Mobil 1 ATF Vs Dino ATF

[wn1998]

I have been using Mobil 1 ATF in my wife's 4-speed auto in her Nissan Versa. The Versa has a convenient ATF drain plug so I can do a simple drain and fill (4 quarts) in 20 minutes. I drain and fill once a year.

Am I throwing away my hard earned money on the mobil 1? I have been paying about $35/drain and fill. I could be doing it with standard dino ATF for about 1/2 the price.

 

[ueberooo]

yes, I wouldn't pay a huge premium over regular. Valvoline Nexgen has a nice middle of the line blend that's affordable and even has a high mileage variety.

Also, are you doing a single drain and fill type flush or the repeated variety (drain-fill)^n times ? If the repeated then go for the cheap stuff except maybe on the last fill.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Ifyou like to do a simple drain and fill with M1 ATF then once every 3-4 years, once a year is not necessary at synthetic ATF.

 

[SuperDave456]

How many drain and fills have you done?
How many miles does she drive a year?
Is it all City? All Highway?

There are a lot of variables.
It has been a couple years since I did a drain and fill on my Taurus.
I did one tonight and was glad. It had begun to turn brown and there was very little Mercon V odor to it.

Was I having transmission issues? Nope, I did feel a difference when it was 107 degrees outside and I wondered if all the stop and go driving was hurting my trans. It turns out that the fluid is pretty brown and that I should probably do another line drain and fill in another 5,000 miles just to get some fresher overall percentage of fluid in there.

Preventative maintenance is just that. $35 bucks a year isn't that much. Although if she only drives 3,000 miles a year... then yeah, you might back off and only do a drain and fill every 2 years. You are only replacing a fraction of fluid at a time. That is something to be taken into consideration.

That being said. What is the total capacity of the Transmission?

It matters. For instance, If you have a 12 quart capacity and are only exchanging 4 quarts a year, and she drives 15,000 miles a year. In 4 years you will have some fluid (a quarter of the capacity) that has 60,000 miles on it. Some of your fluid will have 45,000 some 30,000, and 15,000 miles on the "fresh" stuff.
In that case you are best to keep up your 4 quart routine. As Mobil 1 can handle that.
A lesser, cheaper, fluid may not.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Towncivilian]

The '09 Versa fluid capacity is 8 & 3/8th quarts.

wn1998, are you using a new crush washer each drain & fill? It should be replaced every time. It's the same crush washer used for the oil drain plug.

 

[wn1998]

To answer some questions:

1. My wife drives about 16k per year (mostly city)
2. I typically do a ATF drain and fill with my spring oil change. I only do 1 drain and fill.
3. I have done 2 drain and fills
4. I haven't noticed a crush washer on my oil or atf drain plugs.

Our goal is to keep the versa's 4 speed auto transmission trouble free for atleast 150-175k

 

[CharBaby]

Like others have said, once a year with M-1 is too much waste. Stay with the M-1 but go longer intervals i.e. 2-3yrs(you pick).

I must say that I have M-1 ATF(in my '80 Firebird FORMULA THM) and I really like it. Used M-1 in my '04 Altima 2.5 in the past(1st drain/fill) and now am using Castrol IMV. I like the IMV too but, there is that once in awhile weird shift that never happened with M-1. Could be that the car is almost 8 years old now. I'd have to go back to M-1 and see if the same occures. Maybe next time!

IMV works great in my daughters '06 Mazda3 2.0L 4spd(2X now)
IMV works good in my wifes RX-300 but, that tranny has always has a 1-2 shift lag since new no matter what ATF I use.

I know people that never change the ATF in any of their vehicles and never have an issue up to about 150,000-200,000 miles then, Kah-boom! Almost makes me wonder how long their tranny would have lasted with good maintenance.

 

[JOD]

personally, I'd stick with what you're doing. 16k a year, mostly city in a fairly challenging climate, both hot and cold? I'd go with the higher-quality fluid. And it's not like you're doing a 3X drain and fill or cooler line flush every year, you're replacing 1/2 the fluid. That means you'll have older fluid in there (some with 16K, some with 32K, and so on). Obviously you'll have less 'old' fluid in there, but I just don't see the point in trying to save a few bucks when transmission failures often end up being what puts a car in the graveyard.

