Transmission fluid

jmauld

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2009
Posts
577
Reaction score
0
Location
Cary, NC
What fluid are you guys, that do track events, running in your 5 speed manual transmissions?

I'm not looking for the "best" fluid, just want to know what you guys are using that holds up well for HPDEs.
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,333
Reaction score
1,313
Location
central Florida
My Ford mechanic recommends and uses GM Syncromesh (oh, the sacrilege!). I haven't changed mine yet (only 19K miles) but it's on my short list of things to do asap. Maybe it will help the 2-3 shift.
 

908ssp

Senior Member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Posts
1,123
Reaction score
0
Location
Michigan
In my 5sp I put in Amsoil ATF. I was very apprehensive that I would feel any difference but I did. It noticeably improved the smoothness of the shifting and my car only has 3000 miles on it.
 

Towelly

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Posts
969
Reaction score
2
I'm doing mine over the winter. Not sure if I'm going to use Amsoil or what yet. 76k miles on my car and I'm finally going to get serious with it... :p
 

Chris B.

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Posts
966
Reaction score
6
Location
PA
My '08 GT had the stock Motorcraft fluid and it worked great. The '08 GT did 2500+ miles on the track along with 40,000+ street miles on the same fluid. In the '05 GT I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic without issue.
 

jmauld

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2009
Posts
577
Reaction score
0
Location
Cary, NC
Well shit. My car has 114k on the original fluid, guess I better get to it...

Wow, that's pretty impressive to get that kind of mileage out of transmission fluid. My car doesn't have nearly that many miles and it's starting to show signs of wear.

How many track miles do you think you have on it?

The reason I initially posted this, is because my transmission is starting to get a little notchy feeling and difficult to get into 1st gear. It gets worse during temperature extremes (hot or cold). So I was looking at replacing the fluid, and wanted to get some ideas of what is working for others.
 

Dreadknought

HOON MONSTER
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Posts
1,053
Reaction score
2
Location
Texas Hill Country
Hell I haven't wanted to get that much believe me. Between road course and drag strip I would say probably has a hundred or so track miles on it, but it has gotten driven pretty hard its whole life. I'm going to advanced auto today to pick up my new fluids... Mine's sticking pretty good too.
 

mot250

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2010
Posts
137
Reaction score
0
I drained my factory fill fluid at about 9000 miles for Royal Purple Synchromax and again at 19000 for more RP. The factory fill fluid looked and smelled terrible. A lot of break in wear particles.

I noticed a difference (good) in the shifting feel switching to RP. But that may have been just because it was clean fluid!

The RP drain at 19000 was better looking. I then left that in until about 45000 when I drained it and refilled with Amsoil ATF. Man, the Amsoil smells bad fresh out of the bottle! I can't say I was able to notice a difference between shifting with th RP vs. the Amsoil but I like the Amsoil specs (temperature management, etc) better than the RP.
 

kevinatfms

EX-ford tech(6 years)
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Posts
1,780
Reaction score
9
Location
MD
motorcraft here. changed every 12k. car has 58k on it now.
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,333
Reaction score
1,313
Location
central Florida
Just got back from the parts store with 4 quarts of Syncromesh. Getting ready to go jack up the Bullitt so I can squeeze my fat ass under it and change the gearbox fluid. At least it's nice and hot so I'll get some nice scars from the oil splashing on my skin.
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,333
Reaction score
1,313
Location
central Florida
I just tried about 10 different searches and kept coming back with 'sorry, no matches'. I'm looking for some tips or tricks to refilling the gearbox after draining it. I haven't drained it yet because the refill plug is wedged against the exhaust heat shield and I would barely be able to get a ratchet on it, never mind being able to refill with 3.2 quarts of fluid. My other option is going through the top but I still have scars from the lower boot when I changed the shifter a month ago. I have a 1 gallon pump up pesticide sprayer I might be able to use to pump the fluid in but I'm not sure if it would flow through a pump designed for water. Is there an easy way to refill this gearbox without removing it from the car?
 

mac10chap

The bouncy tits guy...
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Posts
4,520
Reaction score
48
Location
houston, tx
I just tried about 10 different searches and kept coming back with 'sorry, no matches'. I'm looking for some tips or tricks to refilling the gearbox after draining it. I haven't drained it yet because the refill plug is wedged against the exhaust heat shield and I would barely be able to get a ratchet on it, never mind being able to refill with 3.2 quarts of fluid. My other option is going through the top but I still have scars from the lower boot when I changed the shifter a month ago. I have a 1 gallon pump up pesticide sprayer I might be able to use to pump the fluid in but I'm not sure if it would flow through a pump designed for water. Is there an easy way to refill this gearbox without removing it from the car?


http://mustangforums.com/forum/gt-s...ow-to-changing-manual-transmission-fluid.html
 

SD07GT

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Posts
728
Reaction score
2
I just tried about 10 different searches and kept coming back with 'sorry, no matches'. I'm looking for some tips or tricks to refilling the gearbox after draining it. I haven't drained it yet because the refill plug is wedged against the exhaust heat shield and I would barely be able to get a ratchet on it, never mind being able to refill with 3.2 quarts of fluid. My other option is going through the top but I still have scars from the lower boot when I changed the shifter a month ago. I have a 1 gallon pump up pesticide sprayer I might be able to use to pump the fluid in but I'm not sure if it would flow through a pump designed for water. Is there an easy way to refill this gearbox without removing it from the car?


Make a small hole on the top of the cap , put some vacuum line in it making sure it a tight fit. Then run the vacuum line to the fill plug and stick it down the hole. take the bottle of syncomesh and place it higher than the fill hole and squeeze away. might take some time put it's easy and a cleam way to do it .

Always remove fill plug first than drain plug second .
 

mot250

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2010
Posts
137
Reaction score
0
I've used a MitiVac on pressurise (sp?) mode to force the new fluid into the fill hole from the mitivac canister. It takes a while with the small 4oz Mitivac Canister. But maybe you can devise a way to use a larger canister and pressurise it.

I had the benifit of using a lift so at least I was not on my back on a concrete floor.
 

Chris B.

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Posts
966
Reaction score
6
Location
PA
I used one of those pumps that screws onto the bottle and has a long tube coming out of the spout to put in the fill hole. It worked, but my hands got tired from pumping the 3 quarts into the transmission.

I always wondered if those cordless drill operated pumps would be useful for refilling the transmission.
 

Roadracer350

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2011
Posts
1,215
Reaction score
0
Location
Tulsa OK
Ok so you guys are saying I can use Royal Purple ATF and I don't need to use the Merc 5 crap? If so that would be great! What about Lucas? What RP should I get?
 

Latest posts

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Back
Top