Carquest vs. Castrol Mercon V

[terry274]

Today I changed the transmission fluid in my 2009 Ford Taurus. I had two quarts of Castrol Mercon V left from a previous drain and fill. I bought three quarts of Carquest Mercon V. I added the Castrol first and noticed after those two quarts were poured the strong smell of the Carquest fluid. The Carquest fluid had a smell I associate with automatic transmission fluid from the eighties. I hadn't thought about the smell until I opened the Carquest bottles. The Carquest also had a deeper red appearance than the Castrol. I know the appearance is from dye and doesn't really mean anything, it's just an observation.

So,two questions. Who makes the Carquest Mercon V transmission fluid and is the strong smell indicative of anything good or bad? The smell was strong enough that my wife who was sitting in the garage remarked how it was "stinky".

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Almost all ATF smells funny

The Carquest ATF is made by Amalie/Wolf's Head

 

[NissanX]

Does it meet the specification?

 

[terry274]

Here is what the back of the Carquest bottle says:

And the back of the Castrol:

M5090201 is the Ford license for Mercon V I believe.

 

[69GTX]

I used the Amalie Mercon V (supposedly a notch above their Wolf's Head) for one OCI and didn't notice anything unusual about it, including the smell.

There are only a couple of certified/approved Mercon V's. Castrol is one of them. Mobil 1 ATF may be another. Stinky smell may be indicative of more additives (Calcium Sulfide?). The Mercon V would tend to have more additives than the old conventional Mercon.