Safe to put in Mercon V in A833?

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69-340

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I had my A833 rebuilt by a guy who really knows these trans. Apparently I can (should?) put in ATF.

I have a couple bottles of new Mercon V from the Ford dealer that I bought a few months ago that I didn't need. I was wondering if it's safe to put Mercon V in the trans? Mercon V is the replacement for Mercon fluid.... Thanks.
 
I looked but didn't see an existing thread on fluid recommendations. Did I miss a sticky or what?
 
I have a 1964 a-833 and I use Valvoline 20w-50 motor oil in mine , amazed how well it shifts.
 
I always put 90w in the cast iron cases and ATF in the aluminium cases
 
If you took 20 or 30 minutes to take one of these apart you'd be "a guy who really knows these trans".
There's absolutely NO rocket science here whatsoever. Put a lubricant in it. I use what the engineers engineered it for- gear oil.
Why did it need a rebuild ?

69-340 said:
I had my A833 rebuilt by a guy who really knows these trans. Apparently I can (should?) put in ATF.

I have a couple bottles of new Mercon V from the Ford dealer that I bought a few months ago that I didn't need. I was wondering if it's safe to put Mercon V in the trans? Mercon V is the replacement for Mercon fluid.... Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
You want to use a GL4 in your 833, which is designed for soft brass syncros, which the 833 has.
Put in some Redline MT-90 GL4, and dont look back.
 
I put 90 wt gear oil in my A833 one time and let it sit outside overnight in the dead of winter. I could barely move the shifter lever for the first five miles. If I remember correctly (it's been 30+ years) the service manual called for ATF in there.
 
HI I drove my other 340 833 every day for 30,000 miles some times on 5 hour trips and never had a problem with atf . I did this because when i was in my 20s this was my every day driver . I found this info in a mopar direct connection book and i do the same with my 1970 340 833 today . This car is only used about 2,000 miles a year never had any trouble . I use the new syncr atf
 
The FSM calls for ATF, or gear oil, depending on the temperature. ATF in winter, gear oil in hot weather. I have run both without any negative side effects.

I do believe that the hypoid component in gear oil is better for the gears, particularly in hot and heavy loading applications (pulling a trailer in the summer).

Probably a good quality synthetic is the best option, the best of all worlds, but you need to have modern replacement syncro rings in it with the chanels cut. The synthetic is too slippery, and with the standard factory syncros will actually prevent them working and cause hard shifting. The chanels bleed lube out of the syncro.
 
I got some Pennzoil synchromesh trans fluid. Very hard to find around here as majority of cars these days are automatics.

Found mine at Napa and had to order it in
 
The FSM specifies Dexron ATF or gear oil. Mercon is not Dexron. If you go with ATF, I would use Dexron III.
 
Not only my question in post #7, but also what's it in and how do ya use it?
 
I use 50/50 all year round. 50% ATF,any old ATF I got on the shelf, and 50% EP oil, 75/90.
The more ATF you use the faster the brass will want to clamp,but the longer it takes for the geartrain to slow down. And the trade-off is wear on the cluster-pin.
The more gear oil and the thicker it is, the longer it takes for the oil to get squeezed out from under the brass,but the quicker those heavy-azz gears will slow down.
So it's kindof a balancing act.
Mine shifts like lightning, but I modded it to get it to be like that,lol....Your results may vary.
I see you're in Canada too, well it almost never gets over 90*F here in southern MB,and only for about a week in July; so no big deal IMO what you run, just don't put straight 140 in it,lol. Cuz in winter the darn car won't move;you can't even tow it.
Yeah I read the FSM. I've run several different kinds of automotive oil in mine since 1970, and never had problem. In fact the current tranny is a 1965 model with all the original gears in it as far as I know. And I've been hammering on it since 2004 or so. Since mine now has over 100,000 miles on it, I'D guess the 50/50 works.
One oil I won't ever run again tho is synthetic;that stuff is just too slippery.

Oh yeah, have fun putting gear oil in there,lol
 
You guys are funny, I wish it had like three of these extra that I could just put in the car and run one on peanut butter and jelly one on rocks and dirt and one on something else just to see how long they would last you probably be amazed!
#1 put something slippery in it.
Yeah if I lived in Canada and possibly a colder climate I would probably try some automatic transmission fluid. But I drive mostly Into Summer and mostly drag racing so it's under some harsh conditions so I use a thicker oil.
 
There's really only two parts you have to protect; the cluster-pin and the m/s nose-pilot. The rest is normal wear; like needle rollers, brass rings and ball-bearings. If you stay on top of the brassring wear, the gears will last nearly forever. If you don't you'll be looking at repointing the clutch teeth. And if you wait still more until it starts jumping out of gear, then you have back-cutting to do. And if you wait still longer then you might be looking at replacing the sliders and forks.
So the point is, stay on top of the brass rings.
 
Johnny Dart said:
You want to use a GL4 in your 833, which is designed for soft brass syncros, which the 833 has.
Put in some Redline MT-90 GL4, and dont look back.
Click to expand...
Hey Johnny! Have heard this is good stuff, BUT if you're occasionally powershifting, it's too heavy and slows the shift down. Wondered if you had any input there.

Me personally.....been using GM Synchromesh. Maybe not the best .........really quick shifting. Always up for a change to better, though.
 
My 4 speed car has a slant 6, so full on Ronnie Sox power shifts doesnt happen much.
What I do know is, overall shifting has improved immensely. Before, there was occasional grinding
on downshifts, which it has smoothed out. With the synthetic properties, it is much better with high heat.
It really has made a huge difference in the performance of my 833. Not sure what else to say than
I think you will be very happy with it.
 
Johnny Dart said:
My 4 speed car has a slant 6, so full on Ronnie Sox power shifts doesnt happen much.
What I do know is, overall shifting has improved immensely. Before, there was occasional grinding
on downshifts, which it has smoothed out. With the synthetic properties, it is much better with high heat.
It really has made a huge difference in the performance of my 833. Not sure what else to say than
I think you will be very happy with it.
Click to expand...
Have a fresh rebuild going in soon, I might just give it a try. People don't realize it but these trannies get pretty darn warm when run hard. Anything better with heat gets my attention.
 
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