tranny fluid looks like...

[munkee]

I changed the axle seals on my mtx today and found an awful lot of aluminum shavings in the fluid. The fluid looked like a metallic paint! I'm not sure how many miles are on the tranny (it's a used replacement) and I have motorcraft mercon dexron-3 fluid in it. That's the fluid they insisted it used at the dealership and I have misplaced my owners manual so I can't double check it. I put redline synthetic in when I first installed the tranny and ended up draining it (it's a long story) after a few hundred miles. I didn't notice anything in the fluid then. I am working on getting some redline D4 fluid but I don't wan't to put it in if the tranny is going out. My questions are is the merc-dex fluid the correct fluid and if not could it be the cause of a serious amount of shavings in the fluid?

 

[RStalveyARFF]

yes, the merc-dex III fluid is the correct fluid to install into the MTX-IV transaxle

 

[munkee]

Thanks, I actually found the owners manual this morning and it says to use either Mercon ATF or Type F ATF. The label on the back of the bottle of Mercon I have says not to use the Mercon when the use of Type F is suggested. HUH!? Anyway, I am going to switch back to redline fluid regardless.