What transmission fluid are you using?

[The Critic]

List the:

1) Year/Make/Model/Transmission
2) Miles on Transmission (approx)
3) Service Interval for ATF/MTF and rough description of past transmission service history.
4) Describe method of servicing, i.e. flush, drain/refill, multiple drain/refills (how many)
5) Brand/Model ATF or MTF
6) Filter Change and pan cleaning at each service, yes or no?
7) Additional "accessories" on the transmission (i.e. remote filter, cooler, etc)

For me:

A)
1) 92 Toyota Previa
2) First service was done in Fall 2004 with 44,000 miles on the transmission, yes original transmission. Plan to drain and refill through the drain plug only every 30-40,000 miles at the dealer.
3) Currently 55,000 on the transmission
4) Single drain and refill, removes approx 4 qts.
5) Chevron Dexron III(H)/Mercon from the dealer
6) No
7) None

B)
1) 96 Saturn SL2, 4-spd GM TAAT unit
2) Service interval is approx 30-40,000 miles. First service was done at 35K with Pennzoil Dexron III(G) and new OEM spin-on filter, second was done at 70K with Dexron III(G) but spin-on filter was NOT replaced.
3) 88,000, but will have to rebuild soon due to possible problem with 1st gear.
4) Single drain/refill, removes approx 4 qts out of 7
5) Varies...Any DexronIII(H) or Dexron VI fluid from now on
6) No
7) None

[ February 26, 2006, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Michael Wan ]

 

[bulwnkl]

1) '00 Plymouth Neon 5-sp (NV-T350 tranny), bought used @35,000 miles.
2) 66,000 miles
3) Fluid change every 30-35,000 miles. Factory fill was Mopar MS-9417. Drained when we got it, just drained it again this week.
4) Pull drain plug, catch old fluid, send to recycler, fill with new fluid.
5) Red Line MTL 65%, Red Line C+ (that's their ATF+4) 35%.
6) There is no filter and no pan.
7) Nothing whatsoever.

 

[Colt]

'05 Ford Explorer
5R55W trans
13900 miles at change with filter.
Drain and purge out old fluid out while pumping new Amsoil ATF in.
Purged 17 Qts of Amsoil to get better % of Amsoil.
Just might drop the pan fluid and add more Amsoil for maybe a 95-98% Amsoil ATF in the trans.
I'll probably do it all again at 55-60K miles.

 

[unDummy]

2003 Mazda 6i 4 speed requiring Mazda MV fluid
28k miles
Interval every 6 months
Simple single drain/refill 3-4 quarts
MerconV/multivehicle ATFs, most recent Valvoline
Pan/filter will be serviced at 100k
Latest TCM reflashed, Lubegard Red

2000 Nissan Altima 4-speed requiring D-matic
87k miles when totalled
Every 6 months
Simple single drain/refill 4-5 quarts
Mobil1 ATF most of the time, MerconV and Multivehicles ATF also used
Pan/filter serviced at 45k and not needed
Various Smartblend and Lubegard products tried

1991 Eagle Premier ZF 4 speed requiring Dexron
300k miles
Interval every oil change
Simple 3 quart drain/refill
Usually cheapest Dexron(Coastal/Esso)
Filter/pan serviced at 180k miles
1/2 bottle of Transmedic at every drain/refill

1997 Ford Taurus 4 speed requiring Mercon
90k miles and now dead
Tranny rebuilt twice under 3y/36k and fully updated
After final rebuild(33k), cooler line flushed and again at 60k per FSM
Filter serviced at both flushes
Junk tranny died again(no and false shifts)

1988 Nissan Maxima 4-speed
200k miles when traded in
Interval once a year
Simple single drain/refill with Mobil1 ATF or Castrol Syntec
Never serviced pan/filter(don't think it had one)
Aftermarket small additional ATF cooler

The Mazda is the lamest shifting tranny. It is a known lemon. Maintenance and keeping an eye on software updates has kept it trouble free.

The Nissan Altima has an excellent tranny. The shifts tend to be a little soft and like the Mazda, it wants to upshift as soon as possible for MPG. Killing the OD in the Altima during non highway driving makes it likeable. The Mazda manual shift feature is a gimmick.

The Eagle Premier and ol' Maxima have some of the best programmed trannies around. The Maxima was used as a delivery driver and was seriously abused with no issues. The Eagle has a known short life junk ZF transmission that really only needs OCD maintenance to last forever. Nissan needs to drive their old cars again and rethink the sloppiness that I've felt in their new cars. Mazda needs to drive old Nissans and the Eagle and fire ALL their transmission programmers.

The Ford tranny would be good if they could iron out solenoid & sensor issues. Nothing like blowing a perfectly good tranny because of an electronic issue. False neutrals while stuck in traffic suck. The final rebuild, with all TSB updates, did last 4x as long as the original trannies(16k/33k). Whether it lived longer becaue of Mobil1 or better parts from the last rebuild won't ever be known. Ford needs to demand "job 1" from their suppliers and transmission engineers.

