PTU Maintenance

[jake8687]

2011 SHO non PP....6 years ago at about 47k miles, my PTU grenaded.... black sludge all over firewall etc...Local Ford dealer replaced PTU under extended warranty. I'm looking to change fluid by siphon to extract and fill with 75 140 via plug on PTU case. I looked at the invoice from the PTU replacement and noticed two things for which I have questions.
1. Part number of the PTU installed: at4z-7251-e. Is this part# the re-engineered or upgraded part? (with cooler and drain plug)?
2. The dealer invoice also listed part number xt-10-qlvc...one quart of fluid. That part # is for a.t. fluid Mercon LV! Not the 75 140 gear oil as listed in shop manual. Was there a TSB that told the geniuses at the dealership to use Merc LV? Or is this the pathetic incompetence of service dept?

I admit I'm a bit late to game in catching up on PTU maintenace.. I have not noticed any issues with 93k miles as of today which is 47k miles after new ptu. Any constructive thoughts? Maybe the LR has a higher heat range than 75 140 and why was used?

 

[luigisho]

They may or may not take 1 quart of fluid. SHO ptu is 18 oz. Probably charge by the quart but maybe the ptu is different? I would doubt it but maybe

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

The Guide to Understanding the History of the Ecoboost Power Transfer Unit [Study]

Lot’s of talk recently about the Ford Power Transfer Unit (PTU). It is definitely a frequently referenced component and has been known to be prone to many failures. Below is very interesting video I was turned onto by a member of the SHO forum a few weeks ago. It’s not Ford-specific but does a...

www.fortheworkshop.com

 

[Paramedic Terry]

I purchased a 2013 SHO with 142k miles just over a year ago on an online auction. I got it pretty cheap, but it came with many surprises. One of them was the PTU. Fortunately the unit was in apparently good mechanical condition. When I did my first service on it, only a few ounces of smelly, dark burnt oil drained out. I have no clue how many miles were on that oil; probably the factory oil.
I thought draining the oil was difficult until I went to put the new fluid in. I found a thread on this forum where somebody placed an extension on the vent line, running it up far enough to access it from the engine compartment. That was easy enough, but getting the new fluid to flow into the PTU was the challenge. You have to displace the air in the PTU through the same small ID hose that you're pushing the fluid through. It's essentially a hydro lock.
After spilling nearly half of the fluid all over the place, I had an epiphany. I coupled the end of my funnel to the modified vent tube using a 1/2" CPVC coupling & Teflon tape (for an air tight seal) and tied the funnel up to the hood to keep it *****. I then wedged the end of the rubber suction line on my old suction pump into the bottom of the funnel to create a seal. Once an air tight seal was made, I poured the fresh fluid into the funnel. After most of the fluid was in the funnel, I started the suction pump and evacuated the PTU. It doesn't need to be a deep vacuum, just enough to remove most of the air. I then shut off the pump and pulled the end of the suction hose out of the bottom of the funnel. The thick oil began to rush down through the newly extended hose. It went so quickly that it sucked air and I lost vacuum in the PTU. I repeated the process and got the whole qt of fluid in. Once I got all my apparatus removed, I plugged the vent fitting into the new hose and zip tried it in place.
I've been changing the PTU oil every time I change the engine oil to slowly flush out the burnt contaminants.
Tip: While changing the engine oil, I place the bottle of new gear oil on top of the engine to warm it up so as to flow easier.
Below is a picture of my suctioning setup. A hand operated pump should work just fine if you don't have a powered suction pump.

 

[kryptto]

How to Install a PTU Drain Plug, Complete the PTU Vent Extension Modification and an Engine Oil Change [Infographic]

Got the engine as well as the PTU oil done. Engine Oil: Pretty straight forward, just showing you guys the switch I made from el cheapo middle of the road Pennzoil stuff to some better Amsoil fluid and filter… Oil filter is about 33% larger than that cheap service station filter I had on...

www.fortheworkshop.com