So I need to maintenance my PTU

"Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs" (yowen) 04/21/2014 at 17:18 • Filed to: None

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On my Taurus SHO, the way I picture it, this is the unit that sits on my transmission in order to transfer power to the rear to make AWD work, when it is demanded. What I want to do is change the fluid in it. From what I read people use Royal Purple 01301 Max Gear 75W-140.

Here's the shitty bit, Ford considers the fluid in there good for a lifetime (anytimes I hear this I consider it a myth). People are finding it coming out as a nasty sludge at only 30,000 miles... Anyways, it doesn't have a drain just a fill cap. The message board I go to recommends running the car a bit and then using some sort of (hand)pump to pump as much out as possible from the fill cap, than refill with the new stuff and pump that out as well, getting some more of the old sludge out.

My questions:
- Any recommendations on the pump to use?
- Any tips from any of you that have done something similar?
- I will need 4 jack stands and a jack, any recommendations? (the car apparently needs to be level for this).

Nibbles > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:19

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Drill a hole in the motherfucker and install your own goddamn drain plug

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Nibbles 04/21/2014 at 17:20

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there are instructions as to where to locate this drain, so I may consider this.

crowmolly > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:21

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I wish I could answer you but I can't... since my Edge is on its 3rd PTU in 60,000 miles and one has never lasted long enough to need a fluid change.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > crowmolly 04/21/2014 at 17:23

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OMG! And you may possibly have a similar PTU. Gotta wonder if something else is wrong too at that point... Are your tires all the same circumference?

Nibbles > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:23

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No idea. Tap on the body until you find a thin wall, grab the ol' Makita hammer drill and give it a go (please do not do this)

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Nibbles 04/21/2014 at 17:23

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That's why I was stating "there are instructions". Lol.

crowmolly > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:25

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Yes. They are the stock 245/50/20s on there. Edge Limited AWD. Paper-filter bone stock.

If your car starts to "thump" or worse "hit" when you step on the gas or you smell fluid get your ass to the Ford dealership if you are within your warranty. Fortunately everything that's been done to mine has been covered to my satisfaction- if the PTO was leaking they did not just replace the seal- they replaced the entire unit each time without me even having to bitch.

Reason I mention this is because I would hate for them to void a claim you might have due to the fluid you use for service. I AM NOT SAYING that a SHO will have the same issues I (and other Edge owners) are... just to tread lightly especially regarding a warranty if one is still valid.

Decay buys too many beaters > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:26

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#1 Harbor Freight hand vacuum pump ~$8

#2 Can't help you here, but the method you outlined seems adequate (as long as you can get enough fluid out from the fill hole)

#3 Harbor freight 3 ton low profile steel jack ~$70 Harbor freight 3 ton Jackstands ~$40 for 4 and Harbor freight jack stand pads (to protect the car's undercarriage) ~$17

Some people shit all over harbor freight stuff, but honestly for simple tools, accessories, etc, I've had many more good experiences than bad. Just make sure you leave your wheels on or under the frame as a precaution (I would recommend this no matter how much you decide to spend on jackstands/jacks)

Nibbles > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:27

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Yeah but now you've got me writing up an email to my friendly Ford tech to see if I can get schematics on the PTU so I can give 'em a good solid once- or twice- over and engineer a dumbass-resistant drain plug installation kit

If I make millions, I will send you a royalty check

Nibbles > crowmolly 04/21/2014 at 17:29

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From what I understand, every PTU fix from ford is R&R. I don't think they're servicable in any form or fashion :|

crowmolly > Nibbles 04/21/2014 at 17:30

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Well, that would explain it! They mentioned replacing the seal but I guess that got nixed when they put it in the system.

Will with a W8 races an E30 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 17:51

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First off - don't replace the fluid if you don't have too. It is a lifetime fill, meaning it lasts 150,000 miles for the 95th percentile abusive driver, and Ford puts a lot of effort into making these things survive. If you think it needs a change, get it replaced at the dealer, do it under warranty, if your car blows up don't blame me bla de bla de bla. If you are way out of warranty, read on.

The Taurus SHO PTU is pretty over complicated for a PTU, but it's still a relatively simple unit overall. It consists of a hypoid ring and pinion set like you would find in a rear diff, and 3 spiral bevel gears, like in a standard manual transmission. Far and away the biggest issue with any PTU is heat management - they live in stagnant air right next to the catalyst, and so get incredibly HOT. Next is torque - the clutch pack at the rear end does a good job of limiting the torque the PTU has to transmit, but due to packaging limitations the PTU is still the weak link in the system and is generally pushed really hard to try to get that real mechanical AWD feel.

I would assume the stock gear oil is just that - gear oil. No friction modifiers, as there are no clutches, synchros, or slip limiting devices in there. It is probably relatively thin to help with gas mileage, but I would assume they didn't cheap out - the oil has to take huge abuse.

All that said, I would stay away from the Royal Purple. That stuff is great initially, but has a reputation for breaking down quickly. Use a heavy weight (you don't care about fuel efficiency if you're driving a SHO) high end full synthetic gear oil. I like RedLine Heavy Shockproof. http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?p…

Good luck!

desertdog5051 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 18:40

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Don't most Fords have a removable cover on the diff? I took myF-150 rear end c0ver off and drained it and installed a new gasket and then filled it.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Will with a W8 races an E30 04/21/2014 at 20:01

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People that have replaced it very from people running stock to people that track regularly. They've all found the PTU takes a very minimal amount of oil and thus must get very hot and be prone to breaking down too quickly, necessitating frequent changes. I've ready ~30k miles for stock/dd applications and as aggressive a schedule as 15k miles for people that go to the drag strip.

Personally I like to hammer on the car from time to time, because it's got a lot of power and that's fun to do. I'm close to 60k miles and figure it's HIGH time for a change, based on what I am reading. People have commented that the car actually runs smoother after the change. Not sure if this is a placebo effect or if it's true.

Here's another thing... My car has 1,000 miles of warranty left, maybe I should do it at the dealer in case that causes them to find stuff that may be replaceable/fixable under warranty?

Thank you for all your suggestions!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Nibbles 04/21/2014 at 20:03

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Haha, thanks. Keep me in the loop ;)

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > desertdog5051 04/21/2014 at 20:04

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Maybe in longitudinal/truck applications.

desertdog5051 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 22:54

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Ahhh, yes, you have a FWD application. Forgot.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 04/21/2014 at 23:49

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Double check you're not going to void your warranty.