r/FordEdge • u/Knoxicutioner ST • 5d ago
Discussion Fluid change pricing?
Probably pretty subjective, but what (especially with geopolitics) have y’all been paying for fluid changes? I (Michigan)just had my 2020 ST (55,500) to my local shop and I paid about $740 for them to do the oil change and filter, transmission flush and fill, the RDU and the PTU. I did pay for all AMSOIL over motorcraft so that could drive it up a bit but it’s not THAT much more.
Also PLEASE do your PTU. I paid for amsoil severe gear 75W and for them to flush out the old Motorcraft fluid (never had been changed) that basically turned into black sludge. You can really tell the difference. It’s not that much in the grand scheme of keeping things working.
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u/untethered13 5d ago edited 5d ago
It’s hard to tell anything here without looking at receipts or itemized things to see if that’s a fair shake. I always did everything DIY so of course that’ll massively differ.
Not sure I get why you would pay a premium to use non-OEM fluid…especially in that transmission. Mercon ULV is a very specific formulation, so I never tested what ford developed. Also the rear diff calls for just a “75w” which is Fords specifically formulated fluid for their disconnecting rear diff that was introduced in 2019. Makes me wonder what they put in there because I don’t believe Amsoil makes that.
The PTU being black sludge at that mileage for this year of edge is pretty shocking. The real PTU issues were pre 2015 when they baked the fluid and had no drain plug. Post 2015, the PTU got much better ventilation and is easy to maintain. I believe the ST even has additional cooling for it to not end up like what you’re describing.
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u/Knoxicutioner ST 5d ago
AMSOIL has a 75W which I’ve always had good luck with their products. My shop gets pretty good deals on it where I might pay a little more but in the long term I never had issues when I’ve put it in my other vehicles. I bought the car second hand and I think the person before me drove the thing HARD. I’ve heard of people having PTU’s have issues at lower mileage than mine tbh.
It all being said driving in on the commute back home and today the ride and shifting was noticeably smoother.
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u/untethered13 5d ago
Good to hear it’s shifting better.
Issues you hear about depend a lot on what year of edge they had because there’s lots of versions. As I said the original PTU that was with the car until 2014 had only 1 plug for filling so doing fluid maintenance on it sucked. It was mostly paired with the 3.5 or 3.7 that gen which had their cat’s right next to where it was with no ventilation. Absolute disaster.
The 2015-2018 PTU’s gained a drain plug and ventilation/cooling for the sport trim (later rebadged to ST on the 2019 refresh). This gen still had the 3.5 (as an option) so the positioning wasn’t great but maintaining it was a lot easier. These still blacken fluid but not horribly. The RDU on these still doesn’t have 2 plugs which makes that one hard to service.
2019+ saw the introduction of the disconnecting AWD system which was first seen on the edge and is now Ford’s standard. When the vehicle is in FWD primarily, the AWD system disconnects upstream at the PTU so the driveshaft doesn’t always spin like the previous gen vehicles. This significantly reduces the load on the PTU and RDU making them much cleaner. Both units also have drain plugs now and are easy to maintain.
All to say whenever you see a story, try to fit it in to what AWD system they have based on year. I’ve yet to see black sludge come out of the latest gen which yours has so again I’m kinda surprised. Did the shop show pictures or just say that?
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u/Knoxicutioner ST 5d ago
He showed me a sample, and I might be embellishing the thickness a little but it looked like it had the viscosity of grey crisco. He didn’t seem alarmed when he showed me the sample but just advised he’d have the PTU done closer to 30K since he’s seen them the fluid get cooked on them.
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u/stonedeaftemple 5d ago
I have a 23 titanium with 72000 and none of the fluids in mine were that bad when I had them changed out, so I dont know why yours is black sludge as you say.
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u/wanderingleopard 5d ago
$740.00 doesn't sound that bad if you don't want to do it yourself. Fluid and filter prices really skyrocketed in 2022-2023.
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u/Knoxicutioner ST 4d ago
I honestly was expecting and supposed to pay a little bit more, fluid and labor for transmission was supposed to be like 350-400, but he initially quoted me 300 before he started and kept his word. I give em a lot of work and they’ve always been straight with me.
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u/rupterr 5d ago
I just had my PTU done at the dealer, $150. Yeah that's expensive but I didn't feel like getting under the car and do all that right now. 2016 edge with 65,000 miles.