which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
mobil full syn. multi vehicle or mobil dex 6
- Thread starter hardheaded
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what do you expect of your oil?
a better oil for a performance car?
I would look to a ACEA A3 Daimler 229.5
a better oil for a performance car?
I would look to a ACEA A3 Daimler 229.5
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
what do you expect of your oil?
a better oil for a performance car?
I would look to a ACEA A3 Daimler 229.5
He's asking about transmission fluid...
what do you expect of your oil?
a better oil for a performance car?
I would look to a ACEA A3 Daimler 229.5
He's asking about transmission fluid...
Originally Posted By: hardheaded
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
I have used Dexron VI in my old BMW for several years now and it works fine. I have no reason to doubt the M1 ATF would work too, it's just that for this car I wasn't willing to spend the money. I do use M1 ATF in my Sienna however, and it also has worked fine for over 350,000 miles. I really don't think you'll see a difference either way.
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
I have used Dexron VI in my old BMW for several years now and it works fine. I have no reason to doubt the M1 ATF would work too, it's just that for this car I wasn't willing to spend the money. I do use M1 ATF in my Sienna however, and it also has worked fine for over 350,000 miles. I really don't think you'll see a difference either way.
i was just looking for the best trans fluid for the car. i'm torn between the two.
Originally Posted By: hardheaded
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
Better how, and where is that stated?
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
Better how, and where is that stated?
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
It has a fairly high VI - always wondered how much PAO it has. Know guy with older 2500 truck uses it for temp - pulls a large offshore cat hull boat that is both heavy and catches wind. In a small car? Only a slight gain in viscosity ... and either lasts a long time. 51/49
I have 2 vehicles that were originally spec.'d for Dex III and I used Dex VI in them where I have enough experience to give information.
2001 Grand Prix, worked great on Dex VI, here is my UOA comparison between the Mobil 1 ATF (of back then) and the Dex VI. Different transmission than yours of course.
UOA comparison
I also still have my Buick wagon, 1996 with the same transmission as yours. From 90k until maybe 110k (going by memory) I used Mobil 1 ATF then switched to Dex VI (usually Valvoline blue bottle). I could tell no difference, both worked great. I now have 210k miles on it, still shifts like new. About 8k of those miles were towing a travel trailer well over its rated capacity as well. All of that was with the Dex VI.
I'd use Dex VI but either is perfectly fine.
2001 Grand Prix, worked great on Dex VI, here is my UOA comparison between the Mobil 1 ATF (of back then) and the Dex VI. Different transmission than yours of course.
UOA comparison
I also still have my Buick wagon, 1996 with the same transmission as yours. From 90k until maybe 110k (going by memory) I used Mobil 1 ATF then switched to Dex VI (usually Valvoline blue bottle). I could tell no difference, both worked great. I now have 210k miles on it, still shifts like new. About 8k of those miles were towing a travel trailer well over its rated capacity as well. All of that was with the Dex VI.
I'd use Dex VI but either is perfectly fine.
Don't fool around with D6, it must be specd for D3. Stick with what the owners manual has don't trust what the bottles say about backward compatibility for these old cars.
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: hardheaded
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
Better how, and where is that stated?
this is what the tech people at mobil told me when i called their tech line. he said to use the full syn. in my car. said it was abetter product. so i don't know what to think now as i always thought the dex 6 was better. i know it' doesn'tcost as much as the full syn.
Originally Posted By: hardheaded
which to use in a 98 trans am ? i know the dex 6 is backward compatable, but mobil is telling me that the mulit vehicle full syn. is a better product. looking for some guidance here. anyone have any real world knowlage of which would be a better product for my car ? any real world testing out there.
Better how, and where is that stated?
this is what the tech people at mobil told me when i called their tech line. he said to use the full syn. in my car. said it was abetter product. so i don't know what to think now as i always thought the dex 6 was better. i know it' doesn'tcost as much as the full syn.
any real world testing on these fluids ?
Originally Posted By: hardheaded
any real world testing on these fluids ?
