Valvoline DEX/MERC blue bottle?

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Crashcarson

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Planning on exchanging transmission fluid today. Just a pan drop, filter and fill for now. As far as I know its the original fluid in a 97 chevy pickup, 4L60E, at 85,000mi. Will be taking vehicle to school and it was a debate on whether or not to do it, as I've read it can cause problems to show when exchanging some fluid, though I do have a slight leak that seems to be coming from pan. FLuid is almost cear.

Went to O'Reilly today and they had Valvoline DEX/MERC, but in a blue bottle, not the Maxlife.

Anyone tried this before? Bought a gallon jug, and it was a few dollars cheaper as I do plan to do this again in a few weeks to get more fluid exchanged.
 
It's a good fluid, just not as awesome as Maxlife. It's going to be a big improvement over old fluid though since it will bring the viscosity back up.
 
I'm on the other side, if there's no problems, the regular Dex/Merc seems to be better, as long as you don't overheat it. Remember, NO TOWING IN O/D! Don't ask how I know...
 
Welcome to the forum.

If you plan to change the fluid again, look into getting a pan with a drain plug or installing a drain plug kit. A cooler line flush next time would also save having to drop the pan again.

If you or someone you know can weld, another plug option is to drill a hole in the pan and weld a nut inside. A castellated suspension nut, installed upside down, will let the pan drain more completely.
 
If you have a AAP, they usually always carry the Maxlife 5qt. But like said before the blue bottle is good but maxlife is better. You should't have a problem using it.
 
Well dang...should it make a difference if I use this stuff for now and then use maxlife next time? Not sure if mixing 3 different fluids wold be good. Probably should have got something more common as I don't now if i even have enough, but have a different car I could drive.
 
Originally Posted By: Crashcarson
Well dang...should it make a difference if I use this stuff for now and then use maxlife next time? Not sure if mixing 3 different fluids wold be good. Probably should have got something more common as I don't now if i even have enough, but have a different car I could drive.


It wont matter. As long as you get more of the old fluid out, that is what's important.
 
Originally Posted By: Crashcarson
Well dang...should it make a difference if I use this stuff for now and then use maxlife next time?....

Valvo Dex/Merc should work just fine. Your car is spec'd for it and Valvoline makes quality ATF products including the standard Dex/Merc.

If you choose to use ML next time, I see no reason it wouldn't work with Valvoline Dex/Merc. Or just stick with the Valvoline Dex/Merc next time if you choose.

Most important thing is to service the unit.

welcome2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Crashcarson
Planning on exchanging transmission fluid today. Just a pan drop, filter and fill for now. As far as I know its the original fluid in a 97 chevy pickup, 4L60E, at 85,000mi. Will be taking vehicle to school and it was a debate on whether or not to do it, as I've read it can cause problems to show when exchanging some fluid, though I do have a slight leak that seems to be coming from pan. FLuid is almost cear.

Went to O'Reilly today and they had Valvoline DEX/MERC, but in a blue bottle, not the Maxlife.

Anyone tried this before? Bought a gallon jug, and it was a few dollars cheaper as I do plan to do this again in a few weeks to get more fluid exchanged.


The most appropriate fluid for your application is a genuine, approved, DEXRON-VI.
 
We use a drill powered pump with a thin suction line.
We stick it down the dipstick tube and suck out the old fluid before dropping the pan.
Makes it real clean. Kira
 
You may as well do a cooler line flush, because the first step of the cooler line flush is going to evacuate the transmission pan, so you won't have to lay under that thing watching a shower of fluid come down while unbolting it.

Doing a cooler line flush is so easy, and makes the pan drop so much easier that I have no idea why anyone does it any other way. If you're doing a pan drop, you're already doing 10 times more work than a cooler line flush requires.
 
Walmart sells Valvoline MaxLife full synthetic ATF in 4 quart jugs for $17 and change.

I've never heard anyone bad mouth MaxLife ATF. I would use it in a lot of transmissions except Honda.
 
I use the blue bottle in my Toyota power steering systems.

I've also used it in a 92 Honda automatic. Seems to work well
 
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