Does anyone have a writeup of a coolant flush on a 2010 SHO? I would like to tackle it myself but if it involves removing tons of stuff I may just hire someone to do it. Also transmission flush instructions? I've read that you have to drain and fill a few times but I am curious how you check the level because you have to remove the airbox area to get to the trans cap and usually check it warm and running on almost all cars. Thanks!
Coolant drain/refill is pretty easy. There's a drain plug on the radiator that opens and drains out the fluid. You might have to remove the plastic cover below the car to access the drain but it's easily done just by looking at it. Then the fill port is up on top of the engine bay like pretty much every vehicle. Fill it up to the appropriate level, burp the system, and you're good. Per Ford burping the system is turning off AC system, start engine, increase RPM to 3500, hold 30 seconds, turn engine off and wait 1 minute.
Check coolant level and refill if necessary. Start engine and let idle until engine reaches operating range and thermostat is fully open (verified by cooling fan cycling on at least once), increase RPM to 3500, hold 30 seconds, RPM back to idle, wait 30 seconds, turn off engine and wait 1 minute. Repeat this paragraph a total of 5 times to remove any air.
Changing the transmission also easy. There's the drain plug on the bottom of the tranny to drain the pan (it doesn't drain all the fluid, just what's in the pan). The fill port is under the airbox as noted so you have to remove the screws/bolts holding the box in place and rotate it 90 degrees. That will allow you to have everything connected (wires and airbox to tubing) and still have access to the fill port. I think when I drained/filled my tranny it took just shy of 6 quarts.
At some point this summer I'm going to try a new method I've seen for a complete system drain/fill. Essentially you remove the lines to/from the tranny cooler, put the tranny output line into an empty bucket, put the tranny input line (return from cooler) into a bucket of new fluid, and have a buddy start the vehicle. It will then suck in new fluid while pushing out old fluid and you let it run until new fluid is getting pushed out. Then turn everything off, reconnect, and top off the system. That should allow a full fluid swap without any special tools or multiple changes.
