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By Half-dude - 10 Years Ago
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Hey I was wondering what modern transmission fluids you guys use in your Fordomatic automatic transmission. There seems to be a lot of argument over what the proper modern equivalent to Type F fluid should be.
Would it be Dexron 2?
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By 57RancheroJim - 10 Years Ago
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Just curious but why would you want to use anything other then F
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By 2721955meteor - 10 Years Ago
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i would use durcon2,had a mercedies for a short time ,trans was slushey,changed oil to durcon2 worked great. spoke to local ford teck who is a traney specialist,his coments workes well in all ford auto trans
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By Small block - 10 Years Ago
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The main difference in Ford F type and the Dexron tranny fluid is that F type does not have a friction modifier! The friction modifier was added for GM car s to stop clutch chatter!
The Guy that build my C4 for drag racing told me that a I can use any Oil I want in my car but any oil that has friction modifier in it will cause the clutches to slip more and the transmission will
have a shorter life! He said he recommended F type for the street and 68 series hydraulic oil for racing!
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By Rowen - 10 Years Ago
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Why use type F? My manual says type A. Am I missing something?
Thanks, Rowen
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By paul2748 - 10 Years Ago
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Type A generally is not available any more, although some people say they can still get it.
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By Half-dude - 10 Years Ago
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I guess that was the problem, I thought I remembered Type F but I guess it's Type A. Point is, I couldn't find anywhere to buy what the manual asks, so I want to know what you guys uses instead. 
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By 57RancheroJim - 10 Years Ago
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Type F basically replaced Type A and should be good for any PRE 80's Ford trans. At one point in time they made a Type FA also to add to the confusion.
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By Rowen - 10 Years Ago
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As usuall the local "brain trust" on this forum is absolutely correct. I went and bought some type "F" yesterday and on the bottle it says "for 1980 and OLDER Ford transmissions". You can't get type "A" any longer. Learning something every day about this classic car!! Thanks guys, Rowen
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By 57RancheroJim - 10 Years Ago
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Type A is still available, Amazon has Costal and Accell. All early 50's GM cars and Chrysler products also used it besides Ford. And many power steering systems..
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By MontyRay56 - 10 Years Ago
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Why you should NOT use Type F fluid in a Fordomatic, Mercomatic or Cruiseomatic or older C-4 or C-6: I realize that people have differing opinions on this. Since the early Fordomatic transmissions used Type A fluid which to the best of my knowledge is not readily available, but they also used what appeared to be bronze friction plates throughout the 1950's. In 1961, they came out with Type F fluid and they also changed the friction plate material. In 1976 Ford changed the friction material on the C-6 transmissions clutch plates and they changed the type of fluid they used which is what we commonly call Dexron II or Mercon. In 1979, Ford sent out a service bulletin to all their dealerships to not use Type F fluid in any of their automatic transmissions. The problem was on the C-4 transmissions in the Granadas with the catalytic convertors on each side of the transmission, there was so much heat generated under the car that the Type F fluid would overheat and it would lose it's viscosity. It would turn brown and the intermediate band would slip. The cure was to overhaul the transmission and use Dexron II/Mercon fluid. This eliminated the problem. The other drawback to Type F fluid is that you have a lot of pump and seal ring wear because Type F does not lubricate as well as the Mercon II/Dexron. Whenever I overhaul a Fordomatic or Mercomatic or FMX, I use the friction plates from the automatic overdrive (yes, they fit) and on the direct clutch I use the waveplate from the forward clutch drum from an AOD which replaces the original steel plates and this will give you a smoother engagement into high gear. The friction modifier in the Mercon fluid gives a better shift and except for maybe a drag race transmission, the Mercon is far superior to Type F. I know this because I worked as a transmission specialist at Ford or Lincoln/Mercury dealerships from 1965 until I retired in 1996 and this has been my experience with these transmissions.
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By PF Arcand - 10 Years Ago
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Monty is correct; The on going argument re using type "F" is likely just because it's marked with an "F" as in Ford.. On the glove box door of my 1957 Ford it states to use type "A" & as far as I'm aware that's always been the case with Fordomatics. As "A" is hard to get now, it's been replaced by Dextron/Mercon.. Type "F" was apparently used in some Ford trucks in the 1970s & 80s & in several other makes such as Volvos & Mazda's. Apparently type F has been used in Fordomatics by some, possibly without failure, but it's not recommended..
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By 2721955meteor - 10 Years Ago
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montey,that was agood post,i herd the same from a local ford trans speciolist.you will find lots of posters have trouble listening to experts,some like whichcraft. thanks for your info well explained
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By Half-dude - 10 Years Ago
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Thanks a lot Monty, that's great to hear. I heard so many people saying to use type F that I was starting to be nervous that I put Dexron in my fordomatic.. thanks for putting me at ease.
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