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Ford can't make up its mind on which block design is best


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So the new 7.3L has some very "old time" PROVEN technology !  Piston cooling jets, deep skirt iron block with 6 bolts (2 cross bolts) bearing caps, and a forged crankshaft (still using PM rods I believe).  Roller lifters.  Metal oil pan.

Other recent engine have had composite (plastic) oil pans.  Some have girdles.  I can not keep up with what engine has what any more !

Also interesting, the new 10 speed has a composite pan and a drain plug !  When was the last time you have seen a drain plug on ANY automatic transmission !  My guess is when the 10 speed sees service in Medium Duty trucks, it will have a transmission fluid change scheduled for about 50,000 miles.  Actually, pretty reasonable and cheap insurance even if it is only a "pan drain".

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I did my first oil change on my 3.5EB F150 with the plastic pan a few weeks ago.  I love it (as long as it doesn't start leaking).  You can remove the plug with just a twist (small pliers may or may not be needed) and because it extends into the pan about 3 inches you can pull it out partway letting the oil drain out without getting it on your hand.  I do need to buy a spare though just in case the o ring gets messed up.

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1 hour ago, theoldwizard said:

When was the last time you have seen a drain plug on ANY automatic transmission !  

2 weeks ago when I was on the ground under my 2005 Tacoma. 

What I'd really like to see is a transmission dip stick, instead of the now common "open the overflow plug and run engine until the fluid is overflowing at a temperature of 110 degrees" method that my last 3 (4?) vehicles have had.

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3 hours ago, theoldwizard said:

So the new 7.3L has some very "old time" PROVEN technology !  Piston cooling jets, deep skirt iron block with 6 bolts (2 cross bolts) bearing caps, and a forged crankshaft (still using PM rods I believe).  Roller lifters.  Metal oil pan.

Other recent engine have had composite (plastic) oil pans.  Some have girdles.  I can not keep up with what engine has what any more !

Also interesting, the new 10 speed has a composite pan and a drain plug !  When was the last time you have seen a drain plug on ANY automatic transmission !  My guess is when the 10 speed sees service in Medium Duty trucks, it will have a transmission fluid change scheduled for about 50,000 miles.  Actually, pretty reasonable and cheap insurance even if it is only a "pan drain".

One thing I noticed about the "new " 10 speed.  Most components are .."new or upgraded".  Makes you feel good in particular for class 7 service.  then you read it weighs 3 pounds more than the old version. Makes me wonder just how much "beef" was added.  Then again they should have enough info on the old one to have a good handle on just what needed an upgrade.

1 hour ago, Zooks527 said:

2 weeks ago when I was on the ground under my 2005 Tacoma. 

What I'd really like to see is a transmission dip stick, instead of the now common "open the overflow plug and run engine until the fluid is overflowing at a temperature of 110 degrees" method that my last 3 (4?) vehicles have had.

As well as pulling the stick to check color and smell.  Or was that an old wives tale as to transmission health?

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59 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

As well as pulling the stick to check color and smell.  Or was that an old wives tale as to transmission health?

Right hand to God, if you pulled into an AAMCO shop in the 70s and they pulled your dipstick, the first thing they would say is "Oh, well, it smells burnt.  You really have some problems going on in there!", and immediately start quoting various repair options.  Typically, you would get 2 or 3 options, with a pretty wide range of prices, and varying lengths of warranty associated with each.  If you thought to ask what the difference in the work was between the quotes, you'd get told that they all had the same work being done, but the different prices were to purchase those various warranty lengths.

Now, once they dropped the pan, the next thing you would hear is how they found "fine metal particles" in the bottom of the pan.  Even though some amount of fines might have been normal, it was immediately given as a crisis about to unfold, with bits and pieces of the car likely to be strewn across the road if you didn't let them start work.  Oh, and the work was immediately more extensive than they first thought, due to unforeseen circumstances".

Ah, good times.

Still, color was a useful indicator back in the dipstick days.

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1 hour ago, mnm said:

The composite oil pan on the 3.5EB was discontinued earlier this year.  It was a 2 piece design that sometimes proved to be “troublesome”. 

Most of the problems were on the 2.7L but some 3.5s also had problems.  I think it had to do with the block surface irregularities.

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2 hours ago, Zooks527 said:

What I'd really like to see is a transmission dip stick, instead of the now common "open the overflow plug and run engine until the fluid is overflowing at a temperature of 110 degrees" method that my last 3 (4?) vehicles have had.

My 2000 Lincoln LS didn't have a tranny dipstick.  We thought it was because the transmission was "sealed for life" or some other highly technical reason.   The transmission engineer who was part of our owners club told us it was just because there wasn't room for it in the engine bay on the V8 models.   I suspect that's the more likely reason on those other vehicles too.

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On 2/15/2019 at 1:42 PM, akirby said:

My 2000 Lincoln LS didn't have a tranny dipstick.  We thought it was because the transmission was "sealed for life" or some other highly technical reason.   The transmission engineer who was part of our owners club told us it was just because there wasn't room for it in the engine bay on the V8 models.   I suspect that's the more likely reason on those other vehicles too.

I think it's more likely that they decided that they could save $0.50 by leaving them out after the 5R55 trannies didn't grenade wholesale. The 6R80, f'rinstance, has a dipstick, but it's just a stubby little thing that's conveniently placed right next to one of the cats on the F-150 so you can burn your hand while checking it. You can, however, buy aftermarket dipsticks that mount on the firewall in the engine bay, so it's not like there's a lack of space.

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On 2/15/2019 at 10:06 AM, theoldwizard said:

When was the last time you have seen a drain plug on ANY automatic transmission ! 

Just with Ford, various revisions of the 4R100, 5R110W and 6R140 automatic transmissions came with pans with drain plugs. Sometimes it was easy to figure out which one had it (4X4 4R100 for example), other times not. The 2013 5R110W I had came with a plug, while the 6R140 on my 2019 F-450 is missing one. It's a frequent question/topic over at FTE.  No one can seem to figure out the pattern with 6R140 pans with plugs and those without.

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On 2/15/2019 at 9:06 AM, theoldwizard said:

When was the last time you have seen a drain plug on ANY automatic transmission !  

I'm pretty sure the 5R55S in my LS had a drain plug, as does the 6R80 in my truck and the 5R55 in my Explorer.

My former boss and his wife have '10 Camaros, and their slushboxes have drain plugs, as she discovered while trying to change the engine oil right after he'd had shoulder surgery. "Umm, is the oil supposed to be red?":lol2:

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