automatic tranny fluid

[tpodwdog]

hi kids....i feel like an absolute idiot asking this ....but....as i was TRYING to calibrate my speedo to the tires and axle ratio....in a successful attempt (3 tries and i got it)...upon pulling out the speedo pinion...i lost about one quart of automatic tranny fluid. Being that this is my 1st "automatic" mopar....what tranny fluid does this take?....ATF or "type f " ??...or what.. like i said , i feel like a total IDIOT asking this sophomoric question....one that i should already know but sadly i dont !

jogging the memory banks of 30 or so years ago...i think type F is for fords and ATF is for GM and mopar...is this correct????

 

[Greg Ducato]

Any Dexron compatible fluid will work here, check the fluid level with the engine running, trans in neutral.

 

['67Satellite]

...on a level surface, at operating temperature.

 

[Ron 73]

I use ATF+ 4 Its like the replacement for 3 ITs not a stupid question and i to felt the same way because all my cars were 4 speeds. After the car is started you need to put it in neutral because your pump is working and you get an accurate reading.

 

[Slantsixdan]

The (objectively) best Torqueflite-compatible trans fluid on the market until recently was Chrysler Mopar ATF+4. It is misunderstood by some to be "too slippery". In fact, ATF+4 is a substantially better fluid in every way than Dexron -II, -III, or -IV and ATF+ (+2, +3), and it does not cause, promote, or aggravate slippage. It maintains the specified viscosity across a temperature range that's wider at both the hot and cold ends, its lubrication and antiwear properties are better, it's more resistant to oxidation, sludging and varnish formation, and it smells better. It might even taste better, I don't know. There's an extremely detailed Chrysler Engineering paper comparing every aspect (except taste) of ATF+4 vs. ATF+3, ATF+2, ATF+, and Dexron-III/IV.

Then a couple years ago along came GM's Dexron-VI, which is another extremely high performance fluid (where "performance" refers to all the things a trans fluid has to do...lubricate both metal-and-metal and metal-on-friction without screwing up the frictional elements' ability to grab and keep hold of the metal, remain stable when cold and when hot, resist foaming, resist oxidation, etc).

The RWD Torqueflites really don't need anything more exotic than a good-quality ordinary Dexron (present spec is the newest Dexron VI, though you might still find some older or off-brand Dexron IIIe or other previous Dexrons on the market). I do run ATF+4 in mine, and they all seem happy with it. But the main point here is you really don't need to sweat it. You don't need to spend unnecessary money on exotic-brand fluids or special "race" fluid.

Some guys claim Type-F, an old Ford fluid, "improves" shift quality. Fact is, Type-F is an archaic fluid with seriously inferior performance by just about every measure. Torqueflites will hold up fine with Type-F, which is mostly an illustration of how rugged the Torqueflite is. There are much funner ways of demonstrating that a Torqueflite is robustly enough engineered to withstand abuse than to use an (objectively) inferior fluid.