Manual Trans fluid

[FestivaBiker1971]

Hi All,

Since this seems to be a popular question, I did a little digging at work. According to the info I could access, the original fluid was a very thin gear-type lube, based on the base oils used to manufacture ATF. It did not contain the additive package that makes ATF what it is. The additives include friction modifiers (for clutch friction mat'l), anti-foaming agents, high level detergents, viscosity enhancers (to maintain proper viscosity throught temperature and pressure range), and a red dye to identify it. Take all that stuff out of ATF, and you get something very close to the original fill. Bottom line, ATF is a good choice for a daily driver. Full synthetic ATF would be even better, or Motorcraft now manufactures a new synthetic blend MTX fluid, intended for the MTX75 and IB5 transaxles in the Focus and upcoming Fusion. The API (American Petroleum Institute) performance reports I read basically boil down to that fluid being the best choice. Yes, I work for Ford, no I don't get anything if you buy Motorcraft fluids. In fact, I ran Mobil 1 syn ATF in my Mustang till this stuff came out. My trans runs cooler and shifts like butter. Can't make any comments about wear, haven't had reason to pull it yet. I can tell you Ford has fewer warranty manual trans concerns with this fluid. Hope this helps. I don't pretend to know it all, I'm just sharing what I've been able to find......

[aithanmier]

hey thanks for the info.

hey since you have a 88 maybe you could help me out with a little problem i have, the post is in the repairs section.

[Tim]

I like the ATF idea. Maybe it'll prolong the life of my transmission until I either replace it or fix the syncros.

[FestivaBiker1971]

correction to my first post. The fluid is FULL synthetic, and the Motorcraft# is XT-M5.

[darkdan]

I used AMSOIL Universal ATF in my transmission.

The first-second shift is better....but there's no chemical fix to a physical problem.

Synthetic ATF is about a 0w20 which is a big difference then the 75w90 some people recommend.

[FestivaBiker1971]

XT-M5 isn't an ATF, Its specifically designed for manual transmissions. It has a viscosity comparable with about 10w-40, maybe even a bit stickier. And it doesn't smell like any fluid I've used in a tranny before. Almost reminds of diff lube with friction modifier.

[darkdan]

XT-M5 isn't recommended for all transmissions. It's recommended as a replacement for those that used to require SAE80 transmission fluid. Mainly the cougar/focus transmissions were giving them problems.

Also, I'm sure it's because Ford is looking for more ways to inrease their CAFE rating (like the switch to 5w20).

http://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.com/supplier/quickref/mantrans.pdf

According to the motorcraft website my 94 Aspire is still recommended ATF.

Can you find an MSDS or data sheet for this stuff? I for the life of me, can't find the viscosity of this stuff.

And at $15 to $17 a quart this stuff had better be PAO and not hydrocracked group III oils like the rest of the "synthetic" motorcraft line.

A 0w20 ATF is at the very bottom of the SAE 80 gear lube viscosity at 100degreesC. But just imagine how much better cold flow!

[FestivaBiker1971]

no MSDS yet that I can find. and what wrong with the hydrocracked oils? I've always had good luck with them. And yes, motorcraft does still recommend atf for the festy/aspire trannies, but my techs are telling me they've been using it several different apps to kill noises, hard shifting, etc....

[darkdan]

group III oils just don't provide all the benefits of group IV oils. It comes close, but no cigar.

Also, the high price of group III oils doesn't give you the price/performance benefits of group IV oils. For slightly more (or less in this case) the group IV outperform by a margain greater than price.

Believe it or not the $3.80 supertech group III synthetic oil is nice, but for $4.50 you can get a quart of AMSOIL which is going to last twice as long....see my point?

I don't doubt the XT-M5 is nice stuff, for $15 it better be. I'm sure it's much better than most people are running. I'd just like more information on it. I also appreciate how you're trying to help people out. I'm also happy you don't think I'm personally attacking you. I'm just curious. Heck, if you can prove to me this is the best stuff since sliced bread I'll recommend it to my customers.

[FestivaBiker1971]

hey Dan,

Thanks for the compliment. You're right, I just wanna help all the other Festiva nuts like us. And I'm glad we understand that we're all here to help one another, otherwise, what would be the pupose of this board?

I'm working on getting the MSDS sheets for the XT-M5, also XT-7 and XT-8 for the new 6speed auto and CVT trannies. That server within our Intranet is having some problems. As soon as it's available, I'll get it posted (for the XT-M5 anyway).

Keep up the good work Dan, I like having someone question me, makes me dig harder and deeper!

[baddassaspire96]

What about aspires?

[Pu241]

What's the record for reviving an old thread?

Same tranny in the aspire as in the festiva, so would think all the above applies!

[FB71]

holy crap!!! My first screen name!!!

[MONSOON]

[Pu241]

Well, FB71/FestivaBiker1971 did you ever get those MSDS's?