I was told to use dexron 3 for fluid in my 1990 Camaro with a manual trans. Is there a certain brand i should use? GM fluid? Iv heard people talk about Royal purple and redline as well as vovoline. Not sure what to use

 

Dex 3 hasn't been available for some decades now.

Doesn't matter though. Newer formulations are backwards compatible. Use whatever ATF you can buy. No particular brand is necessary.

One thing is FOR DAMN SURE: a slightly different type of fluid still beats THE HELL OUTTA running dry. Don't outsmart yourself over something THAT simple.

 

Thank you. Treads I read peope said not to use a synthetic fluid. But I can't seem to really find one. Is synthetic fine with the manual transmission? So I can just get Valvoline maxlife Dex/Merc ATF?

 

Yes synthetic is fine.

I ran that in the last T-5 I had for several years, probably 3 or 4 I guess, until I was finally able to come up with something suitable to replace it. (the T-5, that is)

One of the things we all learned REAL QUICK about the Interwebz when Algore invented it, is that all of the absolute stupidest monkey-spank that we always used to hear in the McDonalds parking lot on Friday night, just got transferred to the "e" whatever. All the promise for the improvement of the human race, the hope of spreading enlightenment and stamping out ignorance, came crashing down the first time some yutz dialed up on AOL and posted how he'd "always heard" about how "synthetic is bad for... " and if you put synthetic {fill in the blank} fluid your car would emit a foul milky discharge, shriek with the terror of 1000 damned souls facing the lake of brimstone, tear itself out of your garage, and wander about in the night forever, crushing small animals and mocking the pope. Then on top of that, the morons all fell for it. And of course as we all know, the louder you shout it, the more true it becomes. (see the 2016 presidential primaries for further proof) So much for overcoming ignorance with truth.

Ignore all that. Just buy some damn fluid and fill up your transmission already, and don't pay attention to any of that Neanderthal or Denisovan CRAP.

 

New stuff it Dexron 6. It will work just fine.

 

Cheap Dexron/Mercon is all you need and still distributed.

Or GM 88861800.

 

And it's a synthetic too.

 

Wrong. Dex6 is not for standard transmissions.

The dex/merc you picked up should be fine.

DexVI is a synthetic ATF for automatics. Not backwards compatible with manuals- but supposed to be for automatics.

 

^

GM has a published service recommendation to not use Dex VI in the Tremec 6 and 7 speeds.

There's a lot of enthusiasm for stuff that has no tangible gain. Synthetic isn't going to help a T5. Friction modifiers suitable for an automatic's shifts isn't going to improve one thing in a carbon, fiber, or brass blocker synchronizer.

Yippee, it's new and improved. Sure, but not for your application.

 

Priceless.

 

The OP never really states what transmission he's running...just a manual (or a 5-speed based on his user name). Could be factory original....or not.

 

Dex 6 in a manual transmission that requires Dex3 can cause shifting issues, particularly cold, and create some gearbox noises as well. There are a few GM service bulletins over the years about not using Dex 6 in certain manual gearboxes. You can still find Dex3 around, but it's harder to find now. I had to drive 30 miles to find some for my son's Saturn ION, but putting that in solved the hard cold shift and the gear rattle.

 

Maybe the dealerships still carry Synchromesh?



Or maybe synchromesh was born out of the switch from III to VI