ATF Fluid specification

[nd66pa]

Haste makes waste and usually costs money as well. I needed to top off the auto trans fluid and knowing the Vibe is a GM product and all GM products have called for Dextron III trans fluid since Truman was president, I added some Dextron III Mercon. Well, the manual specs T-IV.Anybody know if I am in big trouble? I added about 13 oz. Should I drain the trans and get the right stuff in it?Thanks for the advise,Pat

[ColonelPanic]

Not sure if the Dexron will harm anything or not... I do remember a TSB or some other communication that went to the dealers about T-IV vs. Dexron. I believe some dealers had used Dexron and the Vibe's tranny developed a harsh shift. I don't know if that was from just topping it off with Dexron, or draining the pan and filling back up with Dexron.May not be a bad idea to change, although I'm not sure if you would actually have to. If you do need to change the fluid, I'm sure you could just get by with removing the drain plug on the transmission pan instead of dropping the whole thing.

[nd66pa]

Thanks Colonel for the help. Sounds like not all is lost.Regards,Pat

[ragingfish]

What did you put in, some universal stuff?Cause Mercon is Ford's fluid...I'd not advise using that...

[ColonelPanic]

Some fluid meets both specs for Dexron and Mercon both, I believe...

[ragingfish]

Yeah, you're right CP.Just paged through the AMSOil catalog, they show their ATF as being GM, Ford, and Chrysler compatibile...Touché my friend!!!

[Raven]

You may also want to consider; where did 13oz of transmission fluid disappear to? Check for leaks before filling up with new fluid. Also draining the pan does not get rid of all your fluid, a lot is trapped inside the passageways of the transmission. If it is necessary to get out all the wrong tranny fluid it will have to be flushed and refilled.

[ColonelPanic]

Wow, can't say I've heard of a fluid that covers all three... Or maybe I haven't looked. In the past, I've just picked up whatever bottle that said Dexron on the label. And Sunny, you've got a good point. In 42,000 miles I haven't noticed any loss of fluid. So something may not be right there... If the pan isn't leaking, it could be another seal on the tranny - had one of the seals somewhere where the axle leaves the tranny go bad on my Malibu. Fluid was dripping from above and running down the transmission. On that car though, a leak royally sucked - it didn't have a dipstick to check the fluid. Anywho, that's something to check... How much is 13 oz anyway, in the big scheme of things? I suck at measurements! Still not sure if that amount would cause any harm. Somebody break it down Barney-style for me so I can think about it. lol!

[Raven]

13oz is almost 1pint, 16oz= 1pint, 2pints=1quart, 2quarts=1gal. OK Baby Bop! The Vibe probably has about 4quarts of tranny fluid in it. So 1/8 is the wrong stuff and 7/8 is the right stuff.Edit... OK it holds 7.75 quarts, so only 1/16 is the wrong stuff.

[ragingfish]

I think he means how much is 13oz in relation to the capacity of the tank...The ATF capacity is 7.75 qt for a flush/fill, and 3.25 qt if just draining and refilling.So using sunny's conversions, a flush/fill would yield 248 oz. 13 oz is just over 5% of total capacity. Not huge, but not negligible either.

[ColonelPanic]

There we go... That's what I was wondering - amount of Dexron vs. amount of T-IV that was already in the tranny.

[nd66pa]

Sunny:You're right,loosing 13 oz. is a huge amount. I suspect a bad seal. Yet I do not see any on the garage floor. Then again it may leak only when running.I am taking it to the dealer tomorrow to find out where the fluid is going.Thanks for the help,Pat

[SublimeVibe]

I had to go to my local toyota dealer to get the T4 tranny fluid for my 2003 Vibe and since its a toyota anyway if you can't get the right fluid at your loacl GM dealer go to the nearest toyota dealer,

[bud_one]

Toyota's fluid is also cheaper....

[kcinmi]

Just picked up 4 qts of ATF from local Toy dealer for 16.00. At that price and the fact the tranny has a drain plug, I think Ill change it every third oil change.