTU is indeed "serviceable", as it comes with a drain plug.  So it's easier to get reimbursement from Ford and defend warranty claims.  And I doubt Ford is going to have an issue with the PTU being serviced in such a high-visibility application.