GETTUM FLUSHED. do yourself a favor and spring for the $50+ and get them FLUSHED at the oil change place. this is one thing you cannot do properly yourself. do them about every 50k or so miles. it's never too late to start. cures a LOT of ailing auto transmissions. if your having problems try flushing FIRST. may save you a bundle on uneeded repairs.

Be careful getting a tranny flush at those Jiffy Lube type places. I had one done on one of my cars by a place like that and they overfilled the transmission.

I have a 99 LX. While I've never had a flush done professionally I have changed the fluid regularly myself... about every 15,000 - 20,000 miles. I'm up to 95K and the transmission seems to be the only trouble-free part on the vehicle.

Or you can just drain and fill more often which would be better for the vehicle in the first place. Allowing the tranny fluid to get dark (meaning it's worn out) is a bad thing. Get on a schedule like you would with regular oil changes and you won't HAVE to flush the tranny fluid because you will dilute the old leftover fluid with new clean fluid.

i agree. but start on a regular maintainence schedule AFTER you've flushed tranny. assuming a used aerostar that has never been flushed.

Okay... If you have the system flushed you would still have to change the filter anyway, correct? So what is the point of flushing it?

ic you don't understand..FLUSHING is done under power/pressure. it cleans the ENTIRE system. every nook and cranny.as well as replace EVERY DROP of fluid. what i meant was flush it the first time, ONCE before you change the filter,so you are starting out with a clean system, and proceed with regular fluid/filter change schedule. again i am assuming a USED vehicle :))which has not been properly maintained till now.

My experience on flushing vs doing a full drain and filter replacement: I was told by the guys that overhaul/repair/service my fleet transmissions (I have 2 Aerostars in the fleet) that the flush/fill deal came about as a way around the problem of having low wage/minimally trained personnel in the quicklube facilities cracking open transmission oil pans and somehow fouling up something. Plus it takes a while. The flush does ok, but you still have the issue of the filter still in there. Along with who knows what. A good tranny tech can get a 'read' on what's going on by looking at the particles that turn up in the bottom of the pan and in the filter. Don't know if you have that luxury with the flushing scenario. I spend a ton annually on keeping up these things, but, hey, I've only had a couple of trans rebuilds necessary, and they were on stuff I bought used and put in the fleet- and found they'd been neglected. One was the 88 Aerostar. Woe is me.

From my point of view the flush/fill is a good way of getting most if not all of the particles that are suspended in the ATF out of the transmission. Yet the vehicle has to has been driven for a length of time and come in and have the flush/fill before the particles have a chance to settle in again.   Then once this is done the oil pan needs to be removed, the ATF filter replaced. This is a good time to clean all of the residue that sticks to the oil pan and the magnet that should be in there to catch all the steel particles.   Most AT problems happen to vehicles that are driven for a long period of time then parked, this vehicles are commonly city drivers or short trip and park, they get to build up a lot of particles that come loose on long trips, then settle in after the vehicle is parked causing problems later.   This has been my experience with my 88 AT Aerostar. I am no tech just a hobbyist that work on his own cars in order to save money. If it was my to say I would stick with a stick/standar 5 speed tranny than an auto, but hey the PantyGun has the last word.       Jaime
88 TC. 88 Aerostar.
My experience on flushing vs doing a full drain and filter
replacement:  I was told by the guys that overhaul/repair/service my
fleet transmissions (I have 2 Aerostars in the fleet) that the
flush/fill deal came about as a way around the problem of having low
wage/minimally trained personnel in the quicklube facilities cracking
open transmission oil pans and somehow fouling up something.  Plus it
takes a while.  The flush does ok, but you still have the issue of
the
filter still in there.  Along with who knows what.  A good tranny
tech
can get a 'read' on what's going on by looking at the particles that
turn up in the bottom of the pan and in the filter.  Don't know if
you
have that luxury with the flushing scenario.

I spend a ton annually on keeping up these things, but, hey, I've
only
had a couple of trans rebuilds necessary, and they were on stuff I
bought used and put in the fleet- and found they'd been neglected. 
One was the 88 Aerostar.  Woe is me.