Technical Bulletin #006

Transmission: All Transmissions

Subject: Automatic transmission fluid
Issue Date: February, 1990

All Transmissions
Automatic Transmission Fluid

Choosing your ATF

Different ATFs (Automatic TransmissionFluid) can have different frictional properties which can produce differ-
ent shift characteristics. You may have already experienced problems like lock-up shudder, or squawks on shifts
and have corrected them by changing the fluid. This alone tells you that friction material and fluids are critical in
todays cars.

Figure 1

Meeting the O.E.M. Specifications

The first thing to consider when choosing an ATF is "Does it meet the O.E.M. specification?: ATF's wishing to
be labeled as DEXRON®-II and MERCON® are currently very similar, THEY ARE NOT IDENTICAL. Also
note, even fluids which meet the same specification may not be identical. One fluid may just meet a specifica-
tion and, another may far surpass it. You should know what your fluids properties are! You can get that informa-
tion from your fluid supplier.

Copyright © 2003 ATRA. All Rights Reserved. ! Page 1 of 3

Technical Bulletin #006
Evaluating Your Fluid
Ask your supplier to prove (certify) that the fluid
meets O.E.M. specifications (MERCON® OR
DEXRON®-II). He will do that by supplying you with
the license (certification) number issued to him by the
O.E.M.

A DEXRON®-II license number (sometimes referred

to as a "D" number) will always start D-2. A typical
DEXRON® license number can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2

MERCON® license numbers will be six digits starting

with M as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

! Page 2 of 3 Copyright © 2003 ATRA. All Rights Reserved.

 Technical Bulletin #006
Try to Meet Several Specifications!
DEXRON®-II and MERCON® have different mini-
mum specifications, so a product that meets BOTH
specifications may be better than those meeting only
one spec. (figure 4) Meeting other specs, in addition to
the first two can be an added benefit. If a fluid is
licensed as DEXRON®-II AND MERCON® as well
as others like Allison C-4, or Caterpillar TO-2/TO-4, it
means the fluid had to pass more tests and may be a
better fluid.

Lastly, demand that the license numbers be placed on

all your invoices especially if you buy in bulk. If your
supplier is unwilling, it is very likely that they are sup-
plying you an unlicensed fluid. Licensed suppliers are
required to supply the license numbers to their cus-
tomers as part of their agreement with the O.E.M.

Figure 4

Other Things to Check

So now you've narrowed your choices down to a few suppliers that have O.E.M. license numbers. How do you
compare two fluids that meet the same O.E.M. Spec.? Ask your supplier to give you the viscometrics on the
fluid you buy.

An excellent "bench mark" of the overall quality of a fluid is its viscosity at -40 degrees. This is measured in
"centipoise" or "cPs" DEXRON®-II specification says viscosity will be no more than 50,000 cPs @ -40 degrees.
(Some poor fluids have tested at over 1,000,000 cPs) In general, the lower the number, the better the fluid.

Keep in mind that as the number goes down the price of the fluid usually goes up. (You get what you pay for).
Most good fluids will average around 35,000 cPs. Hydrotreated (or Hydrocracked) fluids average around 20,000
cPs or less. (Hydrotreating is a refining process done to the base oil to clean out contaminants or impurities)
Synthetic ATF's average 10,000 cPs or less, and some are as low as 5000 cPs. Viscosity at -40 degrees is a func-
tion of the base stock from which the ATF is made. A low number indicates a premium base oil OR an expensive
refining process. (Hydrotreating).

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