Greetings! Mike from New York here. Just found this forum today and this is my very first post :)

I've got an old 68 4-door, small block and a 2-speed auto. She's been my daily driver for 16 years. Also my *only* driver for most of those 16 years. Current mileage is right up around 200k. Apart from some top end work on the motor, both engine and tranny have never been opened whilst I've had the car. The trans does leak a bit, but only a bit; top it off with Castrol Dexron 3 and she's good for another month, no problem.

Except now there's no more Castrol Dex3 on the shelves, not really much of any brand Dex3 on the shelves. Instead there's Castrol "Domestic Multi-Vehicle ATF" which "meets Dex 3 requirements" but isn't actually Dexron3. Not really sure *what* it is... :confused:

Which leads to my question: Will topping off my 200,000+ mile, original PeeGee with this new formula result in a "shock to the system" to it's aged internals and result in mechanical problems, leaks, rotating parts exploding out the side of the case, or any other unpleasant side effects not mentioned on the label? Will the new formula mix well with the Dex3 already in the case or will there be conflict? I've no desire to flush and refill the trans at this point, for reasons detailed in the "don't change tranny fluid on older cars" thread. I'm a workin' stiff and a full tranny teardown and rebuild is just *not* in the buget this month. :( Anyone added this new fluid to an older trans, and if so, what happened?

Sorry this post is so long, but wanted to give all the details on the car and it's condition. Much thanks for any help and will try to keep posts shorter from now on :)

-Mike

welcome;
any Dollar stores in your area, lots of them have discounted trans-fluid.
this could be a source or maybe buy a case online?

Wal Mart still has regular ATF.

Dexron is GM's trademark name for ATF that meets their specs. They have pulled the rights to use the name from the aftermarket.

The multi-vehicle ATF is what was formerly known as Dexron. It will be fine.

Much thanks for the responses. So does this mean that the chemical formula is the same but they had to change the name because of copyright issues? As long as the stuff in the bottle's the same I guess it can't hurt... :)

Tried stocking up on the stuff but I guess a lot of other folks did the same thing...here one day, gone the next.

Thanks again!

-Mike

Chemical formula is the same.

As an aside, be careful with the multi-vehicle stuff. Might work fine in a GM, but it causes stuttering (lock up converter) problems in Ford 4R70W transmissions. Give it a try, but if the tranny starts shifting differently from what your used to, put in genuine Dexron.

Mike

As an aside, be careful with the multi-vehicle stuff. Might work fine in a GM, but it causes stuttering (lock up converter) problems in Ford 4R70W transmissions. Give it a try, but if the tranny starts shifting differently from what your used to, put in genuine Dexron.

Mike



The multi vehicle stuff is the same as Dexron has been. If you buy Dexron now, it will be from a GM dealer and will be Dexron VI, synthetic and expensive, and not what you are used to.

If you are having converter shudder problems, use the Chrysler ATF+4, it was formulated with this in mind.