Transmission Pan Replacement

[PNWTremor]

Don’t forget to reset your adaptive learning for the transmission when you change the fluid or pan or any combination of that. Also, if you ever run low or high on fluid reset as well. This will help the tranmission adjust for changes. I thought about turning it off all of the time but after research it sounded like a bad idea to turn it off.

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After my first service around 30K, new pan, filter and fluid my transmission was shifting strangely. Upshifts were too aggressive, likely because the old fluid didn’t have the friction qualities of the newly replenished fluid, felt very weird.

The thermal characteristics of a new pan also affect the adaptive line pressure as the fluid contracts and expands.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

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After my first service around 30K, new pan, filter and fluid my transmission was shifting strangely. Upshifts were too aggressive, likely because the old fluid didn’t have the friction qualities of the newly replenished fluid, felt very weird.

The thermal characteristics of a new pan also affect the adaptive line pressure as the fluid contracts and expands.

How do we do the relearn?

 

[Iconic5.0]

How do we do the relearn?

Forscan and reset trans tables, then drive around for 100 miles with mixed style conditions without being aggressive. Don’t do too much highway so that the transmission gets to go through all the gears and shift in different scenarios

 

[cooldadtexas]

I would go with larger pan if you can make it fit, 33% more fluid change ~6 vs ~8 quart when you drain and fill as you have a plug now (easy). This will extend your filter life as well. My plan is to drop fluid every 30k, refresh learning curves. If temps start to rise or poor shifting I would look to possibly dropping pan and replace the filter. I cut open my filter at 30K and it had much life left and this included the material transmission was new. The filter is rather large compared to others that I have seen. I welcome thoughts from experts on my plan.

 

[DaveMowers]

$450 labor only. Originally quoted $225 but after I dropped it off they said they would need extra labor because they had to remove the crossmember, and lift the trans because it was not the same size as the stock pan. It does say you need to do that on a 2024 5.0 and up so I didn’t fuss about it and just paid it because of the convenience.

Canadian here, I have a 2023 tremor with 5.0L. 100,000km (60k miles).
I purchased a PPE deep pan online ($450) and had it installed at local ford dealer as I was not going to do this install on my garage floor. Cost was $600 for Install, new filter, 9 litres of tranny oil.
Today I will install SPELB differential cover myself and replace the gear oil.
I say these 2 upgrades are a worth while long term investment, especially if you contiguously tow or carry a load.

 

[cooldadtexas]

Canadian here, I have a 2023 tremor with 5.0L. 100,000km (60k miles).
I purchased a PPE deep pan online ($450) and had it installed at local ford dealer as I was not going to do this install on my garage floor. Cost was $600 for Install, new filter, 9 litres of tranny oil.
Today I will install SPELB differential cover myself and replace the gear oil.
I say these 2 upgrades are a worth while long term investment, especially if you contiguously tow or carry a load.

We dropped the spare tire and the diff cover was easy! We ended up just zip tying a couple of lines that were in the way on top of diff. I have the SPELB and my only complaint is the bolts rust! Will replace those when I figure what size and brand I need. My glass level was perfect with fill level at the back as well.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

I have a deep pan and diff cover sitting at powder currently, I’ll update once I get everything installed!

 

[cooldadtexas]

Canadian here, I have a 2023 tremor with 5.0L. 100,000km (60k miles).
I purchased a PPE deep pan online ($450) and had it installed at local ford dealer as I was not going to do this install on my garage floor. Cost was $600 for Install, new filter, 9 litres of tranny oil.
Today I will install SPELB differential cover myself and replace the gear oil.
I say these 2 upgrades are a worth while long term investment, especially if you contiguously tow or carry a load.

I did replace my rusting Spelab bolts with ARP 612-1000 bolt/washers 1” length. All my sockets are 6 point and I needed a 12 pt socket 3/8 for the ARP bolts. These bolts will not work on a 6 pt socket as I tried. The bolts are not cheap but to get the torque needed, I used ARP for simplicity/strength. Last thing I wanted was to break one off on install with a cheap hardware store bolt! Smile!!! Currently, at 28 ft lbs as working with AL cover, steel housing and bolts. Do not want to crack the cover. Cheers!

 

[Montana Johnny]

Forscan and reset trans tables, then drive around for 100 miles with mixed style conditions without being aggressive. Don’t do too much highway so that the transmission gets to go through all the gears and shift in different scenarios

I'm not a Forscan user. Won't the transmission "re-learn" on its own? I'm guessing Forscan would dramatically speed up the process, but seems like the tranny "learns" on it's own. But, I know nothing of which I speak. I would appreciate your feedback.

 

[FanaticalKilla]

I'm not a Forscan user. Won't the transmission "re-learn" on its own? I'm guessing Forscan would dramatically speed up the process, but seems like the tranny "learns" on it's own. But, I know nothing of which I speak. I would appreciate your feedback.

Gets the tables reset to a safe spot instantly versus learning until it gets back to a nice state of tune.

 

[PNWTremor]

I'm not a Forscan user. Won't the transmission "re-learn" on its own? I'm guessing Forscan would dramatically speed up the process, but seems like the tranny "learns" on it's own. But, I know nothing of which I speak. I would appreciate your feedback.

It will, but it happens at the speed the fluid degrades, which in the wild translates to minor updates over thousands of miles to compensate for the ATFs viscosity and friction modifier package degradation.

