Mobil 1 ATF or SYN Trick Shift?

[whd507]

I'm going to change the trans fluid in my 03 in the very near future, and I have enough Mobil 1 and I also have 27 qts of trickshift (syn) I havent researched the B&M stuff enough to know what its all about, but I'm going to search tonight for info.

any thoughts?

[Blackened300a]

I personally went with the Mobil 1.

[KillJoy]

I will be in this boat shortly. Gotta fill the Trans with SOMETHING once installed :rolleyes:

KillJoy

[BAD MERC]

Mine is getting powerflushed next weekend when I install the cooler and I am using Valvoline Mercon V. I use Valvoline in everything!

[whd507]

valvoline is good stuff no doubt.

but I already have this stuff.

[RF Overlord]

Just be sure the M1 you have on hand says "Mercon V compatible" (or words like that). It was not, until recently.

I know nothing about the B&M TrickShift other than that a respected transmission builder told me it's a waste of money in a street car.

[whd507]

in case anybody was wondering, the B&M SYN trickshift isnt currently rated for Mercon V its only rated for dex/merc III. I have other vehicles that can use it, so I'll just stick with Mobil 1 in the marauder

[Raudermaster]

Don't use it, trust me. In my old '95 CV when I had the J-Mod installed, the stupid shop put that stuff in and not Motorcraft Merc V like I requested. A few days later, the car started to act funny, missing shifts etc. Called them up and asked what they refilled it with, and they sayd B&M Trickshift, no good. Maybe if you got an old school Chevy to use I'd recommend it, not on a 4R70W.

[Marylandrauder]

anybody using amsoil atf or redline d4, both are rated for mercon v

[Breadfan]

I would be one to recommend against it. Some of the synthetics are too slick. The trans fluid needs a certain amount of friction to allow proper operation of the clutches.

One item you may experience issues would be the torque converter lockup, it has a lockup clutch as you know. I have heard of people using the AMSOIL synthetic trans fluid as having issues with TC shudder when engaging.

This clutch works much the same as the other clutch packs so imagine the same thing could occur there.

NOW, that being said, the Mobil 1 or other alternatives, if they are true Mercon V they may be fine as they would be designed to function the same as Mercon V.

If they are "compatible" I would be wary.

Maybe some who have tried AMSOIL and had issues will drop by.

[Raudermaster]

What's wrong with good old Motorcraft Merc V? How come some of you want Mobil1 and all these other brands?

[CRUZTAKER]

I learned a valuable lesson when I did my Stallion and J-MOD.

I decided it would be cool to use Royal Purple SYN since this is what I use for motor oil. Performance Industries claimed "no problem" as did Royal Purple.

My tranny acted like ASSSS.

I put back in the Ford Motorcraft suggested blend and have never had a problem since. Even with my mods and city driving habits, all is well, tranny temps are marginal, if not sometimes on the high side.

I never did my tranny cooler, but it is definately something I should have done, and will when financialy able.

[Mike M]

When I did a flush 2 years ago I used Amsoil because at that time Mobil 1 was not Merc V compatible.. The Amsoil has worked just fine but I will try out the Mobil 1 soon.
I think, but I am not totally sure that the Motorcraft Merc V is only semi synthetic, it's fine but for those who want 100% synthetic it's either Amsoil or Mobil 1.

[RaceLegend79]

I use AMSOil in rear-end, tranny, and motor. Big Blue has never ran better. But I guess everyone has there own opinon which I told is a lot something else that everybody else has that seems to inevitably stink. But all joking aside, I think the best course of action, in the case of lubricants, is be your own judge and maybe a little trial and error. But the one common that I have heard amongst all mechanics, especially FOMCO mechanics (this includes guys that no longer work for FOMCO), that for FOMCO vehicles it seems that thier lubes work best for all.

[Loco1234]

I use Royal purple in everything except tranny.
Cruztaker I' didn't know you tryed to put royal purple in the tranny I taught u weren't after you spoke with Zack and he referred you to PaCammer.
If you ask Roayl Purple if this is a Mercon V replacement they will blanket statement NO.
Hene why I use Amsoil. Their stuff is Mercon V. There was some (I guess) slippage is the right word when we first brought Marauder home after supercharger install (Zack) and tranny upgrade complete w/ amsoil. But all issuses quickly went away. Car runs great....
Amsoil is an accept Mercon V substitute....

