With regard to Beta Don's comment on the appearance of the Mercon LV fluid: "My old fluid didn't look all that great after only 25,000 miles - More brown than red. It didn't small that bad, but it wasn't nearly as pretty as the new stuff. I was a little surprised . . . . I thought with so few miles, the old stuff would still look pretty much new. I'll go 50K with the synthetic and change it again." This Ford mechanic says that is normal for this fluid, for what it's worth...