Opinions on this Tranny fluid...

[DavidT]

Valvoline Max. Life for higher mileage engines (Mercon III). I am planning on changing the fluid in my mtx sho. How about 2 quarts of this and 1 quart of B and M Trickshift... (I don't have a clue...)
Also, what kind of manual vac. hand pump do I need? Would a $1 siphon pump do the trick?

 

[yamahaSHO]

might as well add a drain plug, very easy and cheap.

 

[olympic]

I see you have a 90 MTX. If it hasn't been rebuilt with updated blocking rings, stick with type F ATF or maybe try GM Synchromesh(available at a GM dealer). The old style brass blocking rings need a less slippery ATF to work properly.

When my MTX was rebuilt, I started with Mobil 1 ATF and it didn't shift worth a darn. Ford friction modifier and even Dexon Mercon didn't help much. So I switched to Synchromesh and it shifts like butter now! thumbs_u

 

[SHOZ123]

So the GM fluid is good for the later modle MTXs like in my 93? Do you have the part number? I am ready to change my fluid as I presume it is the OEM fluid of 150k ago.

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

Red Line D4

 

[shojuan]

Redline D4 was crap in my 89. The brass blocking rings don't like it. I'd try Redline MTL if I were you. When I finally got fed up I just used what I had lying around, I drained half the D4 and replaced it with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Works great.

Rick

 

[DavidT]

I'm not going to fool with installing a drain plug... I would probably screw something up. Besides, I doubt I will ever change it again. But who knows.
I don't know if it has been rebuilt... for 144,000 miles I have no idea what my sho went through
So... type F huh. 3 qts. Nothing else?
Rick, whats Redline MTL?

<small>[ January 23, 2003, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: dkautumna ]</small>

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

shojuan:
Redline D4 was crap in my 89. The brass blocking rings don't like it. I'd try Redline MTL if I were you. When I finally got fed up I just used what I had lying around, I drained half the D4 and replaced it with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Works great.

Rick

Sorry you had a problem with it. But I hardly think it's "crap". Most people in our club are running Redline D4 or Mobil 1 ATF. Even Nick Chrimes runs it and recommends it with the trannies that he does. shrug

 

[olympic]

GM Syncromesh

GM part# 12345349
GM specification# 9985648

I may have those numbers reversed though. Most dealerships have this in stock on a display shelf in their parts dept.

I read up on Redline MTL and it seems to have the same properties as Synchromesh. http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/mtlti.htm So either one would be a good choice for an 89-90 MTX. If you want to save some $$, just use Type F ATF.

All of these are less slippery than other ATF's which is what you want for brass blocking rings or if you have a notchy shifting tranny.

 

[mikiedreb]

Replaced my Mercon fluid with GM Syncromesh last weekend. What a difference !!!!! Smooth downshifts, no more grinding.......Should have done this long ago. 3 qts....$10.00/qt at the local GM dealer, on the shelf.

Mike
92MTX

 

[haydenm315]

NWGRN94MTX:

shojuan:
Redline D4 was crap in my 89. The brass blocking rings don't like it. I'd try Redline MTL if I were you. When I finally got fed up I just used what I had lying around, I drained half the D4 and replaced it with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Works great.

Rick

Sorry you had a problem with it. But I hardly think it's "crap". Most people in our club are running Redline D4 or Mobil 1 ATF. Even Nick Chrimes runs it and recommends it with the trannies that he does. shrug

I've got mobil 1 synthetic ATF in my mtx. It's getting the coldest it's been in years in Maryland. Tonight it was down to 8 degrees. I've noticed that shifts are a bit stiff while warming up. I've heard the the redline fluid doesn't thicken as much as the mobil 1 atf. Is this true?

 

[Emerald94]

It's been cold like you wouldn't believe here, the past couple of week. I use D4 in my tranny case and noticed that it takes a little while before the car shift smoothly.
Disclaimer: we're talking below 0 degree F here so it may not matter what's in your tranny case.

haydenm315:

NWGRN94MTX:

shojuan:
Redline D4 was crap in my 89. The brass blocking rings don't like it. I'd try Redline MTL if I were you. When I finally got fed up I just used what I had lying around, I drained half the D4 and replaced it with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Works great.

Rick

Sorry you had a problem with it. But I hardly think it's "crap". Most people in our club are running Redline D4 or Mobil 1 ATF. Even Nick Chrimes runs it and recommends it with the trannies that he does. shrug

I've got mobil 1 synthetic ATF in my mtx. It's getting the coldest it's been in years in Maryland. Tonight it was down to 8 degrees. I've noticed that shifts are a bit stiff while warming up. I've heard the the redline fluid doesn't thicken as much as the mobil 1 atf. Is this true?

 

[shojuan]

NWGRN94MTX:

shojuan:
Redline D4 was crap in my 89. The brass blocking rings don't like it. I'd try Redline MTL if I were you. When I finally got fed up I just used what I had lying around, I drained half the D4 and replaced it with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Works great.

Rick

Sorry you had a problem with it. But I hardly think it's "crap". Most people in our club are running Redline D4 or Mobil 1 ATF. Even Nick Chrimes runs it and recommends it with the trannies that he does. shrug

That's because he's rebuilding the trannys with the later blocking rings not the 89-90 brass blocking rings. I've put Redline fluids into the transmissions of every car I've cared about. I was expecting a huge improvement when I replaced my 142,000 mile stock fluid with redline D4 a little over a year ago. Wrong. I lost the ability to shift into 3rd gear without grinding. The sad thing was that I had 3 quarts of MTL lying around for a while that I took back to the store to swap with 3 quarts of D4 because that was what the SHO community (and redline) recommended. On a whim this last summer because another shoforum member was having similar problems with an early (89 or 90) sho and D4 I looked in my garage and saw that I had almost 1.5 qts of MTL and a little bit of MT-90 lying around so I sucked out half the D4 in my SHO and replaced that 50% with 40% MTL and 10% MT-90. Made the SHO shift better than stock, more what I was expecting (but didn't get) the first time around with straight D4. Still 100% redline fluids in there, just a better choice for an early 89 with brass blocking rings and 14X,000 miles than pure D4. When I rebuild my tranny with the late version fiber blocking rings I'll try straight D4 again. Sorry for the long diatribe. I quit coffee shortly before the new year and I just had my first glass (ok, maybe my second. And they're 20 ouncers).

In case any of you have been misled, NWGRN94MTX temporarily forgot who I was: I'm probably the biggest supporter of Redline fluids on this forum! It's just sometimes things aren't black and white. In this case unfortunately there is a little gray area WRT fluids and SHO trannys.