I just wanted to stir things up a little but instead of motor oil let's talk transmission fluid

When I change oil I usually drain 3 qts of ATF from the dip stick tube with a hose and suction gun. I have an F150 with 193,000 miles and an old thunderbird with an AOD with 250,000 miles on the original transmissions- no transmission problems.

Here is the kicker I always use the cheapest ATF I can find.

Coastal from Autozone
Flag from CSK
Super Tech from WalMart
I have 2 requirements -type of ATF recommended in the owners manual and cheapest I can find

 

running synthetic ATF doesnt do much....most trans failures are due to worn clutches or bands and synthetic fluid does not make these parts wear less...

 

Use whatever you want and maintain it however you want - it's your vehicle, not ours.

 

No controversy to be had...it's all the same. There's one and only one single company in Nevada that makes all the tranny fluid for the entire world. They also only make one formula...Mercon, Type F, and all this other stuff is just hype, it's all the same. They bottle it under different labels with different prices to feed the human psyche. It's human nature and consumer nature to feel like you get more when you pay more and these guys are taking advantage of that. Because of this, I'm sure your tranny is just as well off as mine

 

Trust me, that isn't true. Most transmission failures are from overheating due either to slippage on a fluid that hasn't got the lubricity to handle the slippage that is supposed to be there, lack of proper cooling in general or from asking the transmission to do things it isn't designed to do.

Darrin

 

Copied from the duplicate thread.

 

glad to know all ATF is the same- maybe explains why cheap works as good as expensive name brand.

Mercon should work in my Chrysler as well as ATF4+?

My usual fluid change interval is 4000 miles

 

4K for transmission fluid?
Isn't that a bit excessive?
I had mine done at a shop at 30K mi., now I'm at 70K and I'm thinking of having it done again.
I think it's important to have the filter replaced along with the fluid.
(RMeidlinger)--Wouldn't just replacing a few quarts at a time, and leaving the crud in the filter kind of defeat the purpose?
My .02

 

um no...heat in a transmission does not come from slipping clutches. Heat comes from shearing fluid in the torque converter. If you have slipping going on in your transmission you have big problems....transmission failures due to heat are from lack of cooling or overheating from fluid shearing in the torque converter to long.

 

Well, heat will come from the TC, but I think there's many other places where it will also be generated in an auto tranny. For example, when a clutch isn't engaged the clutch plates and steels still rub against each other constantly producing heat. And I would imagine that Darrin is right, and that there is a certain amount of slippage (although minimal) which would also build heat. Like when a clutch is engaging for a shift; the clutch will slip for a second before its fully engaged.

I agree also that any fluid meeting the Ford specs will do just fine in a stock transmission, with stock power put through it if its changed often enough. So of course its gonna perform the same in that situation... you can't tell by looking at it that anything is different because its doing what it is designed to do, and being changed often enough to not deteriorate noticeably... Now, I know for a fact that a tranny can survive a good long time being abused and overheated even with conventional ATF. I did this to my first 4R70W, as it didn't have its fluid changed in probably 100K miles. So conventional can last a good long time... but its not exactly healthy for your transmission as proven when mine died and the fluid that came out of it was black with clutch material, and everything inside of it had a nice coating of clutch material.... You can't tell me that a synthetic will not hold up better to abuse than a conventional ATF would though. Its designed to withstand higher temperatures for longer periods of time without getting ruined.

Also, what company is this that supposedly makes all the ATF out there, that simply labels it differently? Show me something to back that up, because I highly doubt that's true lol... If it was I would hope someone besides you would have noticed this and would have brought it to our attention before now.

- Erik

 

What about transmission additives.. Just wonderering.. I have had to drain out transfluid before .. as it was overfilling itself due to what was diagnosed as a leak in the trans cooling line letting water into the transmission fluid >>>>??? Go figure.. Anyway I got that fixed for whatever it was worth // I am thinking about pulling a quart of trans fluid out since I just had it changed and running some LUCAS in it.. The dang thing has 164000 miles on it .. and I dont have a billion dollars to buy another cast aluminum transmission

 

I would not use any additives! Many of them have seal softeners and they can cause problems down the road.

 

Some of you people have not picked up on Galaxy's sarcasm.........

He's an Amsoil dealer, and if anyone knows that all tranny fluids are NOT the same, he would. The OP started this thread to stir up the pot, and he responded in kind.

 

If you only change out 3 quts at a time, you never have clean fluid. Those three just slightly dilute the other 13 quts in there and will soon be just as dirty.

I got it glc. It's not Nevada, it's Arkansas.

 

Dude, come on...seriously...really? You missed that one??

I know over 50% of the meaning in written communications is lost due to the lack of verbal or bodily gestures, but come on!