found gear lube in trans

shiftin_sideways · Nov 1, 2008

I recently bought a 92 ford ranger xlt. It has the 2.3l engine and 5 speed manual trans. I was changing the trans fluid and I found what looked to be gear lube. I looked on here and found that this trans takes atf. My question is if I just fill the trans with atf will the trans be ok? Or should I fill the trans with atf, drive it for a little bit, then drain and fill with new atf?(some people tell me atf is like a detergent and can clean out most of the gear lube without disassembling trans)

rboyer · Nov 1, 2008

A little bit of gear oil mixed in with the transmission fluid isn't going to hurt anything but if you want to flush it just for something to do then make sure that you buy some cheap transmission for the first time you pour it in. Either way anything is better than straight gear oil!!

swamprat · Nov 2, 2008

Your truck takes ATF. Your manual should tell you how much.

mikepotts · Nov 3, 2008

rboyer said:
A little bit of gear oil mixed in with the transmission fluid isn't going to hurt anything but if you want to flush it just for something to do then make sure that you buy some cheap transmission for the first time you pour it in. Either way anything is better than straight gear oil!!

x's 2... this is a common problem, some people dont take the time to findout the proper fluids for their vehicle and just put what "they think" it should have. hopefully it hasnt been long since added.

therieldeal · Nov 3, 2008

I have a few thoughts on this...

A gearbox is just that - a gearbox. Ford likes to specify ATF (which works OK) to marginally improve gas mileage and reduce the chances that some idiot might put gear oil in their auto trans.

I know a lot of rangers came with Mazda gearboxes - does anyone know what does mazda specifies for the gearbox? Often ford will state ATF for any weather condition - while Mazda will specify it for only extreme cold, listing assorted gear oil specs based on environment.

Why do I know this? My escort has a mazda transaxle... and ford does just that - specifies ATF only. Well, with lots of power and ATF they blow up REALLY easily. Mazda specifies a 75w90 gear lube for warm weather. My stock 100k mile trans lasted 10k miles at 275whp running napa 75w90 gear oil. Conversely, I blew up the tranny in my stock (100whp if I'm lucky) winter beater, which contained ATF. I run a 75w140 synthetic in the turbo escort now, and it seems to work great.

I have no idea what mazda specifies for the ranger trannies, so this is just food for thought.

pacodiablo · Nov 3, 2008

therieldeal said:
I have a few thoughts on this...

A gearbox is just that - a gearbox. Ford likes to specify ATF (which works OK) to marginally improve gas mileage and reduce the chances that some idiot might put gear oil in their auto trans.

I know a lot of rangers came with Mazda gearboxes - does anyone know what does mazda specifies for the gearbox? Often ford will state ATF for any weather condition - while Mazda will specify it for only extreme cold, listing assorted gear oil specs based on environment.

Why do I know this? My escort has a mazda transaxle... and ford does just that - specifies ATF only. Well, with lots of power and ATF they blow up REALLY easily. Mazda specifies a 75w90 gear lube for warm weather. My stock 100k mile trans lasted 10k miles at 275whp running napa 75w90 gear oil. Conversely, I blew up the tranny in my stock (100whp if I'm lucky) winter beater, which contained ATF. I run a 75w140 synthetic in the turbo escort now, and it seems to work great.

I have no idea what mazda specifies for the ranger trannies, so this is just food for thought.

M5ODs have splash lubricated bearings and must have ATF for those. Mazda doesn't spec gear oil for the M5OD either. I wouldn't put anything but ATF in an M5OD. IIRC, some people here (or who used to post here) have first hand experience with gear oil damaging M5ODs.

Get some cheap Mercon V and a suction gun at Wal-Mart and change the fluid out. You may as well, it's easier than an oil change on these trucks. If it was filled with gear oil, there's no telling if or how much damage was done, but it won't help anything to leave it in there.

therieldeal · Nov 3, 2008

fair enough, i just thought i'd throw that tid-bit up there

what exactly do you mean by splash lubricated bearings? are the bearings not submuged (at least partially) in the lubricant?

pacodiablo · Nov 3, 2008

therieldeal said:
what exactly do you mean by splash lubricated bearings? are the bearings not submuged (at least partially) in the lubricant?

Apparently not. I have always seen splash lubrication of bearings stated as the specific reason for why M5ODs cannot use gear oil.

4x4junkie · Nov 3, 2008

pacodiablo said:
Get some cheap Mercon V and a suction gun at Wal-Mart and change the fluid out. You may as well, it's easier than an oil change on these trucks. If it was filled with gear oil, there's no telling if or how much damage was done, but it won't help anything to leave it in there.

If you have anything but a '08 or later, don't use Mercon V, use regular Mercon (it's now labeled "Dex/Merc" or just simply "Domestic Vehicle ATF" now).

Ford's been playing some licensing games with these fluids and claiming Mercon V fully replaces Mercon. It does not. Older M5ODs develop hard-shifting issues while running the V fluid.

(oh, and there is a drain plug on the side of the trans, I'm guessing you meant a hand pump to pump it IN lol)

As for the method of lubrication, as I understand it, the fluid is sprayed up by the cluster gears and is then channeled down a chute into certain bearings. The thickness of gear oil creates problems with the fluid flow (plus it has additives that could affect the synchros).

Hahnsb2 · Nov 3, 2008

4x4junkie said:
As for the method of lubrication, as I understand it, the fluid is sprayed up by the cluster gears and is then channeled down a chute into certain bearings.

That is correct, however the mitsus employ the same method (at least on the input bearing).

therieldeal · Nov 3, 2008

several of the gears and bearings on our FWD trannies are lubricated in that manner, however they do specify gear oil... *shrug*

shiftin_sideways · Nov 3, 2008

Thanks for all the info. I'll see how it turns out when I drive it for awhile. Someone here mentioned hand pumps to fill the trans, which is something I used to do. But I found that to fill a trans or diff it is better and faster to use a drill pump. It is less messier as well. When using gear oil it takes slightly longer since it is thicker.

pacodiablo · Nov 3, 2008

4x4junkie said:
(oh, and there is a drain plug on the side of the trans, I'm guessing you meant a hand pump to pump it IN lol)

Yes, to pump it in. A hand pump and suction gun are the same thing.

rboyer · Nov 3, 2008

therieldeal said:
several of the gears and bearings on our FWD trannies are lubricated in that manner, however they do specify gear oil... *shrug*

Take apart a M5OD once and look at the "Pump" that they use and you will understand why thinner fluid is better. That combined with the small passage which it has to flow through and the end result is very little gear oil being splash fed. It doesn't matter if your FWD transmission is made by the same company or anything because the fact of the matter is that it is different.

therieldeal · Nov 4, 2008

I'm not trying to say you are wrong, sorry if it sounded that way. The lubrication setup just sounds similar in principal, although they executed the design differently for whatever reason. I'm sure I'll be taking one apart at some point, in fact I might rebuild it before I put the 2.3T in there.

found gear lube in trans

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