Now that's the kind of answer I'm looking for! Thanks for that! It does appear to be the same part, and since I was going to buy a new pan to have welded anyway, I might as well just buy one that comes with the plug already installed.
Many thanks!
Good to know that my brown 25,000 mile fluid isn't that big a deal, I guess
What blows my mind is that Ford considers this a 'maintenance-free, 100,000 mile transmission' and yet they didn't opt to go with synthetic ATF - Doesn't make too much sense, does it?
Don
If I were dropping the pan to change the filter I would make sure that it went back on with a drain plug. That would make the fluid flush a very easy job. If there is a problem with mixing the the fluid it will be noted on the speck sheet for the ATF. Valvoline's web site will have the PDF