Mustang Manual Trans

[JohnnyO]

My son has a 2000 Mustang, 3.8 V6 and what I think is a T-45 5 speed stick. The owners manual calls for ATF and I have put Mobil 1 ATF in the original transmission in the past. It has a rebuilt transmission about a year old due to a freak accident*, and it's getting some gear whine so I'd like to change it. I'm looking at Mobil 1 ATF again, Red Line D4, or Royal Purple Synchromax. I'm leaning toward the Red Line but what does everybody else think?

Thanks.


* The differential broke and when it did it briefly locked up and stripped out 5th gear. Had to get a new rearend AND a transmission. Good times.

 

[ClutchDisc]

I would go with the Red line. What do you mean by it's getting some gear whine? Did the gear whine just start or has it always been there since the transmission rebuild?

Nice car by the way!

 

[needsducktape]

If its starting to go again, no fluid is going to stop it-

I would fill it with whatever the transmission calls for that is on sale.

 

[Doog]

Nothing will stop gear whine. Have you considered that maybe he drives the car a bit aggressively?

 

[Clevy]

I have same car except I have a gt with a 4V swap. You are correct the transmission is a t-45. If the transmission is whining that is common with these unless every part inside is new.
I've had good luck with amsoil synchromesh in mine but if you can get red line that is tops in my book.
Forget Mobil. Red line is above and beyond what is commonly available from Mobil. That is my opinion though.
I use red line shockproof in everything I can,best gear oil I've come across.
Go with red line.

 

[donnyj08]

when i had a procharged gt an 02 which switched to TR3650 halfway through 01 i used mercon V from the dealer. i never had any issues in 40k miles of supercharged fun.

why not try out a lube from the ford dealer?

 

[aquariuscsm]

Clevy,which Shockproof are you using in your manual transmission? How well is the shifting feel?

 

[aquariuscsm]

RP Synchromax,Pennzoil Synchromesh,Amsoil MTF,etc would be excellent choices.

 

[TallPaul]

Some transmissions that call for ATF do better with syncromesh fluid which is thicker. Check first if that would be oksy. Either way, I would go with Redline D4 or if a syncromesh type fluld, Redline MTL.

 

[SHOZ]

Redline has an super lightweight shockproof now too. I use the lightweight in my Hyundai Gen Coupe but would like to have a blend of the super and lightweight oils.

 

[bdcardinal]

If the car is a V6 it should have a T5, not a T45. That being said Tremec says any Dex 3 rated ATF in the latest ads I have seen for those. Also rebuilding a T-5 is not complicated, Ford Racing sells a kit to replace all the non hard parts in that gearbox.

 

[Clevy]

The t-5 and t-45 are the same transmission with a different bellhousing.

 

[JohnnyO]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Nothing will stop gear whine. Have you considered that maybe he drives the car a bit aggressively?

He's been away at grad school most of the year and the car has had very few miles put on it, less than 5000. Dad will turn off the traction control and bark the tires on the 1-2 shift once in a while.

 

[aquariuscsm]

What`s weird,is that the 80s era Z31 300ZX`s came with a T5,and they had a sticker on them that said either ATF or 75W90 GL4. Wonder why they gave both lube choices?

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
What`s weird,is that the 80s era Z31 300ZX`s came with a T5,and they had a sticker on them that said either ATF or 75W90 GL4. Wonder why they gave both lube choices?


It isn't that weird. VW specs 75w-90 for their MTXs and then throws in at the factory a straight 75W MTF that is around 6 cSt and down in the ATF range. MTXs might just be very robust in general and not all that picky about fluid.

 

[SHOZ]

I had a couple of Festivas. They used gear oil in Asia but ATX in the US.

 

[TallPaul]

I once read about when Chrysler started specifying ATF in manual transmissions they got complaints of gear rattle. Their cure was a thicker fluid (presumably until they could actually design a manual transmission to take atf). Why ATF? Probably CAFE similary to the push for 5w20. Caution is in order as some transmissions have splash lubed bearings. The F150 Mazda transmission is supposed to have a splash lube bearing. Redline MTL is considerably thicker than ATF, like about 2 cSt thicker, but works fine in them, but I have heard of people putting heavy gear lube in them and burning out that splash lubed bearing.

 

[buck91]

Couldn't say which brand any more but I put some basic mercon in my '96 GT and it loved it...

 

[JohnnyO]

Moot point now. Upshifting into 2nd gear was a little notchy and downshifting you couldn't do it without grinding. Getting another rebuilt transmission on warranty. Will have shop put Red Line in the new one.