My son works at one of those fluid change places, engine oil, tranny oil, radiator,etc. He said they charge $57.00 to flush the tranny and add 14 qts. of oil. I said that the oil cost that much. He said they use pennzoil mercon III and put an additive in it to make it a mercon V. Sounded kinda scarry to me. Any info on an additive to make merconIII, merconV? I still think I'll do it myself!

 

I wouldn't trust that. Put an additive in to change it to mercon V. I thought Mercon V was a synthetic blend. That must be one heck of an additive.

Maybe ask them if you buy your own Mercon V how much would they charge to change it.

I got my Mercon V at Autozone for $2.99 a quart. It's an Aamco brand sythetic blend. You need 17 quarts I believe. I would avoid the generic Coastal brand.

 

Yup, AutoZone has it fairly cheap. When I did my tranny it took almost 13 quarts. I also used the Aamco fluid. I'm not sure how the flush works when switching from mercon III to mercon V. Does it mix? These two fluids are not compatible.

As far as the additive, I'm not sure, but it just doesn't sound good.

 

My dipstick says Mercon V.

I would go with what it came with.

 

To play it safe, buy 13 qrts of ATF. You'll only need 13 if you change your torque converter, too. Aj Ragno schooled me on the topic of tranny fluid change! Right on man!

 

hapynzap, It is very common to switch from mercon III to mercon V. There was a TSB that told dealers to change out the earlier trucks from mercon III to mercon V if they had tourqe coverter shutter. I switched my '97 to mercon V about a year ago. My transmission & yours are the same, just defferent fluids from the factory.