You keep asking that but the truth is there is hardly ever any such thing as "real world testing", at least if I understand it the way I think you mean. Such a thing requires a statistically valid sample number and this is hard to achieve outside of a laboratory. Some large fleet operators such as taxi operations can sometimes use data from teardowns, but even then without identical engines driven in identical circumstances and conditions, conclusions are difficult. As far as I have ever seen here on BITOG no one does that - especially for some kind of valid comparison between M1 ATF and their Dexron VI product. All you are ever going to get here are testimonials and some very limited data usually expressed without any error bars.
As for "real world testing" that isn't statistically valid, you've gotten some here in this thread already. I told you I have gotten over 350,000 miles on my Sienna's A540E transmission using mostly M1 ATF over its lifetime. That's of limited value of course, since you have a different transmission being used in a different car, being driven in different conditions by a different driver. I also told you that I use Dexron VI in my 22-year old BMW which originally specified Dexron III. My opinion is that if an ancient BMW like that one can use Dexron VI successfully then anything can. But here again, that is my opinion based on my experience. Others have given you their opinions as well.
The only "real world testing" you have is what is done in the laboratory. For these choices you have Dexron VI that officially supersedes the former Dexron III product. That's official. So if you want any sort of "real world testing" to apply at all then this is it. Dexron VI is the fluid that is specified for your car, assuming it specified Dexron III (or earlier) in the first place.
With the M1 ATF you have the fact that ExxonMobil states on their website that it meets the MERCON V specification and:
Quote:
According to ExxonMobil, Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF is of the following quality level:
General Motors DEXRON® IIIH
On this one though, you're going to have to on the word of ExxonMobil and that's partly due to the fact that the Dexron III specification no longer exists. As a result the manufacturer cannot state it meets the specification since there isn't one. A judgement call is required on this one.
It has been my experience that when two choices seem nearly equally valid then it probably doesn't matter which one you choose and both will work. In this case I'll stick my neck out and say that will be your experience as well.
any real world testing on these fluids ?
You keep asking that but the truth is there is hardly ever any such thing as "real world testing", at least if I understand it the way I think you mean. Such a thing requires a statistically valid sample number and this is hard to achieve outside of a laboratory. Some large fleet operators such as taxi operations can sometimes use data from teardowns, but even then without identical engines driven in identical circumstances and conditions, conclusions are difficult. As far as I have ever seen here on BITOG no one does that - especially for some kind of valid comparison between M1 ATF and their Dexron VI product. All you are ever going to get here are testimonials and some very limited data usually expressed without any error bars.
As for "real world testing" that isn't statistically valid, you've gotten some here in this thread already. I told you I have gotten over 350,000 miles on my Sienna's A540E transmission using mostly M1 ATF over its lifetime. That's of limited value of course, since you have a different transmission being used in a different car, being driven in different conditions by a different driver. I also told you that I use Dexron VI in my 22-year old BMW which originally specified Dexron III. My opinion is that if an ancient BMW like that one can use Dexron VI successfully then anything can. But here again, that is my opinion based on my experience. Others have given you their opinions as well.
The only "real world testing" you have is what is done in the laboratory. For these choices you have Dexron VI that officially supersedes the former Dexron III product. That's official. So if you want any sort of "real world testing" to apply at all then this is it. Dexron VI is the fluid that is specified for your car, assuming it specified Dexron III (or earlier) in the first place.
With the M1 ATF you have the fact that ExxonMobil states on their website that it meets the MERCON V specification and:
Quote:
According to ExxonMobil, Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF is of the following quality level:
General Motors DEXRON® IIIH
On this one though, you're going to have to on the word of ExxonMobil and that's partly due to the fact that the Dexron III specification no longer exists. As a result the manufacturer cannot state it meets the specification since there isn't one. A judgement call is required on this one.
It has been my experience that when two choices seem nearly equally valid then it probably doesn't matter which one you choose and both will work. In this case I'll stick my neck out and say that will be your experience as well.
Common sense dictates that older vehicles WILL NOT be tested with newer fluids PERIOD no matter what these bottles claim.
Having said that all new vehicles always come with ever changing newer fluid specs.
Stick with MaxLife D3 and call it a day
Having said that all new vehicles always come with ever changing newer fluid specs.
Stick with MaxLife D3 and call it a day
Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Common sense dictates that older vehicles WILL NOT be tested with newer fluids PERIOD no matter what these bottles claim.
