transmission filter

If you go through he trouble of dropping the pan to change the oil, it would be foolish to not change the filter too. It's only a $10 or $15 part. But if you want to change only the transmission fluid, hook up a suction tube rig that draws the oil up the refill tube. You will get the same five quarts doing that, and it's a lot quicker. You don't have to jack it up of remove/replace twenty pan bolts and gasket.

Some say yes and some say it is not necessary. Many shops us a fluid replacement machine that hooks up to the transmission cooler lines which eliminates the need for dropping the transmission pan. My guess is that this Mercury has over 100,000 miles on it and the fluid hasn't been replaced. I would take it to someone that will remove the transmission pan and change the filter.

Any mechanic who says not to change the filter is not worthy of your business. As the filter loads up, fluid flow through the transmission is reduced. Change it at 50k miles.

I would rather have a pan drop, filter change, pan/ magnet cleaned, six quarts of new fluid than screwing with the cooler lines with12 quarts of new fluid pumping through a dirty restrictive filter and a pan filled with junk.