Blackb33 Posted April 24, 2021 Report Share Posted April 24, 2021 2016 mkx power transfer unit went bad. Wife was driving down the highway, said she smelled a bad smell, then smoke started coming out profusely of the back end of the car. She pulled over, got it towed to nearest Ford dealership, luckily right at the end of the power train warranty. Don’t know much about the PTU, but just wondering with being at the end of the warranty, could something else go bad in the future because the PTU went bad or could other things have gone bad now because the PTU went bad?? Are there things I should make sure they look over before I leave the dealership service shop after it’s fixed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graftman Posted April 25, 2021 Report Share Posted April 25, 2021 Sorry to hear this happened to you but glad you had warranty left. Ive been through the Ford PTU saga myself. There are some seals they will replace also when they install the new unit. Basically these PTUs get cooked surrounded by the Catalytic converter, engine and transmission because these model year PTUs have no cooling mechanism and very little fluid (the low fluid volume, in my opinion, is the root of the issue). You may as well do the rear diff. FordTechMakuloco does a while series on youtube about these PTUs. FordFlex.net forum has extensive info on these PTUs but I found Makuloco the easiest to understand and fact based vs. Conjecture. Just curious how many kms/miles on your MKX? Ford has included a service interval of 30000mi for PTU fluid change for "extreme duty" which mostly involves service vehicles (see heat issue - cooking the ptu fluid) I change my PTU oil every spring now myself now that I have a PTU with a drain plug. (Oh yeah I forgot to mention its in recent years a drain plug was added.) Welcome to the PTU club (albeit not a very exclusive one) ;) Macker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos36 Posted April 25, 2021 Report Share Posted April 25, 2021 Ford Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 18-2255 (August 22, 2018) addresses AWD Right Side Transfer Case Fluid Leak re: 2016-2018 MKX with 2.0L & 2.7L EcoBoost engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted April 29, 2021 Report Share Posted April 29, 2021 Even though Ford/Lincoln does not have a recommended fluid change schedule, the fix for PTU failure is to have the fluid changed at 30,000 mile (or less) intervals. Annual change is better. About $80 for Ford to do this. Your dealer should be able to do this, otherwise any local transmission shop can do. Make certain they replace with Motorcraft OEM fluid. Maintaining oil changes also play a role, but most people watch this pretty closely. Macker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxy Dancer Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 Motorcraft fluid is sub grade. Use Redline synthetic Gear Oil 75x140. it is superior with high heat protection. Use Redline Synthetic Gear Oil 75x90 in your Rear diff also. Have been using RedLine in our 2013 MKX in these areas since new. There after, PTU changes every 30k miles, Rear diff every 75k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma-2 Posted November 9, 2021 Report Share Posted November 9, 2021 (edited) I use my Ford/Lincoln dealer to change the fluid. They only use Motorcraft (which I trust). I do it every year or two so its a mute point. (I only put on about ~9,000 year miles year and hardly ever go over 95). Edited November 9, 2021 by enigma-2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macker Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 On 10/16/2021 at 12:29 AM, Galaxy Dancer said: Motorcraft fluid is sub grade. Use Redline synthetic Gear Oil 75x140. it is superior with high heat protection. Use Redline Synthetic Gear Oil 75x90 in your Rear diff also. Have been using RedLine in our 2013 MKX in these areas since new. There after, PTU changes every 30k miles, Rear diff every 75k miles. The Motorcraft fluid is fine if it's changed every 30K. Redline makes a good product and will work as well. Personally, I like to stick with the Mfg. fluids, unless I'm planning to drive the vehicle outside the parameters it was designed for. So far, no issues for me. enigma-2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macker Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 On 4/29/2021 at 5:10 PM, enigma-2 said: Even though Ford/Lincoln does not have a recommended fluid change schedule, the fix for PTU failure is to have the fluid changed at 30,000 mile (or less) intervals. Annual change is better. About $80 for Ford to do this. Your dealer should be able to do this, otherwise any local transmission shop can do. Make certain they replace with Motorcraft OEM fluid. Maintaining oil changes also play a role, but most people watch this pretty closely. Did the PTU fluid drain and re-fill myself for the 1st time this summer after listening to a former Ford service tech show ruined PTU's with terrible gunky fluid build up (search YouTube). I used a large automotive syringe with some plastic flexible hosing and snaked it thru the fill hole (2013's don't have the drain plug that Ford added in later model yrs.). The fluid in mine didn't look that bad (just over 60K miles when I did the change). I re-filled the PTU using the Ford synthetic fluid that's recommended. I'll probably check it again in another 30K miles and change if necessary. Cheap insurance. PS> I'm fortunate enough to have access to a hoist which makes this a much easier job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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