Ford ATF, 75W90 Gear Oil, or 5W-30 Synchromesh?

[the_feist_in_festiva]

I mean come on, which is it? How in the world can you use Automatic Transmission Fluid in a manual transmission gearbox? What kind of a sick, strange world does Ford live in? Can we get a scientist here? We might as well put Crisco and Olive Oil in there for all Ford knows.

[drddan]

ATF is recomended for mtx. I run it in both my festys. Also ran it in ford truck mtx. No problems at all.

I have heard that the synchromesh is better.

[the_feist_in_festiva]

But why? What is ATF? Is it motor oil with red dye? I cannot live with this.

[Team Lightning]

My 98 Dodge Dakota uses ATF fluid in the manual trans also. It has 250,000 miles on it.

[getnpsi]

The festiva was sold by ford. Sold by ford. Gear oil came specced in the 1988 4 speed from factory, ive read it multiple times. Teh 5 speed is the same as the 4 speed in almost every regard, therefore gear oil is fine. you can dumb it down for peace of mind in a colder climate with motor oil or atf, she wont care.

Right now my current fill is almost all castrol gtx 20w-50, but i don't care. Most important that there IS oil in there. Mine whines a lot now, it was run low for who knows how long. I cant get it to go away but ive already owned this car for 11,000 of my own miles since June!

syncromesh is the best one for almost all manual transmissions. Remember all oils out there, motor or otherwise have come a long way in 30 years, and the tranny wasn't redesigned, it was already made, in use. Yes, dodge used the same trans oil on the assembly line for almost everything. People say you can even use mobil1 in the neon srt-4 and i trust them, they damage the trans from shock and load, not lube issues.

[TorqueEffect]

The festiva was sold by ford. Sold by ford. Gear oil came specced in the 1988 4 speed from factory, ive read it multiple times. Teh 5 speed is the same as the 4 speed in almost every regard, therefore gear oil is fine. you can dumb it down for peace of mind in a colder climate with motor oil or atf, she wont care.

Right now my current fill is almost all castrol gtx 20w-50, but i don't care. Most important that there IS oil in there. Mine whines a lot now, it was run low for who knows how long. I cant get it to go away but ive already owned this car for 11,000 of my own miles since June!

syncromesh is the best one for almost all manual transmissions. Remember all oils out there, motor or otherwise have come a long way in 30 years, and the tranny wasn't redesigned, it was already made, in use. Yes, dodge used the same trans oil on the assembly line for almost everything. People say you can even use mobil1 in the neon srt-4 and i trust them, they damage the trans from shock and load, not lube issues.

Yep, I am almost certain any kinda engine or tranny oil would work in this tranny, these transmissions are bullet proof as long as allot of horse power isn't thrown at them lol, and actually have something in them for lubrication.

But the best stuff is Pennzoil Syncromesh.

[koRnhead]

Dont use 75/90.....you will never get out of first gear when its below freezing.......but as stated, any lubricating fluid will do the job.

[sketchman]

Use the olive oil. I wanna see that.

[Bert]

Ford manual states Mercon ATF and I use a full synthetic Royal Purple version but there are many archival posts discussing the merits of various types of oils for manual trannys. Festys are no longer are covered by warranties so anything goes providing your collection of gears/bearings and parts hold up.

[skeeters_keeper]

one important thing I see missing - make sure whatever you use is safe for yellow metals!! Some gear lube isn't... don't just assume it is.

Personally I think the trans drives 'better' with ATF than gear oil. We put synchromesh in the last G series we did, and it seems nice - but not a noticeable difference.

[Aaronbrook37]

I'm using Redline 75W90 in my B6T/E-series and have had zero complaints or issues with it. Mind you, my climate is quite moderate and I rarely drive this car when it's below 32/0.

[william]

I have ran both 75-90 and I'm running rotella T 15-40 and its even better .
Lots of antiwair agents in it and shiftes a little smoother when cold.

[navdoc101]

Remember its a MAZDA. I use Royal Purple Max ATF, which states on the bottle its for use in Manuel Trans also. What world do you live in?

[getnpsi]

I live in a world where corvette owners ziptie 100 dollar carbon fiber license brackets to the their front ends, and we use 8.8 bolts. If you are starting over and draining your tranny fluid, spend the money. if you are topping off use motor oil, wont hurt a thing. First sentence has no metaphor or analogy, i was just stating a random fact of a product offered on CL i saw today.