What does your PTU fluid look like at change?

[SilverSH0]

This is what my PTU fluid looked like. I tried to turn the jar sideways for the picture so you can see the color. As you can tell, it wasn't terribly thick and the garage temperature was upper 30s. So it wasn't very thick but it was a very dark black/brown.

 

[SHOdded]

Newman approves

 

[WhatJustHappened]

I think when all is said and done, the biggest problem will be the small oil capacity.

I am going to just go on a very aggressive change schedule.

 

[SHOinVa]

2012 PP with 50628 miles, came out of Ohio so I am pretty sure it saw some AWD time. Could where its from be a factor?

I will post some more information on my service experience on another forum but to add my part to this thread. As others noted the dealership could not quote me a price on servicing the PTU and said it didn't need to be done. I have a local shop who does service work for me who they also told me several times it didn't need to be done. Anyway I had them suck it out and replaced with Royal Purple, they stated it was low on fluid and there was some metal in the old fluid. They where surprised, I was not surprised at what they found, as usual I only got 70% of what I wanted from them and was willing to pay for - But more on that later, hope that helps.

 

[SilverSH0]

2012 PP with 50628 miles, came out of Ohio so I am pretty sure it saw some AWD time. Could where its from be a factor?

I will post some more information on my service experience on another forum but to add my part to this thread. As others noted the dealership could not quote me a price on servicing the PTU and said it didn't need to be done. I have a local shop who does service work for me who they also told me several times it didn't need to be done. Anyway I had them suck it out and replaced with Royal Purple, they stated it was low on fluid and there was some metal in the old fluid. They where surprised, I was not surprised at what they found, as usual I only got 70% of what I wanted from them and was willing to pay for - But more on that later, hope that helps.

I wouldn't think AWD usage rate would matter at all. The reason I say that is because the PTU is spinning the same regardless if it's FWD or AWD. The only difference is when the clutches in the RDU engage so the PTU spins the same regardless. But where it's from could be a factor based on heat cycles, how hot it gets, and if it overheats regularly.

 

[SHOinVa]

I wouldn't think AWD usage rate would matter at all. The reason I say that is because the PTU is spinning the same regardless if it's FWD or AWD. The only difference is when the clutches in the RDU engage so the PTU spins the same regardless. But where it's from could be a factor based on heat cycles, how hot it gets, and if it overheats regularly.

OK I am about to sound like I know what I am talking about so if I get this wrong anyone feel free to correct me as harshly as you want.
Spinning is not was causes wear, if something is well oiled it can spin forever. Wear and heat which causes failure is caused by torque, for the most part the PTU is not under much load until he rear wheels are engaged at which point the system experiences more torque which can cause heat and wear. So I would think the more the AWD system is engaged the more torque the PTU experiences and therefore more wear. But then I almost didn't make it out of High School so what do I know. LOL I await your reply's.
C/

 

[SilverSH0]

Heat comes from friction and friction is caused by the spinning (or meshing) of the gears. The faster they spin, the more friction they will create. Ultimately, the spinning is exactly what causes wear on gears. To reduce that friction and wear you use oil to reduce the friction and provide cooling. If there's not enough oil to stay cool it will heat up, sludge up, and no longer provide adequate lubrication/cooling. Torque will also play a roll as it's more force on the gear teeth as they mesh. However, I would say that the duty cycle of AWD being engaged is so small that it's insignificant when compared to the wear from simply spinning.

The best analogy I can come up with is if you rub your hands together really fast. Put your hand together lightly and rub them back and forth really fast. They will heat up with almost no pressure. This would be like driving in FWD where there's not a lot of torque through the system but it's spinning. Now push your hands together more and rub them, they will heat up not so much due to speed but due to the force. This would be similar to when AWD is engaged. This is an analogy so it's not perfect, but gets the general idea across. If you rub your hands together lightly (but fast) for 95% of the time and then 5% of the time use more force, which one is going to cause more wear/heat in your hands? They both contribute but due to the duty cycle, I would say most of the wear is due to the spinning.

I would have to pull up my diagram of the PTU to see exactly how it works. But I know a transaxle passes through it. I'm not sure if it's a directly through with only seals or if it's splined into gears in the PTU and then out (thus, all the torque would always be passed through the PTU). I don't know so I won't make that statement, just makes me wonder (I might check tomorow when it's not late).

 

[Johnbigdog]

Fords PTUs are splined to the transmission differential carrier.

 

[Jeff2017]

With the number of PTU failures reported, members are stating changes anywhere from multiple times a year to every 30K miles. I was just curious for those who are changing your fluid out...

