Mercon LV Fluid Analysis video

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Originally Posted by CT8
Originally Posted by StevieC
My point is the fluid seems spent at 80K miles and it's supposed to be a lifetime fluid.

Do we know that Amsoil would have done better as the initial fill run the same miles?

I'd put money on it based on my own experiences of the Hyundai SP-III Turning brown in my Santa Fe in 50K KM (30K miles) and leaving clutch wear guk on the dipstick (No Filter in this transmission) and doing a complete exchange and refill with Amsoil and it still being the same cherry red after 100K KM (60K Miles) when I checked it and again at 160K KM (100K miles) when I changed it out because it was my axiousness. When the camshaft snapped at 300K miles (535,000km) it shifted just like it did when I bought it. Literally no change in its performance.

IMO Mercon isn't capable of a long run. 30K miles sure but I wouldn't feel comfortable running it longer where it looks like this after 80K miles.

That said this guy is pretty good at doing follow-up videos so I'm sure now that he has done a complete exchange and refill with Amsoil we will see another video once some miles are accumulated. I follow the channel only for the VOA / UOA's he posts.



Stevie I used the factory fill on a Focus for 96K miles. The transmission is still fine. Mercon LV is capable of extended drains. I will not go this long again as it is my intention to do a partial change about every 30-50K.

 

[SirTanon]

No such thing as a 'lifetime fluid', regardless of what the manufacturers and oil companies say. At 80,000 miles, most trans fluids are going to be pretty worn out and in need of drain/fill. Also, Mercon LV is going to darken in far less than 80,000 miles, but just because it has darkened doesn't mean it's shot.

The problem here is, there are multiple factors in the condition of the fluid, and one of them is the TRANSMISSION. Another is how it was treated - was it romped? Was the car used to pull heavy trailers?

You can't just blame the fluid.

 

[GON]

Originally Posted by tig1
I'm not al all impressed with MC LV ATF. When I drained my 2017 Fusion at 30K the ATF was very dark. I now have Valvoline Max Life LV in it, but will change to M1 LV ATF soon.


Why are you converting from Maxlife ATF to M1?

Thanks, Mike

 

[stanlee]

Originally Posted by StevieC
He bought the truck used, he mentions that in a different video. It's factory fluid. There are lots of other folks on here that have had similar shorter OCI's and the fluid is dark like this. Darkness by itself shouldn't warrant the fluid being toast but it's a cheap indicator maybe it might need to be changed short of a UOA because usually the two correlate together.

I saw it was used but was referring to the previous owner. I would agree that fluid color doesn't conclude/indicate anything EXCEPT for transmission fluid. If its brown or black its either dirty (good for motor oil suspending dirt from an engine, not good circulating dirty fluid thru your transmission) or worn out ("burned") which is also not good. I change mine every 30K miles and it never gets overly discolored. I drive 30K a year.

 

[Whimsey]

Thanks StevieC, interesting video. As I noted here previously our 2017 Explorer has the lighter duty 6F35 transmission. I changed the factory fill at 12,000 miles and it was black/black. I refilled the 4 quarts drained with Mercon LV. 10,000 miles later I did another d&f with Mercon LV and this time it was less black more dark grey. I replaced the 4 quarts drained with more Mercon LV and ran another 10,000 miles. This time the d&f was a very dark ruby red with a hint of grey. I suspect that there is an initial wear in amount of material that's good to remove early for a long transmission life. The 6F35 has a drain plug and easy to access the fill, but no dipstick. I just drive the Explorer onto ramps the night before and drain "cold" the next morning. I refill with the same amount that is drained out cold. The d&f's cost $20 using Mercon LV and are easier to do than an engine oil and oil filter change. So far my d&f method has been successful. We buy new vehicles and try to keep them as close to 200,000 miles as we can. To me doing easy to do d&f's is a lot LESS expensive than risking a transmission failure when cheap maintenance could have kept it alive for a long time.

Whimsey