Question about T-IV colour

[RF Overlord]

OK, here's the setup: it's my niece's car...'06 Ford Fusion with 30,000 miles on the Aisin AW-F21 6-speed. This transaxle specs Mobil 3309, which Ford sells as "Premium Automatic Transmission Fluid" for $9.50/qt and Toyota sells as T-IV for $5.36/qt. So far, it's a no-brainer, right?

While doing a drain-and-fill, I noticed that the fluid looked quite dark...not brown oxidised dark, but more like a good red wine. The fresh stuff is bright red like cherry cough syrup.

So here's my question: is this normal for T-IV? IOW, does T-IV naturally turn dark after a certain amount of use and doesn't indicate any problem or was I just lucky that I caught it in time?

Ford says the fluid doesn't need changing until 150,000 miles. After seeing what came out after only 30,000, I'd lean toward option "B", but I want to hear from people with more experience with this fluid.

BTW, the Mercon V that comes out of my 115,000-mile 4R70W every 15,000 miles looks just like brand new, and it gets driven hard.

 

[unDummy]

I find it normal for most ATFs.
As long as its not burnt, don't worry about the color.

You'll probably see that cherry red ATF turn into that good red wine in another 30k.

 

[tig1]

Does the new Mobil 1 ATF spec for your transmission? If so it's a great oil.

 

[bdcardinal]

on that particular trans, turning dark fairly quickly is not uncommon.

 

[Billy_D]

I do a drain and refill on a toyota that calls for T-IV. The fluid comes out dark. It's normal for Aisin transmissions.

 

[hal]

it'll get darker red like you observed, see if it still smells sweet like ATF; it should. my car has the AW55 and i change it every 30k, flushing it every other time.

 

[crinkles]

first drain of mine at 55,000km came out like a dark almost purple red wine.

 

[StormRider]

The fluid in our 07 Montego with the same trans, came out roughly the same color, but it always looked bright red on the dipstick when I checked it. I used the Motorcraft fluid for warranty reasons when I drained it at 45K. I only drained out 3 quarts so I'll probably do another drain at 50K..

 

[G-MAN]

Typically, the change in color of ATF is solely a function of how the red dye reacts with heat and the additives in the fluid. It's not really an indication of the service life of the fluid.

NB: Because of the unique additive package in ATF+4 and how it reacts with the red dye in use, Chrysler specifically warns their service techs not to judge the condition of the fluid based on its color.

 

[Kestas]

With my limited experience owning a Volvo S40, I noticed the same thing RF Overlord noticed. During the 40K service, the fluid was somewhere between dark chocolate and black... the new fluid (T-IV) was a deep red.

I believe concensus is to do 30K changes with Aisin-Warner transmissions and T-IV fluid.

And to answer your question, you're okay to use the cheaper T-IV instead of the overpriced Ford fluid. I'm guessing they are produced at the same refiner.

 

[PT1]

Normal for AW transmissions.

 

[RF Overlord]

Thank you all for your responses...I feel better now.

I was going to do a third drain-and-fill at the next OCI, but if the dark purple-red wine colour is normal, maybe I'll just do it yearly.

I'm used to working with Fords and older GM stuff, so all my experience is with DexIII/Mercon/Mercon V, with a little Type F thrown in. This is the first time I've worked on a badge-engineered Ford/Mazda, but since my sister and B-I-L have just bought Toyotas, I better start learning fast.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: RF Overlord
Thank you all for your responses...I feel better now.

I was going to do a third drain-and-fill at the next OCI, but if the dark purple-red wine colour is normal, maybe I'll just do it yearly.



What is the trans capacity and how much do you get out on a drain fill?

 

[The Critic]

2006 Corolla, 56k miles, the original T-IV looks brownish/purple.

 

[RF Overlord]

Originally Posted By: PT1
What is the trans capacity and how much do you get out on a drain fill?
The book says 7.4 qts dry-fill, but it's not clear if that includes the torque converter. Using the drain plug gets about 3.5 qts out and I did 2 drain/fills back-to-back, with a trip around the block in between, so I figure I got about 70% changed. Since the original fluid looked dark but clean, in light of the responses I got here I'm going to assume it was not actually bad to start with.