What Transmission Fluid should I use?

[vping]

Well I ordered my Filter and will change it this weekend so hopefully it will tell me if I have serious problems or not.

The book calls for Dexron II. The local store carries a whole host of fluids but not Dexron II - which I thought was odd. What equivilent should I get or is there no substitute?

Car is a 1990 535IA.

[Bill R.]

Well I ordered my Filter and will change it this weekend so hopefully it will tell me if I have serious problems or not.

The book calls for Dexron II. The local store carries a whole host of fluids but not Dexron II - which I thought was odd. What equivilent should I get or is there no substitute?

Car is a 1990 535IA.


Any dexron mercon made today will meet the dexron II standards. They aren't allowed to use the dexron name anymore so you have to read the back of the label to verify that it is suitable for dexron use. Chevron uses the name D/M for their fluid now.... not hard to figure out that that means dexron/mercon. Castrol Import or Domestic atf both meet Dexron II specs. So does pennzoil multi vehicle ATF etc etc.

[vping]

Can I mix, Dexron II & something esle? I have one quart of Dexron II and need 2 more.

[Bill R.]

Can I mix, Dexron II & something esle? I have one quart of Dexron II and need 2 more.

If you have a real quart of dexron II not IIE or III ,V or mercon, then its a antique... I don't think i have been able to get it around here for at least 10 years.... I wouldn't use it, I don't know what the shelf life is of the additive package in atf but as cheap as it is I would just use a fresh quart instead.

[bubba966]

if you have a real quart of dexron ii not iie or iii ,v or mercon, then its a antique... I don't think i have been able to get it around here for at least 10 years.... I wouldn't use it, i don't know what the shelf life is of the additive package in atf but as cheap as it is i would just use a fresh quart instead.

+1

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Valvoline maxlife has been good to me.

[genphreak]

Swapping to Castrol Transmax Z (diff name in teh US I think) got me great results. My 4HP22EH had a tough time before it blew, so I swapped the brown fluid it had when I got it to Dexron III (by drain and fill 3x over 10,000km). This is all u can do, as it doesn't all come out- only ever about 60%.

Then it was starting to get worse- occasional hard changes and shudders. I then did a swap to TransmaxZ and it smoothed out straight away. lasted another 70,000km then died at 290,000km. If it hadn't had a Cruise Control fault when I bought it which was causing the cruise to stick (caused by a faulty brake-light switch) , I reckon she'd have gone a much longer way than that.

Love the green, lose the red I say!

[vping]

So when I ddrain and rop the pan, there will still be about 60% of the fluid in there and I should change the fluid ofter to make sure it get's to 100% new fluid?

TransmaxZ or Valvoline Maxlife trans fluids are recommended. This is off the shelf stuff right?

I think I've got it.

[genphreak]

So when I ddrain and rop the pan, there will still be about 60% of the fluid in there and I should change the fluid ofter to make sure it get's to 100% new fluid?

TransmaxZ or Valvoline Maxlife trans fluids are recommended. This is off the shelf stuff right?

I think I've got it.
I go syntehtic at AU$70/4L as I don't want ot spend up bigtime on a tranny rebuild. All other stuff is just plain ol mercom/dexron- its ok if you change regularly.

60% is in the pan, the other 40% in the ranny and torque converter. Need to remove the tranny to get it out, so several/regular changes is required to keep it healthy...

[vping]

As of now, I am not pulling the trans. I'll do this change now, see if that fixes the problem, drive it for a bit and then change it again after a few thousand miles.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Change the filter too

[genphreak]

As of now, I am not pulling the trans. I'll do this change now, see if that fixes the problem, drive it for a bit and then change it again after a few thousand miles.Good move. I heard of a neater way of swapping to synthetic- a trans specialist near me has a pump that they use to fluch the trans and torque converter with synthetic in order to clean as much of the red **** out as they can. They disconnect the two cooler pipes to do it (or maybe something else) and carry out part of the procedure whilst the engine is running.

I'm going to see if they can do this on my 525i Touring, it has a 5HP18 (bascially a 4HP22 with an extra gear). Once it is done, I can probably hope for the best...

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Good move. I heard of a neater way of swapping to synthetic- a trans specialist near me has a pump that they use to fluch the trans and torque converter with synthetic in order to clean as much of the red **** out as they can. They disconnect the two cooler pipes to do it (or maybe something else) and carry out part of the procedure whilst the engine is running.

I'm going to see if they can do this on my 525i Touring, it has a 5HP18 (bascially a 4HP22 with an extra gear). Once it is done, I can probably hope for the best...

You'll need two big plastic jugs and some tubing, but it wastes a lot of fluid in the transition between red & green.

[genphreak]

You'll need two big plastic jugs and some tubing, but it wastes a lot of fluid in the transition between red & green. Sounds like you've done it Bob...? You mean one full of green, one to fill with red- green one goes up high and gravity feeds the tranny whilst the engine idles? I guess one would drop the pan first, and perhaps fill it with green (but that'd cause a lot of fluid to mix in the sump... maybe there's a way to the process using a jerry rigged 'dry sump' arrangement). Hopefully the shop'll know- if not, I'll do it myself - or not do it if its too risky or hard.

Starting to sound risky, eh?

[Bill R.]