[Breadfan]

It would be interesting to have a list of what ATF's people have used with success and which folks have had trouble with.

[PhastPhil]

When I asked about servicing the transmission in my Cv Sport at a local dealer, the service manager said that Ford uses a full synthetic tranny fluid and it did not need to be changed unti it reached 150,000 miles.

[Breadfan]

That service manager must have his head in Utopia, I'm sure in ideal instnaces fluid will last that long.

However heat is the enemy and what was the rule of thumb, every 10deg. over 180F and the life of the fluid is cut in half?

[Loco1234]

40-60,000 is what I would say is max miles to run fullsyn in tranny... and thats under moderate use...
if u run hard... the tranny takes it hard etc....

[Marylandrauder]

breadfan, thanks for your reply on the amsoil atf, like you I will have to see if someone has used amsoil or redline with success, I may just go with the motorcraft mercon v or valvoline mercon v , both are semi synthetic, when I looked at the specs for the motorcraft mercon v it had a flashpoint of 403 degrees whereas amsoil atf and redline d4 atf had a flashpoint of about 432 degrees, not that much of a difference and the motorcraft mercon v flows down to minus57 degrees fahrenheit whereas the redline goes down to minus 76 degrees fahreinheit, i am wandering when i change the fluid at 30,000 miles if i should do the bg flush and have them put in the cleaner, it seems as though these transmissions are speced for mercon v only and the amsoil is a multy vehicle formula as well as the redlne trans fluid, I wish both companies would just make a pure synthetic one formula Mercon V just like Valvoline Mercon V even though that is semi synthetic, but with a flash point of 403 degrees fahrenheit it seems the Motorcraft Mercon V is almost all synthetic, I have an infrared gun and when I aim it at the pan it reads 160 degrees, I know this is on the low side as you are supposed to take a reading going in and out of the cooler, also has anyone tried the magnefine transmission filter that splices into the cooler lines

[RF Overlord]

Marylandrauder, all Mercon V is synthetic-blend per spec.


when i change the fluid at 30,000 miles if i should do the bg flush and have them put in the cleanerIf your ATF is clean and pink now, a full flush isn't really necessary; a simple pan-drop would suffice, although a flush would not be overkill at this point. Definitely do NOT have any cleaners or other additives put in and don't let the shop try to tell you it's OK to use plain Mercon with a bottle of miracle-in-a-can that "converts" it to Mercon V. It's NOT the same as real Mercon V.

[Mike M]

breadfan, thanks for your reply on the amsoil atf, like you I will have to see if someone has used amsoil or redline with success, I may just go with the motorcraft mercon v or valvoline mercon v , both are semi synthetic, when I looked at the specs for the motorcraft mercon v it had a flashpoint of 403 degrees whereas amsoil atf and redline d4 atf had a flashpoint of about 432 degrees, not that much of a difference and the motorcraft mercon v flows down to minus57 degrees fahrenheit whereas the redline goes down to minus 76 degrees fahreinheit, i am wandering when i change the fluid at 30,000 miles if i should do the bg flush and have them put in the cleaner, it seems as though these transmissions are speced for mercon v only and the amsoil is a multy vehicle formula as well as the redlne trans fluid, I wish both companies would just make a pure synthetic one formula Mercon V just like Valvoline Mercon V even though that is semi synthetic, but with a flash point of 403 degrees fahrenheit it seems the Motorcraft Mercon V is almost all synthetic, I have an infrared gun and when I aim it at the pan it reads 160 degrees, I know this is on the low side as you are supposed to take a reading going in and out of the cooler, also has anyone tried the magnefine transmission filter that splices into the cooler lines

Look for my earlier reply about Amsoil, also check out Mobil 1 trans fluid. It has even better high temperature ratings. I will be trying it soon.

[DEFYANT]

OEM Mercon V user here. That is all I will put in the trans as long as I own it. I'd dump it more often before going to synthetic.

[RF Overlord]

I agree with Charlie ^^^

I buy Motorcraft Mercon V by the case. The Blackbird gets the ATF changed every 10,000 miles. I just changed the ATF and filter in the Silver Birch and intend to do a fluid change every 20,000 from now on.