What’s in your GM 4 speed?
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My Trailblazer with the 4L60E has mostly Amsoil LV ATF with a hint of Maxlife. Its got 100,000km on that fluid so it might get the old Maxlife fluid exchange this spring.
The 4L60E in my 1993 C1500 has a mix of Federated Co-op generic Dex/Merc and a touch of some other random leftovers.
The 4L60E in my 1993 C1500 has a mix of Federated Co-op generic Dex/Merc and a touch of some other random leftovers.
4WD
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PetroCanada was the 1st DexVI license (Mobil was 2nd) but whoever got the FF contract is who piles the miles
The TES-295 spec seems to be a good solid choice for a lot of 90s-00s autos that would use a Dex/Merc type of fluid.
I use Dex VI in the trucks at work as top off, don't usually change the fluid. I use the fluid in the catalog because that's protocol, not going to get blamed for a trans going out on a 400k truck because I deviated. We have very few transmission issues out of several very high mileage 4L60E and a couple 4L80E trucks.
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I found Valvoline Dex VI on Walmart.com even cheaper than SuperTech …
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AC Delco Dextron IV acquired online for not much more than anything else.
My only GM 4 speed is a 70 year old SM420. Pretty sure it got filled with straight 50w motor oil back in the day. At less than a 1000 miles a year its a long time between changes.
This in a 4L80e (04 GMC Sierra 2500HD), it’s a TES-295 clone. It has only had this in it for about 2,000 miles. I dropped the pan and changed the filter. This was the first transmission service on this vehicle since it was purchased in 2010. It had ~94k on the odo when I dropped the pan. It has a pan drain plug and I plan to drain and refill again at the next oil change. I also used the same fluid in the floor shifted transfer case.
I have Maxlife in a 4L60e in an 05 Trailblazer with the 4.2. I initially did a cooler line exchange 5 or 6 years ago without dropping the pan or changing the filter, I ran about 12 quarts through it until what was coming out looked as good as what was going in. I think it had about 48k miles on it at the time. In January of 2017 (55k miles) I dropped the pan, changed the filter and refilled with 5 quarts of Maxlife. I haven’t touched the fluid since then except to extract 12oz of fluid through the dipstick tube and add 12oz of Lubegard Platinum. There wasn’t anything wrong before, but the Lubegard noticeably quickened the shifts. The car has around 66k miles now.
I have Maxlife in a 4L60e in an 05 Trailblazer with the 4.2. I initially did a cooler line exchange 5 or 6 years ago without dropping the pan or changing the filter, I ran about 12 quarts through it until what was coming out looked as good as what was going in. I think it had about 48k miles on it at the time. In January of 2017 (55k miles) I dropped the pan, changed the filter and refilled with 5 quarts of Maxlife. I haven’t touched the fluid since then except to extract 12oz of fluid through the dipstick tube and add 12oz of Lubegard Platinum. There wasn’t anything wrong before, but the Lubegard noticeably quickened the shifts. The car has around 66k miles now.
Yes, Allison worked with Castrol on building the spec, they were the initial supplier, then it was opened to anybody who wanted to spend the money to qualify.
My 4L60E has a mix of ML atf, multiple brands of Dex6, and multiple brands Dex/merc. Runs smooth.
Mobil 1 112980 synthetic ATF
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