New fluid, now slips when cold

[kevinsmith]

The guy I bought my truck from said he changed the tranny fluid every 60K miles and mine was now due for that (it has 120K).

So I order a new WIX filter online and buy five gallon jugs of Super Tech Mercon/DexronIII at China Mart. I went with the simple "drain the pan, drain the TC, clean the pan, put in the new filter, put it all back together" technique.

A few things I noticed: 1) There was what seemed to me like quite a bit of sludge on the magnet. 2) The old fluid had a sweet smell, almost like cherry flavored cough syrup. Did I have antifreeze in my tranny fluid?

Now, until my engine is up to running temp, the tranny slips. It is very sluggish in lower gears and I can watch my rpms go from 2500 (70 mph on the highway in OD) and then it will drop down to 2000 as soon as it gets warm.

It isn't low on fluid. Is the problem the cheapo fluid I bought? Or is this just a warning flag as to what is to come and that guy should have changed it every 30K?

Thanks,
Kevin

[FordNutz]

Kevin,

Was the old fluid that came out looking a little like strawberry milk?

[DieselFord]

Used wrong fluid, need Mercon LV is the required fluid for the transmissions now.

[NoRalPh]

Originally Posted by DieselFord

Used wrong fluid, need Mercon LV is the required fluid for the transmissions now.

That's ridiculous, the truck came with Dex-III, it should work with Dex-III.

In fact, Ford specifically warned about using anything else when it made that trans.

Many believe, as I do, that Fords acceptance of other fluids (they once told us Not to use) has more to do with wanting to consolidate their fluid inventory than anything else. Certainly nothing has changed inside the transmission!

[kevinsmith]

Originally Posted by FordNutz

Kevin,

Was the old fluid that came out looking a little like strawberry milk?

No, it looked normal. I notice in my owners manual, the guy who owned the truck before me wrote "Mercon 18qts." in it, so I'm assuming he used that fluid.

Kevin

[Dietoremain]

i'd say ditch the walmart crap fluid for sure. Im running chevron MD3 and its great. And to the guy that said wrong fluid...HAHA screw ford.

[Bad Night]

That's the right fluid . Just did the same thing to my truck , no problems from fluid . I have a slight leak in my front seal , I am told from truck sitting so much . I used motorcraft fluid but still the same Mercon Dextron III