1) What you are seeing in terms of color/condition of the fluid?
2) What brand fluid you drained or put back in and how much was recovered?
3) Any metallic's in the fluid?
4) Even with routine changes, are you still experiencing failures?

I've seen low mileage failures in other models in the fleet and a recent post called out a 2016 failure, I'm really interested in fluid type and condition. It's easy to look at proximity to the converter and abuse in the SHO, but considering we have more or less standard equipment in the fleet, I'm curious about fluid level/possible purging/ or signs of hard parts failures (ie: metals in fluid).

I don't think the non-PP cars even have a drain plug. I haven't changed mine yet but I don't think the color means a whole lot. On the diffs I have changed the oil in it seem to matter if I did it every 30k or 60k. Same color. How often the PTU engages is the key to how often the fluid needs changing. If you go to the track every Saturday then 15k intervals are probably called for. If you drive to work and back home and don't do Italian tune ups too often, 100k will probably be enough. That's my .02.

 

[Johnbigdog]

Differential, liquid cooled PTU, and the RDU.

 

[SHOinVa]

SilverSHO
- I generally agree with everything you said, but I am going to push back a bit, lets circle back around and look at what the purpose of the thread was. They where asking of those of us who changed there PTU oil what did we find, the reason they where asking is some of us myself included where finding signs of wear in the PTU (dirty oil, metal. etc) lastly we where bench racing as to why some of us where seeing damage/wear and others where not. My possible theory was that cars who spent a lot of time engaged in AWD might wear more then my mother driving my car to Florida.
- What you said is 100% correct but seems to me when the AWD system engages it puts a sudden amount of torque on the system. Unlike during FWD operation which is generally constant and increasing or decreasing load in the system the AWD is only used when its needed and it comes on suddenly. I would use the analogy of a piece of wood on a lave you slowly apply pressure the wood continues to spin the heat dissipates and you are able to carve a grove, if you suddenly push a tool into the wood it slows way down and starts to burn maybe even stops. Another way to look at is the engineers always told me if you have to put a generator on line do it slowly because if you put a load on suddenly it will work but its not good for the system.
- Anyway I am just thinking out loud and admit I don't have a complete understanding of how this AWD system works, great day all.
C/
Jeff2017
No my car does not have a drain plug it had to be sucked out, I have heard later models do have a drain plug. I am guessing but I dont think my car was tracked but at 50000 miles it was clear it needed some fresh oil, what that means IDK but my PTU would have never made it to 100000.

 

[OgreSmash]

shortly after I bought my 2010 sho I was checking trans fluid on it and mine looked more like fresh oil color instead of the usual red. do these cars take different trans fluid?

 

[StealBlueSho]

shortly after I bought my 2010 sho I was checking trans fluid on it and mine looked more like fresh oil color instead of the usual red. do these cars take different trans fluid?

Mercon LV... it changes colors quick... Ford has said that color of the Mercon LV does not indicate wear level of the fluid.

 

[Jeff2017]

SilverSHO
- I generally agree with everything you said, but I am going to push back a bit, lets circle back around and look at what the purpose of the thread was. They where asking of those of us who changed there PTU oil what did we find, the reason they where asking is some of us myself included where finding signs of wear in the PTU (dirty oil, metal. etc) lastly we where bench racing as to why some of us where seeing damage/wear and others where not. My possible theory was that cars who spent a lot of time engaged in AWD might wear more then my mother driving my car to Florida.
- What you said is 100% correct but seems to me when the AWD system engages it puts a sudden amount of torque on the system. Unlike during FWD operation which is generally constant and increasing or decreasing load in the system the AWD is only used when its needed and it comes on suddenly. I would use the analogy of a piece of wood on a lave you slowly apply pressure the wood continues to spin the heat dissipates and you are able to carve a grove, if you suddenly push a tool into the wood it slows way down and starts to burn maybe even stops. Another way to look at is the engineers always told me if you have to put a generator on line do it slowly because if you put a load on suddenly it will work but its not good for the system.
- Anyway I am just thinking out loud and admit I don't have a complete understanding of how this AWD system works, great day all.
C/
Jeff2017
No my car does not have a drain plug it had to be sucked out, I have heard later models do have a drain plug. I am guessing but I dont think my car was tracked but at 50000 miles it was clear it needed some fresh oil, what that means IDK but my PTU would have never made it to 100000.

Well, I'm glad I have the 7/100 b2b just in case. From this thread it seems I am almost guaranteed a new PTU under warranty.