Valvoline MaxLife for Mercon V?

[Taurus979]

I own a Ford Taurus (2004) that is spec'd for Mercon V Transmission fluid. It is getting hard to find in Eastern Canada as everything seems to be spec'd for generic Dex/Merc.
The local Carquest vendor wanted to sell me MaxLife, but the bottle says spec'd for Mercon not Mercon V and the two are not the same according to the Taurus Forum I belong to. Is Maxlife compatible? I eventually special ordered Valvoline Mercon V, but it was expensive when I can buy Maxlife at Walmart for a lot less. Thoughts please and thank you.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Taurus979
I own a Ford Taurus (2004) that is spec'd for Mercon V Transmission fluid. It is getting hard to find in Eastern Canada as everything seems to be spec'd for generic Dex/Merc.
The local Carquest vendor wanted to sell me MaxLife, but the bottle says spec'd for Mercon not Mercon V and the two are not the same according to the Taurus Forum I belong to. Is Maxlife compatible? I eventually special ordered Valvoline Mercon V, but it was expensive when I can buy Maxlife at Walmart for a lot less. Thoughts please and thank you.


Which taurus forum? Check out the guide to adding a transmission cooler (I wrote it wayyy back in the day!)

I'd ONLY go with Mercon V spec in one of these transmissions. If it does not meet Mercon V (or one of the universal ATFs)I wouldn't put it in an AX4S / AX4N. A lot of people with Tauruses have shuddering problems with regular Mercon / universal.

 

[rshaw125]

I agree. Walmart usually carries Mercon V. Use nothing else. Trans cooler excellent idea.

 

[Taurus979]

That's what I have gathered. I should stick with Mercon V based on the transmissions being a bit finicky (AX4N). It also scares me a bit as the car has 125K on it-- I bought it last summer and I have no service records. The transmission fluid is red and has no precipitate so it must have been changed sometime but with what I do not know. I am going to do a pan drop and filter change when the snow melts. Hopefully all will be fine.

It scares me a bit when you have an older car and take it to a local (non-dealer) repair shop. Heaven Knows what "generic" they throw in for coolant and transmission fluid etc. Cars are so specialized these days.

 

[Taurus979]

Unfortunately, Eastern Canadian Walmarts do not sell Mercon V even in Supertech brand. Neither does Canadian Tire. Only Dex/Merc in several brands. Had to special order the Mercon V. Even Lubeguard is only available at the local transmission shop and costs $30 a bottle.

I have to drive to Maine--100 miles and across the border to get any of that kind of thing, even MMO.. I guess I will need to renew my passport.

 

[martinq]

Originally Posted By: Taurus979
The local Carquest vendor wanted to sell me MaxLife, but the bottle says spec'd for Mercon not Mercon V and the two are not the same according to the Taurus Forum I belong to. Is Maxlife compatible?

Always go for the MaxLife Dex/Merc ATF, it's one of the best things going. In their own words:

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf
"Suitable for use in:
Ford MERCON®, MERCON®V, MERCON®SP and MERCON®LV applications"

It covers ALL Mercon applications and well exceeds the requirements of Mercon V.

 

[martinq]

Originally Posted By: Taurus979
It also scares me a bit as the car has 125K on it-- I bought it last summer and I have no service records. The transmission fluid is red and has no precipitate so it must have been changed sometime but with what I do not know. I am going to do a pan drop and filter change when the snow melts. Hopefully all will be fine.


That sounds like the right thing to do. While you're at it, you can get a pack of strong disc magnets at the hardware store (Home-Depot is where I got mine) and add a few to the pan. Make sure they're far enough away from any solenoids so they don't interfere with the operations (learned that the hard way). The OE magnet is better than nothing but the more metal you pull out of the fluid the better.

 

[901Memphis]

These trans are too picky to use anything but Merc V. I have used Canstrol Merc V in the past but next time im going to use Motorcraft.