MANUAL TRANNY

[HIX]

Ok the manual tranny takes ATF. When I had the tranny rebuilt on my old Explorer the said to put synthetic motor oil in place of the ATF. I was wondering if it would be better to put synthetic ATF as opposed to synthetic motor oil in my new truck's tranny. Anyone have any info or hard facts on the issue?

 

[Cameron]

My Helms manual said to use break fluid in the manual transmission's hydraulic system. At least that’s what I remember it saying. Now I'll have to go back and read it again.

 

[BExplorer]

Fluid...

For the hydraulic, Yes it is brake fluid but not for the tranny itself. I would put synthetic ATF not motor oil, gear are very rude on fluid so put something that will withstand the pressure. Your tranny must stay lub well or gears will rub too hard against each other.

 

[HIX]

ahhh...but I thought motor oil was designed to take the abuse. If not then why aren't we using atf instead of oil in the engines if it is so good?

You can put synthetic motor oil in your diffs too.

 

[BExplorer]

Oil...

I did not meant that, motor oil is for heat, pressure and high speed friction. ATF is more viscous and not dedicated to motor. Would you use vegetable oil in your truck... Oil is oil if I relate to what you are saying. I think if every liquid was for everything, then they would have produce only one kind. I personnaly would stick with the liquid specified for the right use!

 

[HIX]

I think you are taking this the wrong way. Obviously ATF could not stand the heat of the engine. Not to mention that vegitable oil would just smell funny! But thats my point. It would seem that synthetic oil can handle heat and friction better than the atf could. But all that doesn't matter. I am comparing synthetic motor oil to synthetic atf fluid in the tranny. The tranny shop said that for MANUAL TRANNIES the synthetic motor oil provided more lubrication for the bearings. My question is about the synthetic ATF. Is it good enuff to justify the extra cost over the synthetic oil?

 

[Triton46]

I have one example on this. Way, way back (in 1993) I had to have a gear replaced in my manual. The shop refilled the tranny case with some sort of gear oil (10W60 I believe).

It was December in SC and when I would start out in the morning I really had to pull the shifter hard to get it into gear. After about 10 min, the car heated up enough that I could shift it, but this happened everytime I started the car (and it was only 60 degrees outside). I had them change it back to ATF and everything was back to normal. The moral of the story...do as Ford tells you.

There are tight tolerances in there and the ATF can get in and lubricate quicker than the regular gear oil. I've had mine on it for 96,000 trouble free miles and everyone says it shifts like new. Use ATF and don't worry.

 

[HIX]

I am not talking about convetional oil. Synthetic doesn't thicken up as much in cold weather.

 

[Triton46]

The advise still applies, if you've ever seen ATF and synthetic (or conventional) outside the bottle...the ATF is much less viscous than synthetic oil/conventional oil at any temp.

The manual doesn't heat up near as much as the automatic. Its the tight tolerances in the gearing that makes the ATF the best choice.

 

[clark91Jo]

Your manual tranny is of Mazada make and has been for years in Ford Rangers, Broncos and Explorers. I have no idea why, but they designed them for ATF. That's just the way it is. All other manual trannys use regular gear oil (common since). Synthetic ATF will help you in many many ways and would be worth the cost and effort. I would highly recommend Red Line. Though quite spendy, would last a very long time, quite any tranny noises, and will take any abuse you can throw at it, except water. Red Line was designed for racing so 'we' could never put it to the extreem's that race trucks do well, maybe Rick could. But anyway, no since in going into all the detail about oil, one can't go wrong with using motor oil for motors, ATF for autos and Mazada 5 speeds, gear oil for gears, etc. etc. etc. Hope this helps a little bit.

Clark