 

[UncleS2]

1. 97 Dodge Neon 5-sp MTx
2. Currently over 188,000 miles & counting.

3. Factory said manual transaxle was "lifetime fill", with no recommended fluid change interval. I bought the car new, no one has ever touched the transaxle fluid but me.
4. Drained & refilled twice now, car driven & fluid warm both times. Nominal capacity ~2.3 qts, mine seems to hold closer to 2.1 qt.
5. First drain/fill at 116,000 miles, refilled with factory recommended Mopar MS-9714 fluid. Second drain/fill at 187,000 miles, refilled with Specialty Formulations SynchroGlide.

6. Manual Transaxle- no filter or pan to change!
7. At the 116K drain/fill, I replaced the factory drain plug with a magnetic drain plug. Does that count?

 

[Blokey]

1) 2000/Acura/3.2TL/5 sp. auto
2) 70,000 miles
3) Every oil change
4) 3 qt. d&f
5) Honda ATF-Z1
6) N/A
7) Superplug magnetic drain plug, trans oil jet

1) 2001/Olds/Intrigue/4 sp. auto (4T65E)
2) 58,000 miles
3) Annually
4) 6 qt. d&f
5) Mobil 1 ATF or RedLine D4
6) Filter changed once
7) MSP trans pan (cooling fins and drain plug)

 

[Ken2]

1) 1996 Volvo 850 turbo automatic
2) 133,000 miles
3) 30,000 miles without UOA
4) flush
5) Schaeffer #204SAT
6) Nope
7) Magnefine or SPX Filtran inline filter

1) 2001 Toyota Tundra V8 automatic
2) 51,000 miles
3) no recommendation
4) flush
5) Amsoil ATF, 46,000 so far with good UOA
6) Nope
7) Racor LFS22825 spin-on transmission filter


Ken

 

[porcupine73]

1) 1996/Subaru/Legacy Brighton/4EAT
2) 97,000 miles on AT
3) Switched to Mobil1 ATF at 80k
bought used at 80k; don't know history
4) At 80k dropped pan changed filter, entire ATF capacity drained when coolant tube running over filter was removed.
5) Mobil 1 Syn ATF
6) Yes (but only had one service by me)
7) At 80k, added Permcool aux cooler, Mobil 1 FF filter, and Autometer AT temp gauge.

1) 2000/Subaru/Outback/4EAT Phase 2
2) 102,000 miles on AT
3) Switched to Mobil1 ATF at 96k, switched to Amsoil Syn Universal ATF at 100k
bought used at 96k; don't know history
4) At 96k and 100k, drained through drain plug, replaced external filter on case (was able to cram on an Amsoil EaO36), and did the 'disconnect radiator cooler hose' start&flush method.
5) Amsoil Synthetic Universal ATF
6) Filter is external & has drain plug; don't have to drop the pan (there is a screen filter below the valve body, but manual does not indicate need for replacement)
7) At 100k, added Amsoil dualguard mount and two EaBP110's into cooler circuit; added 1 gallon ATF capacity. Will be installing Permacool cooler and Cyberdyne gauge soon.
Notes: Shifting feels smoother and transmission seems quieter with the Amsoil ATF than with the Mobil 1 ATF.

 

[Burbanite]

1)2002/Chevy/Suburban/4L80E
2)23000Kms(14500Miles)
3)Changed to Synthetic at 10000 Miles and will service at 30000 Miles.
4)Purge old fluid and replace with new fluid and Filter Change.
5)Redline D4-ATF
6)Yes, Filter change and pan cleaning.
7)None yet, but thinking about a Magnefine Tranny Filter.

 

[LargeCarMan]

Well....here is a basic synopsis of my currently retired trash hauler from my old delapatated memory.
1) 84 Ford Pickup 6.9 Diesel, C-6 Automatic 4x4
2) First service was done in 1985. With 30,000 miles on the transmission. Switched to Amsoil ATF.
3) Currently 335,000 on the original transmission.
4) Drain and refill with filter/metal screen replacement.
5) Running transmission cooler.
6) Serviced every so often 50 or 60 K.. Its retired now. currently running Dextron II. Took out the Amsoil because it turned clear...and was 7 years old....

 

[FordSVTGuy]

1) 2005/Ford/Escape/4 sp autp
2) 28,800 miles
3) Every 10,000 miles I replaced 7 qts, no issues.
4) I use my luquid-vac to extract a little over 3.5 quarts, re-fill, drive for a few days, repeat to get a total of 7 quarts (3.5 x 2)
5) Pennzoil Mercon ATF
6) Filter change planned at 50,000 miles
7) Stock cooler.

 

[double vanos]

1) 2002 BMW 330ci / 5speed manual 2)83k 3)25k 4) drain and refill 5)Redline MTL 6)no filter to change 7)none Also a question: how in the h*ll do I put the numbers in a column?

