Ptu temp gauge?

[Windstang]

Whether or not Ford recommends an oil change is no reason not to change the oil. To me their service intervals are so the parts last for the warranty period plus a day/mile. 

All oil is subject to thermal breakdown. Ford recommends and oil change for the diff - so why not for the PTU?  After trying to suck out old PTU oil from the fill hole and having difficulty getting all the oil out, I decided to drill and tap a drain hole (at 140,000 kms) and have done 6 drain & fills in the last 1000 kms and the oil is still coming out black - but it is getting more oil like and not so sludgy. When I sucked it out the first time the PTU oil looked awful and was very sludgy and there was a grease like substance on the fill plug so that was probably representative of the rest of the PTU as well as the pictures showed in previous posts. Not much lubrication with that crap and bound to fail.

I was wondering about the jiggly vent on the top so went to a Ford parts counter to ask if I could see a new PTU to see what the vent looked like. There is a Taurus TSB to replace the vent with an extension tube and since they both use the same PTU, the TSB could apply to my MKX. The Parts guy laughed and said they actually did stock the PTU's because they go through a lot of them. He also commented that it was their belief that their should have been a drain to regularly service the PTU.

I believe that it is cheaper to change oil than parts - so replacing the PTU oil can only make it last longer regardless of the recommendation by Ford that it is a lifetime fill  - especially after seeing what my PTU oil looked like. Pull your drain plug and see it there is sludge on it - it's not that hard to remove it.  Then try to dip something into the fill hole and see the condition its oil. Then decide for yourself. It sure is nice to have the drain hole in my PTU. It will now get an oil change each time I change the engine oil. Hopefully one day it will appear golden colour and not black as it does now because it is still dissolving the sludge.

[sholxgt]

My wife works for a Ford/Lincoln chain of dealers.  Here's the information that I gathered by asking service managers and drive line techs at two dealers.

1. These dealers service the Police department vehicles.  Every department has the dealer change the PTU fluid at 30,000 mile intervals.
2. Ford does not call for maintenance of the item, but the techs and managers said they would still change the fluid if it was their personal vehicle.

#2 comes with the asterisk that they will first tell you that "Ford" does not call for changing the fluid.

I think dealerships are in a bind on this subject much like they were with the non-serviceable transmissions.  Ford is telling them what to tell customers and they then have to decide if they want to spew the rhetoric or be honest with the customer.

[SHOdded]

The advantage the PI vehicles have is that the PTU is indeed "serviceable", as it comes with a drain plug.  So it's easier to get reimbursement from Ford and defend warranty claims.  And I doubt Ford is going to have an issue with the PTU being serviced in such a high-visibility application.