Dexron/mercon is already semisynthetic and it meets the specs for your car. There are friction materials in your trans that wear no matter what and leave debris just like brake dust or manual clutch linings do. So its a good idea to change your fluid periodically to get rid of the worn lining materials anyway.

I wouldn't waste my money on a full synthetic in this case especially with this transmission that doesn't need it. The regular US version castrol import fluid meets the specs for most bmw zf and strasbourg transmissions
and is much cheaper than the full synthetic fluids. Unless you happen to find the new Mobil 1 synthetic atf on sale for 4 a quart somewhere.

Nevermind...... The transmax fluid isn't available in the US and our castrol Import fluid isn't available in Aus. so its a moot point for you. Here in the US castrol doesn't sell a full synthetic, only the import and domestic atf fluids, which meet specs that you have about 6 different castrol products for in Australia.




Good move. I heard of a neater way of swapping to synthetic- a trans specialist near me has a pump that they use to fluch the trans and torque converter with synthetic in order to clean as much of the red **** out as they can. They disconnect the two cooler pipes to do it (or maybe something else) and carry out part of the procedure whilst the engine is running.

I'm going to see if they can do this on my 525i Touring, it has a 5HP18 (bascially a 4HP22 with an extra gear). Once it is done, I can probably hope for the best...

[genphreak]

Thanks Bill, it sounds like just swapping out the contents of the pan will be ok. If I keep doing swaps once a year it will go from purple to green gradually. At AUD$70 per 4L retail it works out about twice as much as Dexron here.
We get raped by multinational US oil companies here in Oz no matter what we buy.

I haven't used Mobil or any others. Since Transmaz Z is certified by ZF for 4HP22s and 5HP18s- and made such a huge difference in my old 22, I will spend the extra. If it staves off a rebuild and gets me some economy, it'll pay for itself- well, I hope anywayz...

[shogun]

Automatic Transmission Fluid Copyright AA1Car

http://www.aa1car.com/library/atf.htm

Automatics with No Dipsticks

According to automobile manufacturer research, a certain percentage of automatic transmission failures are caused by over-filling and/or using the incorrect transmission fluid. It is important to remember to NEVER over-fill the transmission assembly and to ALWAYS use the recommended transmission fluid. To discourage over-filling, some vehicle manufacturers have eliminated the dipstick on the transmission. Unfortunately, this also makes it hard to tell if the fluid level is low.
On automatic transmissions that do not have a dipstick to check the fluid level or add fluid, a fill plug is usually located on the left side or right side of the transmission. On some, there may also be a drain plug on the bottom of the transmission.

To check the fluid level, the transmission must be warm and the vehicle must be parked on a level surface or raised on a lift. Jacking up the front wheels will tilt the vehicle and give an inaccurate indication of the fluid level. Therefore, all FOUR wheels must be raised off the ground and the vehicle must be properly supported by four jack stands. NEVER crawl under a vehicle unless it is safely supported by jack stands.

When the fill plug is removed, some fluid should dribble out of the hole if the fluid is at the proper level (flush with the bottom of the fill plug hole). If no fluid comes out, add fluid to bring it up to the level of the hole.

[632 Regal]

WHatever you do you dont want to change the fluid 100%. There have been more failures from changing or "flushing" than leaving it alone. Just do the pan/filter change every 10K or so and it will be just fine.


As of now, I am not pulling the trans. I'll do this change now, see if that fixes the problem, drive it for a bit and then change it again after a few thousand miles.

[shogun]

I will tell you what we just did abt. 3 weeks ago on an Alpina B12 5.0 E32 750.
The transmission was very rough, shifting was a real shock always.

So what we did on a nice Saturday afternoon within some ours:

we had a pit to go under the car, which is of course very nice, and 5 guys with experience.
let the old fluid drain, removed trans pan, removed valve body, disassembled valve body, cleaned all the dirt out of it, cleaned all cjannels in valve body first with brake cleaner and then with compressed air, disassembed the valves in the valve body, cleaned them, assembled them.
Used compressed air to get more fluid out of the system such as oil cooler, lines, torque converter.
Re-assembled all, put in new filter, new DEXRON III, transmission works SMOOTH
that was all what we did. As if a new trans was installed, and all of the problem was dirt


Compared to motor oil, ATF has live pretty easy. There's no soot, gasoline or condensation from combustion blowby to contaminate the fluid. The only physical contaminants the fluid must deal with are particles that wear off the friction plates, gears and bearings inside the transmission. Most transmissions have some type of internal filter to keep the fluid clean. Some do a pretty good job, but others don't.


CHANGING ATF

The "old fashioned" way to change ATF is to drop the pan, drain the transmission, replace the filter, reinstall the pan and refill with fresh ATF. Though better than nothing, this approach can leave up to two-thirds of the ATF trapped inside the torque converter (unless the converter has a drain plug, which few do).

A better approach is to use equipment that either attaches to the ATF oil cooler lines or the filler tube to exchange new fluid for old. This approach will replace all of the old fluid. The filter should also be changed to get rid of trapped contaminants, too, because a plugged filter can cause the same kind of problems as a low fluid level or low line pressure.

Always use the type of ATF specified by the vehicle manufacturer. If you don't know, refer to the owners manual or a reference chart. The type of ATF may also be specified on the transmission dipstick.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

I do a filter & fluid change, then at every other oil change I just change the ATF fluid.