Trans Fluid Change and EPC Adjustment

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Jim Edwards

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A special thanks to the project written by Shawn Stonbraker, http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/projects/epc/epc.html . I changed my tranny fluid and filter and made the adjustment to the epc as per the project instructions. I used AmsOil tranny fluid to see if it made a difference. WOW!!! Not only a seat of the pants difference, but a gas mileage difference as well. My Trac is faster off the line, has crisper shifts without the slight lag, no 2-3 gear problems, and my mileage went up 2mpg. I have the Amsoil oil filter and oil to use on my next oil change and will see if that makes a difference. I am just thrilled with the results so far. Thanks again, Shawn!!!



:D:D:D
 
Your tranny will thank you too. The biggest problem with auto slush boxes is they aren't aggressive enough. You basically cannot shift a tranny too fast, or too hard; and the program you get from the factory allows you to make a sandwhich in bewteen shifts and makes sure you don't feel anything...it's no wonder the transmission decides to take it's own life after 75,000 miles.
 
TIGER IS EXACTLY CORRECT!



The worst thing they do with stock transmimssion is to make them shift soft and silky smooth. To do that they allow for slippage which increases the heat, which wears the clutches and bands, and damages the fluid.



The damaged fluid creates more slipping and more slipping creates more heat. Now your transmission is in a vicious circle. This is made even worse by stop and go driving, or hilly terrain where the transmission does a lot of shifting. Getting on the highway and driving for 400 miles is a peice of cake for a transmission compared to driving 50 miles in 30 mph, bumper to bumper, traffic light to traffic light, city traffic.



Increasing line pressure (epc) will firm up the shifts and reduce the amount of slipping between gear changes.



The use of a good quality 100% synthetic Mercon-V compatible fluid will help prevent damaged fluid from any excessive heat the tranmission may experience. Synthetic lubricants are extremely effective in preventing lubrication breakdown during extreme heat situation





...Rich

 
I think what he is feeling is less slippage in the torque converter beceause of the increased pressure, there is really no seat of the pants feeling from this adjustment, But you will feel the shifts are firmer and quicker thus making the truck seem faster..



Cool deal, I am glad Your happy, I know shawn is!!!

 
I'm also looking to flush the tranny soon. I'm considering doing it myself using Shawn Stonbraker's project on this site. First, I have a couple of questions:



1. I want to change to syn. Both RP Max ATF and Amsoil Universal ATF are supposed to be compatible with OEM Merc V, right?



2. If I do it myself using Shawn's project, will that drain all the old dino fluid from the tranny, or will some be left in the converter? The project only calls for five quarts of fluid to replace what was down in the bottom of the tranny, so what about the remaining 4.5 quarts? How is that removed to in order to accomplish a total replacement of fluid if you do it yourself? And if I can't remove it, can I still use syn and mix it with what the dino fluid left in the torque converter?
 
Train, From what i read, the universal fluids that are synthetic can be mixed with the regular mercV, but your wasting the money, then new synthetic will be contaminated by the other 6 qts still left in the tranny...



I recommend dropping the pan, change the filter, do what ever else your going to do, and refill with plain merc V...



THEN buy 12 qts of the full synthetic you want to use and find a place that has a flush machine, and do a 100% flush with that.



Todd Z
 
Thanks, Todd. I figured you'd have the answer.
Click to expand...



Nope, I just stayed at a holiday Inn express last night....:lol::lol:
 
I'm just glad that my project can help people out with something that isn't really that hard to do, but it costs you to have it done somewhere else.;)



By the way, throw out props to Todd Z for showing me where the EPC was so I could kill two birds with one stone.
 
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I am not sure what 1/4 mile gains in time I achieved, but I can sure tell how much faster it is off the line (The seat of my pants can tell a difference, Todd). Now it throws me back into the seat, compared to the slushy, slow, lumbering, when will it shift feeling I used to experience.



Definite props to Shawn and Todd Z for this adjustment. I just wish I had known about it and done it 70,000 miles ago.



The Amsoil synthetic trans fluid is a direct replacement for the Mercon V fluid.



Peace, and happy Trac'n



 
EagleST,



If you did it yourself using the project, then you didn't do a full flush and now have a mix of Amsoil syn and dino Merc V fluid in the tranny, right? It just doesn't seem to make sense to do this project with syn fluid, since you can't flush out all of the old dino fluid.



However, I'm glad it went well for you and that you've noticed an improvement.:)
 

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