Has anyone tried alternate fluids in manual tranny?

[SRich]

I am wondering if anyone has tried running a different fluid in their manual transmission. I am doing heavy towing and I am curious if the atf provides sufficient lube. My brother's M-Benz manual tranny takes the same atf for light apps but if you are driving severely ie towing or hot rod it is supposed to run a 10-50 oil.

 

[gw33gp]

I tow my race car a lot and use Royal Purple Synchromax. It has done well for me although I can't say the original lube was bad for towing. The only difference I can tell between the original ATF and Synchromax is smoother shifting through the gears.

 

[4x4junkie]

If this is for the 2.3L truck you have in your profile, I wouldn't worry about it.

4.0L V6 trucks having nearly 2× the torque also use the M5OD transmission like you have (just with slightly different ratios) and no suggestion for a different fluid for towing is made for those trucks either.

Stick with the Mercon (a.k.a. "Dex/Merc") fluid and you should be fine.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

I've used 30 weight motor oil. Shifted like trash and would creep in neutral.

Switched to valvoline max life after I rebuilt it and haven't had any problems.

Automatics use ATF to lube their gear trains and typically never wear out except friction material

 

[SRich]

I just changed it yesterday and put in the Valvoline Synthetic. The smoothest shifting that I have had in it was after putting in 3 cups of Slick 50 engine treatment but I had to drain it due to work on clutch soon after changing fluid and had heard that mixing tranny fluid and engine oil can ruin parts in the long run.

 

[racsan]

Well, if atf is good enough for a full size truck with an automatic, then its plenty tough enough in a ranger manual trans, in fact i would think atf would be under much harsher usage in a automatic, the bands,tourque converter slippage before lockup. the heat generated is much more than when its used in a manual gearbox. the only thing "better" for the atf in a auto is the fact that there is a cooler for the fluid and there is a filter on the pump intake. too heavy a oil in the transmission will cause parts to not get enough lubrication, and that will cause big problems in a hurry! years ago i changed the atf out of a jeep cj-7 manual trans, i put 80w90 gear oil in, thinking "thicker is better"...very bad move! couldnt shift it when it was cold, when warm weather came around again, it was very noisy, i had pretty much ruined the transmission because of that. heavy duty towing with a 2.3? i once pulled a dead astro van (which weighed more than my truck) with my '88 2wd 2.3 ranger, had atf in it, was about 10 miles. had no problems because of it. that all being said, i do run pennzoil syncromesh fluid in my '93 ranger. its not any better, not any worse. it is more expensive, i think it was $7 a qt the last time i bought any.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I run the heck out of my Ranger, have towed, wheeled, and all sorts of stuff and rebuilt the tranny because the synchro's were worn out, looked new inside, and that was at over 200k on the clock... and that was after 20k or so with the turbo engine in front of it, I just run the walmart ATF...

 

[Kowboy]

I just recently changed out my manuals ATF. I used Valvoline MAX LIFE DEX/MERC. I must say, shopping for proper oil for a Mazda 5- speed, is a challenge. I kinda got lost in what was approved and what was not. I now believe that my choice was probably the very best. I did call the Valvoline technician and he recommended the MAX LIFE. My tranny had 155,000 on the clock.

 

[SRich]

Thanks for the info. The Valvoline Max Life seems to be working well. I just turned 245k with over 35k towing.