Trans Fluid...

[MaxTheHooker]

... So i got my trans placed about 400 miles ago.

i took it to Crazy Horse Racing in new jersey because i was having some trouble shifting.. turns out it was the stupid aftermarket cable. that's no big deal. i got back in today to pay the guy and he asks me if it's ok. i told him that i was having some problems when i shift hard from 3rd to 4th - it would grind into gear.

he told me that the shop who installed the brand new transmission may have used the wrong fluid.

he informed me that ford, after making the t5, realized that because it has such narrow passageways that manual trans fluid really shouldn't be used on those cars - they need automatic tranny fluid. is this true and could this be the culprit with my minor grinding problems?

like i said, it doesn't grind when i shift normally, but when i bring the rpm's up and shift a little harder, it grinds.. and only into 4th.

what do you guys think?

and can anyone get me a name of a specific automatic trans fluid to use? prefferably something i could buy at an auto parts store?

thanks.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Well, he's sorta right.


Ford didnt' make the T-5. Borg Warner did way back in 1983 (or around then). Then then sold their t-5 line to Tremec.

They designed two different bearing styles know as World Class and Non-World Class. The NWC uses bigger bearings and takes gear fluid. The WC t-5 uses finer needle bearings and does take ATF. They were designed this way from the beginning.


I beleive 1983 to mid '85 were the non-WC t-5's in the Mustang. In mid-85 Ford started putting the WC t-5 in.

They take Dextron III/Mercon ATF. Non-synthetic is better since that is what it was designed for. It's common parts store product and the T-5 takes 2.8 quarts.


However usually if gear fluid is used, all gears grind and the trans will start to make noise as the bearings starve for fluid. 4th gear is an odd gear to grind but the blocker ring is very easily replaced