Transmission fluid

Happy New Year All!

I used Mobil Synthetic ATF in my last transmission fluid change. Does this mean I can go longer between changes as with synthetic oil?

Happy New Year to you too.

Using Mobil 1 Syn ATF does not change the manufacturer's recommended change out interval which is 100K miles under normal driving and 50K miles under severe. Of course you can do more frequent service than that if you desire.

It is just a better and more versatile high performance lubricant which may help extend tranny life. It has better friction retention which is better for internal components like clutch, gears and bands and better thermal breakdown protection compared to Dino oil.

Last I recall Mobil has a disclaimer on the bottle concerning service intervals which recommends going with the manufacturer of the car.

Unless you hammer your car (like Bob does :iceslolan ), I believe that synthetics are a waste of money. If you don't do your scheduled maintenance, they may give you a little more forgiveness, but only nominally. In a daily driver, it's my opinion that synthetics are overkill and the advantages don't justify the extra cost. Just my :2cents:

Unless you hammer your car (like Bob does :iceslolan ), I believe that synthetics are a waste of money. If you don't do your scheduled maintenance, they may give you a little more forgiveness, but only nominally. In a daily driver, it's my opinion that synthetics are overkill and the advantages don't justify the extra cost. Just my :2cents:

Lol. :lol2: I agree synthetics may be overkill. I'm still trying to figure how people that run Mobil 1 extended life syn. engine oil have the guts to do it up to 15K miles before oil change. I don't care what Mobil says....they aren't going to buy you a new engine when it blows. I run regular Mobil 1 and change it out every 5K miles.

Now on Mobil 1 Syn. ATF, I'd recommend it if you drag race frequently at the track which is my case. It is probably one reason I can hammer it. But for the past 3 years my total annual mileage on my GTP is only about 500 miles per year. In 91K miles since purchase my tranny hasn't burped one time.

I guess it is a decision you have to carefully weigh and consider.

I agree with you 100% Bob. Synthetics have a higher thermal breakdown threshhold, so there is an advantage if you beat your equipment up. For the layman and his daily driver, I say no. As far as oil goes, I don't care what is in the crankcase, oil gets dirty and needs to be changed. 15k is :screwy:

look at the cost/benefit ratio. if synthetic lubes really extended service intervals and extended vehicle life under normal driving conditions at a reasonable cost then all the fleet owners would be converting, or ordering their vehicles new with them. Haven't seen that happening yet.

My frugal father always told me "it's not the quality, it's the quantity". check your oil level on every fuel stop (and eyeball the rest of the engine and cooling system for problems) and change the oil every 5K miles. check the tranny fluid at every oil change or more often if you see drips or spotting under your vehicle. I use the cheapest dino oil that has the SAE rating required by vehicle and consistently get over 250k on my engines.

my tranny guy only uses synthetics in race cars. he showed me one he pulled out of a dragster that over 100 runs on it. you could still read the print on the clutches. that had to be some hard shifting.