It will absolutely shift incorrectly, especially if you are doing the service on a transmission with lots of heavy usage and high miles.

If you perform your first service early (I recommend 30K at the latest - whether you get a new pan or not) you’re working with a mostly fresh slate — assuming you aren’t towing super heavy and breaking that fluid down fast. You only have to change the fluid every 30K thereafter (which is easy with a drain plug), may never need to do a TCM reset again.

Transmissions have a break-in too, people just don’t talk about it. There is microscopic machining debris / wear metals (just like an engine) and clutch material that gets in your valve bodies and if you don’t clean that out, the transmission wears faster.

 

[Montana Johnny]

It will, but it happens at the speed the fluid degrades, which in the wild translates to minor updates over thousands of miles to compensate for the ATFs viscosity and friction modifier package degradation.

It will absolutely shift incorrectly, especially if you are doing the service on a transmission with lots of heavy usage and high miles.

If you perform your first service early (I recommend 30K at the latest - whether you get a new pan or not) you’re working with a mostly fresh slate — assuming you aren’t towing super heavy and breaking that fluid down fast. You only have to change the fluid every 30K thereafter (which is easy with a drain plug), may never need to do a TCM reset again.

Transmissions have a break-in too, people just don’t talk about it. There is microscopic machining debris / wear metals (just like an engine) and clutch material that gets in your valve bodies and if you don’t clean that out, the transmission wears faster.

Thanks very much for this info. I tow, but not heavy (boat, motor, and trailer are about 3,000 lbs. and I tow this load about 1,500 miles per year). My plan is to replace the tranny fluid and install a pan with a drain plug at 25K miles. I only put about 5K to 6K miles per year on my truck so my thought was to change the tranny fluid every 5 years/25K miles. Is there a way to reset the TCM without Forscan? Can the dealer do this? With this short service interval, is a TCM reset even necessary? Sorry for all the questions but I'm hungry for information and learning a lot from this forum.

 

[Iconic5.0]

Not 100% sure but there used to be a method of disconnecting the battery for an amount of time. Doing something like pressing the horn to drain any residual power in capacitors. Not sure it works on the newer trucks…

You may be able to get a OB2 tool from local auto parts store that can do it too. They usually read codes for free if you ask or you can get one as a loaner with a refundable deposit

 

[PNWTremor]

Not 100% sure but there used to be a method of disconnecting the battery for an amount of time. Doing something like pressing the horn to drain any residual power in capacitors. Not sure it works on the newer trucks…

You may be able to get a OB2 tool from local auto parts store that can do it too. They usually read codes for free if you ask or you can get one as a loaner with a refundable deposit

The battery trick doesn’t work unfortunately, the TCM’s adaptive tables are stored in a NVME solid state drive of some kind. It never looses memory if it looses power.

An ODB2 scanner, especially one you might buy at O’Rileys or autozone that reads basic SAE PIDs will not have the tooling required to write to ODB2, you will need a computer to do so.

I think the OBDLink MX+ can do this, which I may want to do myself anyways and may investigate this in my free time. Will update here later.

 

[PNWTremor]

Thanks very much for this info. I tow, but not heavy (boat, motor, and trailer are about 3,000 lbs. and I tow this load about 1,500 miles per year). My plan is to replace the tranny fluid and install a pan with a drain plug at 25K miles. I only put about 5K to 6K miles per year on my truck so my thought was to change the tranny fluid every 5 years/25K miles. Is there a way to reset the TCM without Forscan? Can the dealer do this? With this short service interval, is a TCM reset even necessary? Sorry for all the questions but I'm hungry for information and learning a lot from this forum.

It can’t hurt to do a reset, it costs nothing and gives you peace of mind.

The dealer absolutely can do this, but some dealers will charge you, others are more generous.

A reset at a short interval may not be necessary, only way you will know is if it starts shifting funny after a service.

 

[FanaticalKilla]

The battery trick doesn’t work unfortunately, the TCM’s adaptive tables are stored in a NVME solid state drive of some kind. It never looses memory if it looses power.

An ODB2 scanner, especially one you might buy at O’Rileys or autozone that reads basic SAE PIDs will not have the tooling required to write to ODB2, you will need a computer to do so.

I think the OBDLink MX+ can do this, which I may want to do myself anyways and may investigate this in my free time. Will update here later.

OBD Link MX+ will 100% do this with a Windows Laptop and Forscan. Never tried with a tablet or iPhone or iPad.

 

[PNWTremor]

OBD Link MX+ will 100% do this with a Windows Laptop and Forscan. Never tried with a tablet or iPhone or iPad.

Nice to know. thanks!

 

[SubyEvo]

Pm inbound

Interested in a quote as well.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

Picked up some bling this weekend! Deep pan and rear dif cover. Finished in highland bronze with raw fins.

Deep trans pan increases fluid capacity by 1.75qts and rear diff increases capacity by .56qts. Excited to get theses on.

If yall need either I’m happy to work with forum members on pricing!

 

[MDPE]

Picked up some bling this weekend! Deep pan and rear dif cover. Finished in highland bronze with raw fins.

Deep trans pan increases fluid capacity by 1.75qts and rear diff increases capacity by .56qts. Excited to get theses on.

If yall need either I’m happy to work with forum members on pricing!

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