What’s the latest on Mercon ULV fluids? I see Amsoil has a true ULV now but it’s roughly 4x the cost of Motorcraft. Does it offer any actual advantages? Is MC still king?
Latest ULV discussion?
- Thread starter buck91
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As I recall Valvoline has a "full synthetic" ULV now and it's dirt cheap on rock auto. Pentosin Also has one but it's 2x the cost of Valvoline.
I've posted this before.
At least for all of the 10R and 10L transmissions.
It is far more important to keep the fluid as clean as possible by changing the fluid often. They all suffer from easily damaged valve bodies usually caused by particles in the fluid.
If you can afford to change often with a bespoke fluid, by all means, go for it, it certainly won't hurt. But for those of us that don't have $20 bills falling out of the sky, the MC/Dex fluids work just as well. (And Valvoline when it goes on sale)
LG Platinum has also helped out lots of 10R owners that I've been paying attention to.
At least for all of the 10R and 10L transmissions.
It is far more important to keep the fluid as clean as possible by changing the fluid often. They all suffer from easily damaged valve bodies usually caused by particles in the fluid.
If you can afford to change often with a bespoke fluid, by all means, go for it, it certainly won't hurt. But for those of us that don't have $20 bills falling out of the sky, the MC/Dex fluids work just as well. (And Valvoline when it goes on sale)
LG Platinum has also helped out lots of 10R owners that I've been paying attention to.
Been out for years now. Still more $$ than Motorcraft or Dexron. I buy it when I can get it on sale and it is roughly the same price as MC.
Is ULV really needed or is it used for carb reasons. A bunch of the Explorer ST guys are using Amsoil LV in the 10r60 that calls for ULV.
It is a crapshoot.
Some people experience really buggered up shifting from running a higher viscosity fluid in 10X's. The boxes are designed for ULV, including the valves and the shift programming so it is probably best to stick with it unless you really want to experiment.
I’ve used the regular Amsoil LV in mine before they came out with the ULV and couldn’t tell much if any difference, however I have not used their ULV yet.
So far I’ve used
Motorcraft ULV
Amsoil LV
Valvoline ULV
Triax ULV ( current )
Always use lubegard red at 1oz per qt. I do a drain and fill every 20-25k just because. I’ve never bothered to pull the pan and change the filter. Transmission shifts great at 127k.
So far I’ve used
Motorcraft ULV
Amsoil LV
Valvoline ULV
Triax ULV ( current )
Always use lubegard red at 1oz per qt. I do a drain and fill every 20-25k just because. I’ve never bothered to pull the pan and change the filter. Transmission shifts great at 127k.
Which trans?
I've been using Valvoline ULV in a Fleet Transit Connect loaded with 1500 lbs of stuff in the back. I change the ULV every 20,000 miles. I decided that changing it more often is likely better than using a boutique fluid and extending the interval.
Apparently ford ULV is cheap garbage and new ford 10 speeds are incredibly harsh on transmission fluid making for a VERY bad combo.
Amsoil ULV ATF costs more ($16.10 in the sqz pack), sure. But it will keep your transmission clean.
https://www.amsoil.com/p/amsoil-sig...c-automatic-transmission-fluid-ulv/?zo=515729
How is it cheap garbage?
Pop by F150 forums and see how bad the initial drains look, specially if the truck tows. It doesn't last at all.
So either it is dog poo poo or ford is doing "lifetime fluid" shenanigans again.
Either way for the same amount of mileage HPL and Amsoil ATF comes out much better.
Little bit to unpack here.
If you wait until Ford says, which is 150k miles, then yea, the fluid is going to be trashed.
If you do something reasonable, like 30k changes, then the fluid comes out fine.
Ford is completely out to lunch with that fluid recommendation, and all of the '10X' transmissions have issues with the valve bodies, so people are best served by early and frequent changes.
10r80. 2019 F150
ULV is known to darken considerably but do we have any UA's showing that its fouling or breaking down when it does so? It might be but I can't say for sure.
Help me understand what makes these hard on the fluid. There's a ton of ratio coverage so you're not slipping the converter, low clutch energies because all the ratio steps are small, runs in lockup most of the time so not making heat.
I'm not saying they don't have problems, but don't get the fluid as culprit.
They're not.
The only thing that is the 'fault' of the fluid is it carries around the particles that eat up the valve bodies. There's no abnormal wear that's attributed to the fluid.
Even the 'trashcan' wear issue is just down to them using a softer aluminum in the part with the steel clutches wearing on it. Could they solve that with a thicker fluid? Maybe, but they're hard anodizing them now and that seems to have largely solved it.
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The warranty on my Silverado will be up by the time I do another transmission fluid change. Going to be using that instead of the Dexron ULV.
I 2nd this and would probably just use Valvoline MaxLife ATF as its consistently available at a decent price.
I would add that it's more important to keep the magnets (in any transmission) clean as well as the pan compared to just changing fluid. I will always add extra magnets if it's feasible.