 

[dkryan]

1) 2001 Infiniti I30/4 spd AT
2) 59,600 on tranny
3) 30K mile change, then 59K mile change
4) T-tech machine used both times for flushing only
5) M-1 ATF at 30K; Specialty Formulations AutoGlide
at 59K
6) Never touched the screen or pan
7) No accessories


1) 2005 Toyota Highlander/5 spd AT?
2) 6,800 miles on tranny
3) Changed the diffs (amsoil S2k) and oil (PP), but
not the tranny
4) Not serviced as of yet
5) Factory fill T-IV (allegedly good for 10 yrs or
100K miles, but it'll be flushed at 30k -
guaranteed)
6) No service of tranny, yet
7) No accessories - except an OEM dashlight that
flashes "AT temp" and "$$$$" when the fluid
overheats!

 

[mchang204]

A.
1) 2002 Toyota Camry
2) 42,500 miles on tranny
3) flushed with T-IV @30,000 miles.
plan to drain & refill with T-IV every 15,000 miles
no filter, no accessories

B.
1) 1999 Toyota sienna
2) 99,500 miles on tranny
3) flushed with O'Reilly Dexron III @49,000, 76,000 and 96,000 miles
no filter, no accessories

 

[GimmeTorq]

1) '02 Nissan Maxima 4-speed auto
2) 44k
3) Every 10k-15k
4) Drain/refill
5) Mobil 1 ATF
6) No filter change as of yet; planning to do before 60k
7) Lubegard

1) '03 Honda Odyssey 5-speed auto
2) 45k
3) Every 10k-15k
4) Drain/refill
5) Honda Z-1
6) No filter change
7) Oil-jet kit (recall)

 

[-Clayton-]

1)1995 Dodge Caravan 3 spd trans.
2)8k, I Rebuilt on back porch last year.
3)Yearly
4)Drain\Refill
5)Supertech ATF+3 Held almost 9 Qts after rebuild, Usually 4-5 Qts.
6)Yes every time
7)Nope

 

[N Heat]

1)2002 Suburban/4l60E auto
2)70,000 miles
3)Bought the vehicle used with 60k, unknown service. It did have a Delco filter on it though. (Original or dealer serviced?) I drained the pan, filled with 5 qts. NAPA Dexron III. Pan was real clean, too!

4) I will drain/clean pan and refill anually.
5) Probably use Supertech Dexron III from now on.
6) New filter everytime
7)None


1991 Toyota 4x4 SR5 V6

Not sure of model # 5 spd. manual

I bought the truck with 50k, on it. and drained and filled with Coastal 80w-90. At 75k, I put Amsoil 75w-90 in it, and it still shifts like brand new!

 

[jbl]

1) Year 2003/Make Volvo/Model XC70/Transmission 5-speed manual.
2) Miles on Transmission (30k)
3) Service Interval every 30k
4) Drain and refill
5) SF MTL-P gl4/gl5 75w80
6) No
7) Additional "accessories" Nope

 

[PandaBear]

1) Toyota Corolla 3spd auto
2) 140k miles
3) 30k CI
4) drain/refill and pan drop/cleaning
5) 3x Toyota OEM, 1x Maxlife ATF
6) Had to replace OEM cork gasket twice, finally fixed it with aftermarket rubber/cork gasket from ATE (or whatever it is)
7) None

1) Acura Integra 4spd auto
2) 170k miles
3) 30k CI (once 45k and once 15k)
4) drain/refill
5) Honda ATF Z1
6) None
7) None

1) Toyota Camry V6 Auto
2) 115k miles
3) Unknown history, just changed once recently
4) drain/refill
5) Maxlife ATF
6) Need to change again, turned dark in 300 miles, I think the last fluid was overcooked.
7) None

1) Ford Taurus Vulcan (01, AX4S)
2) 45k miles
3) 30k CI
4) drain/refill and filter changed and pan drop, cleaning
5) Castrol/76 Mercon V mix
6) Tranny range sensor died under warranty
7) None

 

[caprice_2nv]

1) 1986 Chevy Caprice 700R4 4 speed auto
2) 149k miles
3) factory fill flushed at 124k miles, filter replaced, flush and filter changed again at just over 140k because tranny was overheated trying to get through heavy snow with no consideration for the car, lubeguard added and tv cable adjusted/repaired for lack of line pressure problem soon after 140k service, repaired torque converter clutch not working at about 146k, shifts got better soon after that (cooler is bypassed in OD in lockup transmissions, so it will overheat if lockup does not work)
4) complete flush with 12qt's of fluid pumped through
5) Ford Mercon
6) Filter Change and pan cleaning at each service, yes
7) None
I bought the car with almost 120k on it and it had been drove hard since my friend bought it with 74k on it. Had a sluggish slightly slipping 1-2 shift under hard throttle.