Let’s Play “Is it motor oil or ATF?”

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454cid

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Out of fluid yes, but not dry.

No - but in the case of an engine, the bearings are loaded. Conversely, the transmission is not under any load.

I'll defend the practice (for PAS also) as a more thorough way to change as much of the oil out as is practically possible on the basis that the pump doesn't run dry - it merely lacks fluid to pump.

I've run mine low trying to change the fluid, since I wasn't organized enough to get it re-filled while running, and it did make a lot of racket!
 

AuroraGirl

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When I had my Saturn, I read that it was bad to put it in the Saturn transmissions. Later Saturns that shared platforms with other GM brands I'm sure it's fine. It's one of the reasons I won't assume on fluids. I have no idea if it'll work in my Volvo's either even though I think Dex3 is ok/recommended. They have Aisin transmissions. I no desire to put it in my 4L80e, but thats more about cost, and it already having 300K miles.
I believe you mean post 2002 saturn which was a fraud in and of itself. The saturn which needed different transmission fluid im pretty sure was a.. toyota? outsourced car from GM To someone else, so they needed their fluid. I think.
There were a few gm models that did this stuff i think
 

AuroraGirl

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GM and other Dex VI licensees compatibility listing is conflicting/contradictory/incomplete.

GM says Dex VI is backward-compatible with SOME previous versions of Dexron, in SOME applications. It's NOT backwards-compatible with the early Hydromatic/Dynaslow that used engine oil, or transmissions that were specified for Type A, or Type A Suffix A; and early versions of Dexron. But again, info is contradictory/incomplete/subject to interpretation.

Non-GM vehicles that used Dexron may/may not be suitable for Dex VI.

Image stolen from BITOG.

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The Mobil web-page says

(My emphasis) Mobil is claiming total backwards-compatibility with all Dexron formulas. That covers back to Model Year 1967. Prior to that, it was some version of Type A, and before that...motor oil.

Another source saying Dex VI is only compatible with other Dexron applications.



I would be willing to put Dex VI into any Dexron application. I don't because I still have a heap of Dex-Merc (Dexron III-compatible) fluid; and nothing I own is new enough to require Dex VI.
i think that fluid I had pointed out in an earlier post covers the Type A and that era fluids as replacements, but most of those transmissions are not original builds anymore eithr and those fluids got really gummy because of their bio elements like whale oil and such
 

454cid

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I believe you mean post 2002 saturn which was a fraud in and of itself. The saturn which needed different transmission fluid im pretty sure was a.. toyota? outsourced car from GM To someone else, so they needed their fluid. I think.
There were a few gm models that did this stuff i think

No Saturn was a Toyota. I'm speaking of the S-series, which was wholly a Saturn. They did not share much with the rest of GM except sidepost batteries.
 

AuroraGirl

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No Saturn was a Toyota. I'm speaking of the S-series, which was wholly a Saturn. They did not share much with the rest of GM except sidepost batteries.
Didnt know that trans family wasnt using dexron weird. The auto you mean?
They did not share much with the rest of GM except sidepost batteries. Literal pain

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2001 announcement in gm stuff lol!
 

Schurkey

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Hmmm.. the " shifting through the gears with the engine running till it sputters".
I don't "shift through the gears". I merely drop a cooler tube, and idle the engine in Neutral.

When it sputters, the pan is near-empty, and can be dropped with a minimum of mess.

Out of fluid yes, but not dry.

No - but in the case of an engine, the bearings are loaded. Conversely, the transmission is not under any load.
Correct.

Trans in Neutral, wheels not turning: Nothing in the transmission except the pump and torque converter are moving, and therefore nothing in the trans except the pump and converter need lube. The pump has lube even when "sputtering". The torque converter still has fluid in it, when the pump is "sputtering". No damage whatsoever during the ~five seconds the pump sputters before I can get to the key to shut the engine off.

When the pan is cleaned and replaced with a fresh filter installed, I pre-fill the pan with ~5 quarts of fresh fluid, open multiple more quarts so they're ready to pour, and poke a funnel into the dipstick tube. Start engine, idle in Neutral, and dump fluid down the dipstick tube as fast as it'll flow. Watch the fluid coming out of the cooler tube--when it looks like new, fresh fluid, I shut the engine off. Reconnect cooler tube, top-off trans fluid as needed.

Simple, easy, effective; and removes about 95% of the old fluid. The only old stuff remaining is what's trapped in the clutch packs, accumulators, valve body, etc. Almost certainly less than a quart, perhaps much less than a quart of old fluid.

Remember, the fluid coming back from the cooler is the lube-oil for the geartrain and bushings. But if the wheels aren't turning, the gears and shafts aren't moving--and therefore don't need lube.
 

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When the pan is cleaned and replaced with a fresh filter installed, I pre-fill the pan with ~5 quarts of fresh fluid, open multiple more quarts so they're ready to pour, and poke a funnel into the dipstick tube. Start engine, idle in Neutral, and dump fluid down the dipstick tube as fast as it'll flow. Watch the fluid coming out of the cooler tube--when it looks like new, fresh fluid, I shut the engine off. Reconnect cooler tube, top-off trans fluid as needed.
The above can be done in steps if required ie, shut the engine down before the pan has been pumped dry and resume the process when refilled. That's how I did my trans. PAS is altogether a different matter! A shame GM in the manual didn't offer up some guidance on how to replenish the PAS reservoir as fast as the pump is shifting it.
 
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