2003 Transmission Oil Change & Fill

T

The Flash

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Last seen
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Thunderbird Year
2003
To change the Trans. Oil and filter on my 2003 I had to remove the bottom frame X member. Then holding the trans. up remove the trans. support. To drain the oil pan remove the big plug with the oil level check screw place. Two small bolts hold the filter in place.
When filling the trans. with oil I used this pressurized sprayer. See picture.

I looked everywhere on the internet to see if Ford gave us a convenient way to fill the oil and found NONE.

BUT I did find on the back of the trans. on the right side by the output shaft, there is a FILL PLUG. See picture.
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The Flash said:
To change the Trans. Oil and filter on my 2003 I had to remove the bottom frame X member. Then holding the trans. up remove the trans. support. To drain the oil pan remove the big plug with the oil level check screw place. Two small bolts hold the filter in place.
When filling the trans. with oil I used this pressurized sprayer. See picture.

I looked everywhere on the internet to see if Ford gave us a convenient way to fill the oil and found NONE.

BUT I did find on the back of the trans. on the right side by the output shaft, there is a FILL PLUG. See picture.
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This explains why the dealership just quoted me $280 for this service!
 
Why did they make it a pain to change transmission oil! After I bought my car, I went through it and learned what a pain in the butt it was to do this. Why couldn’t it have been like every other car I own?
 
JAT said:
Why did they make it a pain to change transmission oil! After I bought my car, I went through it and learned what a pain in the butt it was to do this. Why couldn’t it have been like every other car I own?
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All the OEMs that I see have a closed transmission. This closed system helps to keep the oil from getting contaminated. No more dipsticks to pull out and not put back in.
My caddy is the same way.
 
I was under the impression that the transmission was a sealed system and that only the dealer could service it. I was told to only use a Lincoln dealer, as it is a Lincoln trans and they know them better than Ford dealers do. You cannot check your oil level, and i have been told there is a very specific amount of fluid that goes in there. Thanks for being so brave, i wouldn't tackle that one.
 
04tbirdjerry said:
I was under the impression that the transmission was a sealed system and that only the dealer could service it. I was told to only use a Lincoln dealer, as it is a Lincoln trans and they know them better than Ford dealers do. You cannot check your oil level, and i have been told there is a very specific amount of fluid that goes in there. Thanks for being so brave, i wouldn't tackle that one.
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The very specific amount is that you fill it until it begins to overflow.

The last Lincoln use of this transmission was in 2006. Ford used It until 2011 in the Ranger.
 
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I serviced my '02 Thunderbird transmission a couple of years ago. Maybe the '03 and up birds are different but I didn't have to drop the x-brace. I bought an OTC 6604 adapter and a Performance Tool W1139 hand pump from Amazon pump the fluid into the transmission.

I used this video as a guide to insure the transmission was filled correctly. Skip to 6:45 for the refill procedure.

From what I understand, the longer the transmission is left draining, the more fluid is required to refill. I let mine drain while I was changing the filter so maybe an hour at most.

To PhilD's question: It took most of the 5 quart container to refill the transmission. You just keep pumping in fluid and remove the fill line periodically until fluid starts running back out to the fill adapter.
 
PhilD said:
Out of curiosity how much oil did it take?
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From what I’ve read the ‘03 T-Bird and Lincoln’s changed to the 5R55S transmission, later used in the 2005 Mustang. Capacity was 11.8 quarts. I’m getting ready to list my ‘03 Bird and had the dealer service the transmission so that I’d be confident that the fluid was fresh and correct. Their invoice indicated that they added 7 quarts.
 
If you just want to change the oil and NOT the filter you do not have to remove the Trans. Mount. You can take out the entire drain/check oil plug fitting., so all the oil drains out of the pan.
 
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