Mercon SP remains readily available at the Ford dealerships in my neck of the woods. Not sure why folks here have reported their inability to find it....

 

this will help. a picture's worth . . .

and yeah, any good auto parts store will have mercon sp - NO chemical difference from lifegaurd.

 

The problem with his idea of a flush is that he is not changing the filter or dropping the pan to clean the magnet. But it is MUCH easier for him. Now if you use him MAKE sure he properly fills the transmission. It has to be done correctly and DO NOT just measure the fluid that comes out as a short cut. At this point you have no idea what the fluid level currently is.

You really want a new filter and a look in the pan when you service the transmission. Be sure and clean the magnet as I said above. It will have some hair on it and that's normal wear.

Yes Ford has moved on the the LV (Low Viscosity) type Mercon/Dextron fluid to improve gas mileage. You should be able to find the SP somewhere else. I see all the parts store still show it so maybe a quick call to a local parts house?
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Make sure to tighten the two 10mm bolts holding the throttle cable to the transmission while it's in the air. There are numerous threads on this board concerning them coming loose. They were near falling off when I bought by STR at 86,000 miles.

 

When I changed my ATF initially at 55k miles, 12 of the 21 T-27 torx heads essentially turned to dust (stripped) as they were loosened. It took me hours using a dremel tool to slot each of the bolts and loosen them with a modified very wide flat-tipped screw driver. They were super tight but were easy to remove once they broke loose. Looking back, I wish I would've hit each bolt with just a touch of heat before trying to remove them. Maybe more of them would've come out without stripping.

After two Jag ATF changes, 55k miles & 99k miles, here's my advice:

• Use the video clip that's already been suggested above
• Purchase the sleeve, even if it is not leaking (<$20)
• Purchase an OEM pan
• Non contact temp gun
  Temperature Gun
  Temperature Gun
  ($13)
• Purchase 6 to 7 quarts of ATF (not 5 as you will spill some, $14/each + shipping)
• I did not use the new OEM T-40 Torx bolts as their metal seemed too soft, I used hardened M6, 5mm Allen head bolts with washers from ACE Hardware and used a touch of anti-seize ($15) ...all 21 non-OEM bolts were removed easily at 99k miles.

My transmission shifted great the entire time I had the STR from 7k miles until 102k miles. Yes -- I am the guy who raced his STR many times at the track and never had a problem with the transmission. After 100s of 1/4 mile passes since 2008, the only thing that broke on my STR was a motor mount that was less than $40.

 

1320racer:
Good suggestions. One post that I read a while back suggested the small air wrench in the removal of the famous pan bolts. I would guess that a combination of heat and gentle air wrench work might help get more of them out successfully. Thanks,Tom

 

One other tip is the pan is plastic and will be replaced because it's integral with the filter. You can break the edge of the plastic pan off the screws. Now you can use vise grips on the screw head to get them out.

 

The bolts are actually exposed at the top as they poke thru the transmission rim.

You therefore can soak them with something like "Blaster" penetrating oil hours before you tackle the job.