Mercon and Mercon V

[flynavydiesel]

Does anyone know the difference in characteristics between Mercon and Mercon V?

My trucks manual specifically states not to use mercon V or any dual rated ATF. I have seen alot of mention of dealerships putting in mercon V due to the lack of mercon. Also read about certian ATF fluids now being dual rated that were not before.

I have a couple of friends running amsoil universal with no adverse affects, so whats the deal?

 

[medic]

The are quite a few Mercon/Mercon V rated fluids that can be used in both applications. There are also a few Mercon V fluids that aren't Mercon compatable. I'm not sure what type of vehicle you drive, but most of the heavy duty Ford transmissions require Mercon while the rest require Mercon V. Some of these transmissions (the older 4r70w) required a Mercon, but were then switched to Mercon V. My truck's owners manual states Mercon, but this caused a torque converter shutter. Mercon V came out around that time and there was a ford TSB that told techs to switch to Mercon V if the customer complained of this TC shutter problem.

A dual Mercon/Mercon V would be your best bet, but it is not as cheap as a Mercon. The really good news is that you have more of a selection of manufacturers than the people using Mercon V. Redline, Royal Purple, Schaeffer's, etc... all make a high quality Mercon fluid, but they don't make a Mercon V. All I can get locally in the Mercon V is Coastal, Aamco, Castrol, & Amsoil.

Edit: Redline D4 may be Mercon V, but I haven't seen that in any Redline literature.

[ December 15, 2003, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: medic ]

 

[MolaKule]

Do a search on Mercon in this thread and you'll find such topics as:

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000569#000000

 

[flynavydiesel]

My truck is an F-350 with the 4r100 which apparently has had issues. I am going with schaeffer's on this next change and am going to stay away from dual rated fluids.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Whimsey]

Heck, if your owner's manual says to use only ATF rated for Mercon, not dual usage, then I'd use Mercon/Dexron III only rated ATF. You do have some synthetic and syn/blend alternatives for Mercon/Dexron III only fluid. I believe Mobil 1 makes one and I know Schaeffer's makes a syn blend #204S. I'm sure other companies make Mercon/Dexron synthetic/semi-synthetic ATF fluids also.

Whimsey