['49 Ford Coupe]

Recent recommendation from a guy who I very very very much respect for knowledge of automatic transmissions recommended adding CAT (Caterpillar) TDTO (#248-7521) Transmission and Drive Train Oil to my 700R4 to improve oiling, cooling, and lowering viscosity to the synthetic fluid ..... about a gallon...

Has anybody ever heard of this??? I'm old, and "been around the block", but never heard of doing this before....

 

[lmsport]

drag racers use hydraulic oil and not ATF

 

[chasracer]

drag racers use hydraulic oil and not ATF

B.S. !

You probably have a racer here and there that'll swear by hydraulic oil but attend any race and take a poll on it - 99% have ATF in their racing automatics.

 

[Crosley]

Many of the high horsepower turbo cars (2500 hp - up) will run various hydraulic oils or a mixture of ATF with hyd oils. There hyd oils have a strong icky smell to them when the trans came across my bench. Usually high dollar powerglides or 2 speed T-400 transmissions.

 

[lmsport]

you caught me.
let me correct---the only drag racers I know that race for a living use hydraulic oil in their auto trans.

 

[Blue64Tbird]

Can't say about use in a 700r4, but those CAT transmissions get absolutely beat to death. IIRC, my dad (CAT engineer in transmission controls) once found an application that heated the transmission fluid well above 300*F. Sometimes operators get in a hurry and shift from full speed forward to full reverse, (it's just the flip of a switch on off-highway trucks) constant powershifts under load, and they still hold up for thousands of hours. That oil has to be some of the best.

 

[3w coupe]

you caught me.
let me correct---the only drag racers I know that race for a living use hydraulic oil in their auto trans.

And I know a lot of guys that don’t race for a living are using hydraulic oil. Turbo guys say the oil takes the heat better than regular atf.

 

[chasracer]

If there is a preference right now for a high end trans fluid the winner at this time appears to be TransSynd - a fluid that is made for the Allison Transmissions.

 

[Crosley]

The TranSyn oil is expensive. I have seen minor reduction in operating transmission oil temperature in Allison 3000 & 4000 series units in diesel pusher Class A RV stuff.

The Amsoil air compressor oil is used too. That seems to be more on the east & southeast coast of the USA.

A few HP transmission companies are selling their own label of oils. Custom blend stuff.

Synthetic oils in transmissions have become wide use since more spragless converters are used in the high HP cars. As HP increased some years ago , the roller clutch in converters became a weak point. Diode sprags have become popular too.

We may be getting a bit far from the OP question on trans oils.

 

[chasracer]

The TranSyn oil is expensive. I have seen minor reduction in operating transmission oil temperature in Allison 3000 & 4000 series units in diesel pusher Class A RV stuff.

The Amsoil air compressor oil is used too. That seems to be more on the east & southeast coast of the USA.

A few HP transmission companies are selling their own label of oils. Custom blend stuff.

Synthetic oils in transmissions have become wide use since more spragless converters are used in the high HP cars. As HP increased some years ago , the roller clutch in converters became a weak point. Diode sprags have become popular too.

We may be getting a bit far from the OP question on trans oils.

Well, considering that a bracket 'Glide now is running us about $4000-$4500, $100 for fluid is nothing. But you're are correct on the convertors. I stopped using sprag ones years ago and the synthetic fluid really helps with keeping the heat in check.

 

['49 Ford Coupe]

The Cat fluid (gallon) was 27 bucks, and I put it all in. We shall see what happens on the next 100 degree day...

Last two pictures of page one plus page two:;

The 700R4 Transmission, Chapter 2 - 49FordCoupe

ATTENTION ! ! If you are going to rebuild a 700R4/4L60, even if you know what you are doing, you MUST watch and follow the instructions in a series of YouTube videos produced by Transmission Bench. (http://transmissionbench.com/4L60Evideos.html). They are more than thorough in a successful...

49fordcoupe.smugmug.com

 

[3w coupe]

If you used the 30w, be interesting to know if the trans shifts firmer. I’ve never used it in a street car.

 

[Crosley]

Well, considering that a bracket 'Glide now is running us about $4000-$4500, $100 for fluid is nothing. But you're are correct on the convertors. I stopped using sprag ones years ago and the synthetic fluid really helps with keeping the heat in check.

True.. OEM powerglide parts are old, tired, stressed out. Not up to the job even with moderate HP levels of 800 to 1000 HP that a semi serious racers have. OEM glide cases are not up to the job either. Aftermarket cases, gears, carriers, shafts, band servo: all contribute to the cost of a transmission purchase. IF you can get the parts. There is a nation wide back order on hard and soft parts. Also some backlog on raw materials to machine into parts.

The last 3 years core prices have jumped 100 to 300 % on 3 or 4 speed automatic street transmissions of the big 3 OEM manufacturers .

 

['49 Ford Coupe]

If you used the 30w, be interesting to know if the trans shifts firmer. I’ve never used it in a street car.

Well I drove about 20 miles since the last post and I can say that the shifts are virtually instantaneous but at the same time smoother kind of like a real late model luxury car transmission shift if you know what I mean. But I believe it is due to the new sonnax 2-4 servo. We shall see how things go when we get up to 100 degrees..

 

[vpd66]

Sorry late to the discussion, but I build Powerglide transmissions for a buddy of mine that uses them in his stock car without a torque converter. We have been using John Deere Hytrans build in them for 5 years. It cuts the heat down and the clutch friction discs and band seem to hold up better with this fluid. I just resealed one of his transmissions after 3 seasons run with Hytrans and the trans was in very good shape. I wouldn't be afraid to run this fluid in a street transmission.

 

[35WINDOW]

I also run John Deere low-viscosity Hygard in my 4L80E, it was recommended by the builder of my Transmission, Jake's Performance. John Deere offers both Low-Viscosity and standard, and many racers mix them (or run it straight) to tailor their stall converters-it is almost clear in color, so I put in a quart of regular Dexron so I can see it on the dipstick-i seems to work really well-

 

[BadWally]

I have run tractor fluid in a turbo 350 for over 15 years now. No issues. if it good enough for a Combine transmission, it's fine for my t350.

 

[adantessr]

Recent recommendation from a guy who I very very very much respect for knowledge of automatic transmissions recommended adding CAT (Caterpillar) TDTO (#248-7521) Transmission and Drive Train Oil to my 700R4 to improve oiling, cooling, and lowering viscosity to the synthetic fluid ..... about a gallon...

Has anybody ever heard of this??? I'm old, and "been around the block", but never heard of doing this before.... View attachment 615894

It all depends on the composition of the material used in the transmission clutch facing . I’m not current on modern transmission clutch materials but years ago there were disastrous results from using FoMoCo fluid in a GM transmission and vice versa, because of the difference in the clutch facing material