auto trans fluid level?

[Rainwalker]

My vintage mint green bird is two days old, and since I can't find a trans dip stick I was wondering how other owners keep tabs on the trans fluid level? I do know it's a 5R55 made in France and a Ford buddy of mine said that they are throw away. After 70k-100k miles you just replace them. I find this crazy, as a motor head I keep my cars well maintained, but insted of crying about the short cuts done by the bean counters what do we do?

 

[Quickdraw]

While its true there’s no trans dip stick the dealer has a way to check it. It shouldn't really need to be checked and I wouldn't worry about it unless I was seeing oil spots from leaks.

The owners manual says that "the transmission does not consume fluid. However the fluid level should be checked if the transmission is not working properly or if you notice fluid leakage."
I don't have the maintenance manual handy but if you follow the recommended trans oil change schedule you should be OK.

This is the same transmission they use in the Lincoln LS and it’s hard to believe it’s inherently a bad transmission. At least I sure hope not, I’ve got a ’02 bird and a ‘02 LS.

 

[Brad]

Rain, I think the important thing to remember is to make absolutely sure you have the fluid changed per the intervals recomended. I believe 30K is the first one for "normal" driving. (This should be in a few months for me). If I remember, I'll see if I can get them to tell me how much came out, to see if it does "use" much.

If you're not putting many miles on it, or if you start to lose sleep over it, have the dealer check it for you, or just have them change the fluid earlier.

Rain, on a side note, if you're interested I know a guy that has a nose (bumper cover) that came off of a VMG. My first car was a 1955 Chevy that was "Sea-Foam" green (same color) with a white top. At the time I hated the color, but seeing a VMG recently sure brought back some memories.