Having said that all new vehicles always come with ever changing newer fluid specs.
Stick with MaxLife D3 and call it a day
You've made that comment twice now with no technical support whatsoever. You have no basis for your claim.
Besides, do you know what the major difference is between Dexron III and Dexron VI? From your repeated unsubstantiated comments I don't think you do.
Common sense dictates that older vehicles WILL NOT be tested with newer fluids PERIOD no matter what these bottles claim.
Having said that all new vehicles always come with ever changing newer fluid specs.
Stick with MaxLife D3 and call it a day
You've made that comment twice now with no technical support whatsoever. You have no basis for your claim.
Besides, do you know what the major difference is between Dexron III and Dexron VI? From your repeated unsubstantiated comments I don't think you do.
If the vehicle is originally spec'd for VI, most 2006 and newer GM vehicles, use Mobil dex VI fluid which is semi-syn. If your car is 2005 or older and spec'd for dex III use Mobil full synthetic fluid which exceeds the dex III requirement and is a superior fluid, even compared to dex VI in dex III applications.
Originally Posted By: Neil_A
If the vehicle is originally spec'd for VI, most 2006 and newer GM vehicles, use Mobil dex VI fluid which is semi-syn. If your car is 2005 or older and spec'd for dex III use Mobil full synthetic fluid which exceeds the dex III requirement and is a superior fluid, even compared to dex VI in dex III applications.
What this guy said. I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma that is spec'd for Dex III. I've used Mobil 1 Synth ATF in it since 30K miles. it has almost 200K miles now. All is well. It is a great ATF for Dex III applications.
If the vehicle is originally spec'd for VI, most 2006 and newer GM vehicles, use Mobil dex VI fluid which is semi-syn. If your car is 2005 or older and spec'd for dex III use Mobil full synthetic fluid which exceeds the dex III requirement and is a superior fluid, even compared to dex VI in dex III applications.
What this guy said. I have a 2002 Toyota Tacoma that is spec'd for Dex III. I've used Mobil 1 Synth ATF in it since 30K miles. it has almost 200K miles now. All is well. It is a great ATF for Dex III applications.
I would not use thinner Dex VI in an older transmission that specs thicker Dex III. Its not the same as motor oil, where thick or thin and changing brands doesn't matter that much. The viscosity and additives are critical. Agree with others M1 syn ATF is good, also Transmax Import Multivehicle is a readily available good selection. Maxlife is thinner than Dex VI spec, would stay away from that in your case.
after reading all this i had my son who works at a local chevy dealer ask some of the techs there what the recommend. they all said to use the dex VI. don't know what i'll end up putting in there. i'm leaning towards the mobil syn.
Nothing against the techs, but a lot of them don't get into the chemistry like we do here. They read "Dex VI is backwards compatible" and just do it. Out the door it goes. If something fails they replace it.
Set aside syn vs. conventional fluid for a moment. Sure, transmissions need a good lube like an engine. But unlike an engine transmissions rely heavily on the fluid for hydraulics to do things like shifting. Wrong viscosity, wrong additives, wrong pressure, too thin, it may shudder. Rev too high before shifting. Clunk into gear. So "better because its synthetic" is only partly true (in a transmission).
You can try Dex VI in that older transmission. But be warned its much thinner than whats in there now. Will there be enough pressure to shift right? You will see. Maybe, maybe not.
Set aside syn vs. conventional fluid for a moment. Sure, transmissions need a good lube like an engine. But unlike an engine transmissions rely heavily on the fluid for hydraulics to do things like shifting. Wrong viscosity, wrong additives, wrong pressure, too thin, it may shudder. Rev too high before shifting. Clunk into gear. So "better because its synthetic" is only partly true (in a transmission).
You can try Dex VI in that older transmission. But be warned its much thinner than whats in there now. Will there be enough pressure to shift right? You will see. Maybe, maybe not.
Having recommended M1 ATF like I did (and I stick by this recommendation), I can also say that I've used Dex VI in an older (2002) Chevy transmission and it has worked just fine. It has been about 2.5 years and maybe 10K miles. All is still well.
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