Regarding drain plugs and level plugs: They only need to be tight enough to not leak or come loose. Unlike most bolts, they don't hold anything together. They're just plugs. Snug is enough. Get it snug, and keep an eye on it. If it seems to be seeping, give it another 1/16th turn. If you want to keep using the same plugs for the life of the car, treat 'em right.
Ford replaced the entire engine about 1 month ago under the recall. the belt tensioner started making noise at 103K miles but I never lost oil pressure. you should have received a letter from Ford back in June stating that they will replace the engine if the belt had failed and caused engine damage. The engine replacement is free.
I don't remember where I found it, but someone had posted somewhere a section from a ford tech manual that it would take 4 to 4.25 quarts. Plus I didn't like how it was shifting.
You have to pull the transmission to change the filter??? What kind of criminal enterprise is Ford running? Clogged transmission filters causing low line pressure and burning up clutch packs is a major cause of transmission failure. I'll add "accessible filters" to my list of things that should be government mandated, like oil dipsticks, no wet belts, no water pumps with oil/coolant seals, no starters in lifter valleys, etc.
all manufacturers are doing that now, or at least on small SUVs and cars. Trucks & large SUVs I believe you can access them by dropping the pan. My '16 Jeep Renegade is the same exact way as was my "16 Chevy Cruze. That is also why I recommend replacing the fluid every 25K miles. Most techs say the same thing.
Did you take the check plug out with the trans hot or cold? If it was hot, you should only get a little dribble out of it and nothing cold since transmission fluid expands when hot. I would go ahead and drain it and measure how much you got out of it. It should be around 4 to 4.25 quarts per Ford spec.