If you were dumping all of the fluid every 16K, I'd probably feel differently--but I think your routine is pretty much perfect. And having used M1 ATF in my power steering pump, and can attest to the fact that it's a lot higher quality fluid than a conventional MercV fluid.

 

[tig1]

I started using M1 ATF when Mobil first came out with it in the early 90s and it's the only fluid I use in Fords. To date I have not had a tranny failure or PS pump for that matter with that fluid. I also have a drain plug on both Fords and I change mine every two years. Mileage may vary from 30K to 40K. Good stuff but a little pricy but the differance doesn't matter to me when you consider I only change every two years.

 

[SOHCman]

I am jealous of all you "drain plug" tranny people! I have to drop the pan each time. Do you not have a filter to change in there as well???

Anyway, I have used M1 the past 2 fluid changes, and change it every two or three years when the tranny seems to start shifting rough or clunking. This is in the 99 taurus with duratech engine.

I was going to try a more expensive ATF this time (redline or amsoil) as the vehicle is nearing 200K, should I just stick with M1?? I have been doing single drain/fills because triple drains would use about 27 quarts iirc.

 

[meep]

M1 syn is an excellent ATF. They make great driveline fluids. I agree, once a year is overkill. 30k would be a pretty aggressive interval IMO with a syn ATF. if you are this interested in keeping the tranny up, have you considered better filtration? Inline filter on the cooler circuit? beats stock, if it even has a filter...

M

 

[RF Overlord]

^^^Agree with both SuperDave and JOD^^^
Originally Posted By: SOHCman
I am jealous of all you "drain plug" tranny people! I have to drop the pan each time. Do you not have a filter to change in there as well???
Many times there's room to install a "universal" drain plug on the pan. Even if it isn't in the optimum position for complete drainage, it should still allow you to drain enough that you don't take an ATF shower every time you drop the pan.

As far as the filter, that depends on the manufacturer as to whether it requires regular replacement. My Fords specify in the service manual that the filter doesn't need to be replaced during routine servicing, only if the transmission is being repaired due to failure or contamination. I replaced the one in the car I bought new at 15,000 miles and won't replace it again until 60,000 miles although I do 15,000-mile drain & fills to help keep the fluid fresh (trans holds 18 quarts and only 4 come out during a drain & fill).

Many cars, mostly FWD transaxles, have no serviceable filter in the first place.

 

[Smokescreen]

I use dino ATF but with yearly intervals. I like to keep more fresh fluid in the sump at any given moment. For me synthetic fluid only excels at low and high temperature extremes, maybe in some additives but other than that there is really no difference in performance day to day. If you aren't utilizing the fluid in those temperature extremes, dino/synthetic fluids still accumulate particles at relatively the same rate, so I keep my fluid fresh. I have never had a transmission problem in any vehicle I have owned.

 

[Kira]

Hello,, +1 on Smokescreen's outlook. Keeping it clean is task #1. A transmission drain-and-fill at every other oil change has worked well for the family's vehicles. I have noticed the tendancy for my 2002 Volvo 5 speed transmission to shift a little oddly once hot. For that reason alone I'll be switching over to a synthetic. I don't know if I should just do a drain-and-fill now and again in the Spring or do a cooling line disconnect flush. I'd get a clearer "before and after" picture with the more complete flush and avoid dillution inaccuracies. I intend to use the Wolf's Head universal synthetic as it has a 3309 mention on its label. Kira

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Kira
I intend to use the Wolf's Head universal synthetic as it has a 3309 mention on its label. Kira


That fluid claims to meet the specifications for pretty much every transmission ever manufactured, including Ford's chain-drive CVT transmission? Based on that alone, I seriously have to question just how much due diligence went into making those claims.

If you're doing a drain and fill every other oil change, I have a hard time believing the fluid has sheared out of grade enough to affect performance. Have you replaced the B4 servo cover and updated the software?

 

[Kira]

Hello, The software was updated 3 years ago. I'll check to see if there are any newer or better downloads. I read posts about the B4 servo cover and it's on it's way now. At about $20 it's absolutely the next step to take. I'll install it (looks REAL simple) and report back. Thanks, Kira