Auto trans fluid

Type F

I had a c-4 built by Jay at Broader Performance and we talked about synthetic vs dino. He said depends on how often you want to service the trans. The biggest thing he passed along to me was the biggest external cooler you can fit and a temp gauge inline between the cooler and trans. Way off the topic oops! I run the dino.

GranTorinoSport wrote: Over the years I have never thought much of it. Of course most of my transmissions always leaked too much to really put much money into nice fluid!

Billy C wrote: also on the trans cooler... I'd get a stat for the cooler if its a DD or just keep it in the radiator like factory. All automotive fluid is designed to operate at a specific temp, operating it within that temperature as much as possible greatly extends component life. A temp controlled fan dedicated to the transmission cooler would also due for regulating the temps. Just food for thought

Billy, great point. I see where Derale has a thermostatically controlled fluid inline control device such as P/N 25011. Expensive but solves that problem for cold and hot weather driving.

It's not only about regulating the temp after it is heated up, it's also about helping it get to running temp quicker. Also the faster the trans heats up, the faster the motor heats up (they are attached). That's why I mentioned this for a daily driver. For a track/toy/weekend cruise car, that isn't as essential because it see's far less heat cycling.

Edited by Billy C - 28-November-2013 at 4:38PM

I was reading quite a few high horse apps with the c4 using mobil1 0-20 all the way to 10-30 for really severe applications. Firmer shifts and they seem to handle heat better. Some guys are running a blend with type f. I'm going to give Broader a call Monday and see what he thinks.

Hey Scott, He was slow on my build too! I had to ship it to work with the type of shipping he uses. I see the prices on the builds just went up too. I will post up when I talk with him about different fluids.

Oh another note: Trans fluid should be in theory regulated by the cooler in the rad. Adding an external cooler never hurts but I got warned years back buy a guy I sold cnc tooling to in nw Iowa. His family ran a transmission rebuilding service and if the fluid is too cold it doesn't flow well in winter months which will cause issues as well as shorter life span.
Granted for most of us...our torinos are not getting used as winter drivers any longer.

Spoke with Jay at Broader today. Good guy! Ford quit using type f in 1974 and all clutches and materials since have been designed around the merc /dex. Type f will produce a harder shift though not always preferable depending on application.

The external cooler debate...really depends on climate and application. Anything that runs a higher than stock stall rpm should be through an external unless you drive in thirty degree tems daily and even then he thought synthetic fluid seems to stabilize the issues. In most performance applications heat is a bigger concern than over cooling. The bottom line is every system is a little different and the best option is to put a temp gauge inline on the output cooler line before the cooler. Watch the temp and learn how your car behaves and cool or warm accordingly everything else is just a guess.

I heard the same about trick shift.  Now, never heard about the whale oil for the friction modifiers. I'm coming to the conclusion that you could use either fluid depending on the type of feel you like. I also talked with Performance Automatic and they recommend merc/dexlll in their c4 units although they said type f is okay too.