04 Townie - Synthetic tranny fluid?

[doughboy2011]

I'm going to change my tranny fluid and filter tomorrow. And was wondering if I can/should use synthetic fluid? Any advice is much appreciated. Car has 141K miles and I don't know if the fluid or filter has ever been changed as I bought it used w 135K


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[Chuck Norris]

As long as the fluid conforms to the standard of the fluid your car requires, you will be fine. Ford fluids, according to service bulletins in the past, are not backwards compatible like General Morons fluids. Just make sure it meets the right standards.

[gadget73]

The original fluid should be Mercon V, which is semi-synthetic anyway. As long as it meets the specs, you should be fine though.

[doughboy2011]

The original fluid should be Mercon V, which is semi-synthetic anyway. As long as it meets the specs, you should be fine though.

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what do you mean specs? As far as I know ATF is ATF, no?


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[IPreferDIY]

Mercon V is different from the older plain Mercon and different from the newer Mercon LV. The older and the newer will not work properly for you if you need Mercon V. Different brands of Mercon V are required to meet the Mercon V specs, whether semi-synthetic or full synthetic.

Mercon V is apparently plain Mercon with an additive package, particularly a friction modifier for the torque converter lockup clutch. Mercon LV apparently denotes a "low viscosity" type of Mercon. So, no, all ATF's are NOT created equal.

[gadget73]

Sorry to sound like a noob, but what do you mean specs? As far as I know ATF is ATF, no?

Definitely not. Every transmission ever made has a specific type of fluid spelled out in the manual. Many of them happened to share the same fluid type in the old days, but modern ones not so much. Ford has specified Mercon V for everything since about the mid 1990s. Using the wrong fluid can burn things up due to incorrect friction modifiers and whatnot.