6l80 fluid questions

[ben_d0813]

I have a 2010 Silverado 5.3 with the 6l80 with 65000 miles and original fluid to my knowledge. I will be replacing the pan with a PML deep pan which will add about two quarts to the capacity and changing the filter, refilling, and adding a bottle of lubegard red.

I have a couple questions though,

I do want to do at least two more drain and fills after to get out as much of the old fluid as possible and wondering how long should I go in between each drain and fill?

I have used valvoline maxlife in a Honda with over 300,000 miles on it with good luck and its still on the road. Is it compatible with the dexron vi or should I stick with the factory fluid.

If I am able to use the maxlife I have 12 quarts of it in original bottles but they were refilled from a bulk barrel of maxlife about a year and a half ago. Is their a shelf life on it or is it still good as long as the bottles stay closed?

 

[donnyj08]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3893680/1


^ should be very similar on your truck. A cooler line flush is the easiest way to change all the fluid. Get about 16qts. Maxlife works great! I used it in my Dex-VI application. I also added a bottle of lube-guard red a few weeks after the complete service.

 

[901Memphis]

Yes Maxlife is great, I personally consider it slightly superior to DexronVI. Both are excellent choices for your transmission. I would think the Maxlife bottles are capped tight they should be okay.

If you stick with the drain and fill I would wait about 1,000 miles in between drains.

All that being said you do not need to add lubegard to Maxlife or DexronVI, it's more of a supplement to a weaker mineral based dex/merc, both Maxlife and DexronVI have all the additives they need and Maxlife has a very advanced additive package from Lubrizol, it definitely doesn't need anything extra but if you have no where else to dump the lubegard and already bought it why not.

 

[oilmutt]

WELCOME1

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted By: donnyj08
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3893680/1


^ should be very similar on your truck. A cooler line flush is the easiest way to change all the fluid. Get about 16qts. Maxlife works great! I used it in my Dex-VI application. I also added a bottle of lube-guard red a few weeks after the complete service.


Your 4L60E is not technically a Dexron VI application, Nothing changed in this unit....Just the fluid spec when GM rolled out Dexron VI.

A 6L80E requires Dexron VI ATF, If the mentioned Maxlife meets that spec...Great, If not....Do not use it.

 

[jhellwig]

Use Valvoline dex 6 and just do the pan drop and filter change. Do it every 25 to 50k.

 

[barkingspider]

Max life aft will be just fine in your application.

 

[CKN]

I have 53,000 miles on my 2011 Silverado with the 6 speed transmission. About 30% of those miles are towing. I did a fluid exchange at 50,000 miles and visually the fluid looked great. According to the "fluid experts" here on BITOG it was a fluke to have bright red fluid with that many miles.

But the Dexron 6 is very good stuff and GM has tested it under very high operating temperatures. Since I live out west and see PLENTY of mountain passes I have seen high operating temps-and the fluid seems (and according to everything published) CAN TAKE THE HIGH TEMPS. I don't believe a deep pan is needed unless your towing really, really, heavy. JMO.

 

[jhellwig]

Mine was never to terribly dark and I towed a lot with it. Those transmissions have excellent cooling.

 

[supton]

I have to wonder if the 6L80 is aggressive on torque convertor lockup. Towing heavy but locked ought to make for low(er) oil temps than unlocked. I have to wonder if city driving might be harder on the transmission. Lots of shifting vs long pulls in one gear.

 

[SteveSRT8]

The 3500 heavy duty program is very aggressive, holds lower gears and shifts firmly. Put in tow/haul mode it becomes almost silly, really keeps the revs up high and won't upshift without making you wonder when.

It always tries to lock up early and often, and downshifts aggressively as well. I love the factory HD program, I doubt the Silverados have it unless they are at least 2500 HD models or higher.

Finally, why anything other than Dex VI? Great fluid that easily runs long service intervals and is hard to degrade in use.

 

[GMBoy]

The Maxlife, according to Valvoline, is suitable for Dexron 6 transmissions. However, they also make a Dex6 transmission fluid (blue bottle) and I would actually favor using it instead.

 

[jhellwig]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
The 3500 heavy duty program is very aggressive, holds lower gears and shifts firmly. Put in tow/haul mode it becomes almost silly, really keeps the revs up high and won't upshift without making you wonder when.

It always tries to lock up early and often, and downshifts aggressively as well. I love the factory HD program, I doubt the Silverados have it unless they are at least 2500 HD models or higher.

Finally, why anything other than Dex VI? Great fluid that easily runs long service intervals and is hard to degrade in use.


My 1500 6l80e did the same thing. It was heavy on the engine braking. Plus it would crank out the power when towing heavy. Mine would brake the tires loose easy towing over 10k properly distributed. You couldn't get it to chirp the tires unloaded but loaded it would put out the power to get it moving yet still keep the rpms down when it could.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: donnyj08
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3893680/1


^ should be very similar on your truck. A cooler line flush is the easiest way to change all the fluid. Get about 16qts. Maxlife works great! I used it in my Dex-VI application. I also added a bottle of lube-guard red a few weeks after the complete service.


Your 4L60E is not technically a Dexron VI application, Nothing changed in this unit....Just the fluid spec when GM rolled out Dexron VI.

A 6L80E requires Dexron VI ATF, If the mentioned Maxlife meets that spec...Great, If not....Do not use it.


Maxlife will work fine in all Dex-VI applications as well as LV applications which it is recommended for. It is a proper Low Viscosity Fluid. 4l60, 6l80, 6R80 none of them will know the difference between Valvoline Dex-VI, LV or Maxlife FS.

Link was to help the OP with the most efficient procedure for a complete transmission fluid change in his Silverado.

 

[ben_d0813]

Thank you everybody for the replies. Once I get my pan in I am going to use the Maxlife that I have and forgo the lubegard. I am replacing the factory external cooler with a bigger one so at the same time I will do the flush through the cooler line since it will be disconnected.