StreetSpeed

Sirs,

Changed my tranny fluid last week with amsoil. After the change, 2nd gear was a little hard to get into and would grind sometimes. "Huh" I says to myself. Drove the car to Limerock today, and as I'm going through the gate in 1st gear the car slams and clunks out of gear. I now say "uh oh." Did 5 sessions on track with the instructor group and car ran like a champ, except exiting the pits twice it did the same slam out of first gear thing. Last session of the day was 40 mins, hammered it on the track, 80 degree day, and at the end I was grinding to get into first, second, and reverse around the paddock.

So my question - if my tranny fluid change was a smidge low could I be having these issues? I leveled the car as best as I could visually when I changed the fluid, and filled it until it was dripping n my face and I used just about the whole bottle of amsoil (3.8 quarts I think). If that could be the issue I'll see if I can find a local shop to top it off for me tomorrow morning.

Or, could I be having bigger issues? Worn out gears? I did change the shifter to a C6 unit 2 months ago, perhaps that stupid torx nut is coming loose? Someone please enlighten me since I have two more days at Limerock and I was just getting comfortable in my new car!

froggy47

Do the shifter alignment service & put in Redline d4atf.

SouthernSon

Which fluid did you order from amsoil - torque drive? atfqt?

Sometimes, mechanics will leave a certain little detent pin out of the shifter when changing, if I understand correctly, and will cause the car to jump out of second. At least, that is what happened to mine and when I, subsequently, installed an MN6 the next mechanic put the pin back in the shifter and no more problems.

StreetSpeed

It is amsoil torque drive. I installed the shifter per the instructions and didn't come across and decent pin. There IS a big torx screw that ties the whole thing together that needed to be ungodly tight, but when I didn't have it tight enough the first time I went through it it just wouldn't shift into gear, but the grinding and popping out was not a symptom I had with the loose linkage bolt. But, ill check a look at the shifter first thing tomorrow morning if I'm still having issues in the paddock.

froggy47

Sounds like maybe you should go over the shifter again. On the stock c5z (very similar shifter of course) it's not really that tight on the bolts iirc and the only pin is the alignment pin.

Here is my video on c5 shifter adjustment


Ck my YT channel for others.

StreetSpeed

Yeah but the shifter has been fine ever since I changed itm2 months ago. Things didn't go pear shaped til I changed the tranny fluid, which is why I was hoping someone would chime in and say a slightly low amount of trans fluid could cause the issues I'm having.

froggy47

I don't think "slightly low" makes a difference. Should take about 3.5 qt. iirc, but you need to verify that cause my memory has hiccups sometimes.

I have the c5z capacity in a vid also about tranny fluid chg. or look in fsm or owners manual for yours.

Google "problem with amsoil tranny fluid" & see what comes up?

racebum

one more vote for redline atf d4

that's not even touching on the PAO vs ester debate and their effects on seals

John B

Sounds like more than 1 issue to me..
Most are going to think I'm nuts I won't use any synthetic ATF in the T56. We had a shoot out at he shop several years ago. The Redline-Amsoil etc.. are too slippery IMO. The synchros are a friction clutch. Needs friction to allow clean shift.
The faster you shift the more its an issue. I run regular Dexron 3 & change often.
I fix/replace a lot of broken t56s. Not wore out from mileage or use. Broken abused. Clutches not releasing. Sychros not doing there job & grinding. Damaged forks.

StreetSpeed

Update: it was the shifter coming loose. Lost 3rd gear all together first session out this morning, and the shifter at that point felt like it was just wobbling all over the place. Took it apart in a few minutes and sho nuff' one of the 2 bolts bolting the box to the frame had come loose. Tightened them both back up and has been perfect ever since. Thanks for the replies.

froggy47

Make sure you use a torque wrench each time. I do a shifter adjustment every season. If you think the threads are getting sloppy a dab of blue loctite won't hurt. Don't over torque, you'll strip them.

drivinhard

I actually agree. I learned this years ago when synths were new and the rage, and I was building a lot of Ford MTX-IV's. I ran into the same experience.

RX-Ben

Interesting, are you guys running the Type F Dex III ATF (which lacks friction modifiers)?

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

I have never had any issues with RedLine D4 in any of the race cars. Now the D6 ATF you can not use at all in any T56 or TR6060.

Tim (president of Redline) told me a long time ago that he would mix in 1 quart of MTL with the D4 to give the fluid a bit more film strength to hold up in high heat/high load applications. I generally do not post or say that just so it doesn't confuse anyone...

With that being said, I have not used Amsoil in the trans, so I have no real testing data on it.

Gears would not be worn out, but if it is hard going in or out of gear it could be a syncro and also it could be a blocking ring, or even a syncro key. If it wants to pop out of gear, that would be more of a blocking ring than anything else.

fatbillybob

Dextron 6 is backward compatible. I have been racing on it just fine.

Supercharged111

I recently serviced with Amsoil and noticed no reduced quality in my shifts. Reason for going synthetic was due to the high temperatures I see on track, I get the DIC bitching at me on 30 minute sessions. It's my understanding that standard Dex3 doesn't take well to 270*F temps, so I wanted something to take the heat. I have yet to track with it, next event is June 15-16. It was your post that made me a little apprehensive, but luckily I don't yet regret the extra money blown on synthetic trans fluid.

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

From what the guys at Redline told me......never use it in any domestic syncro box. I don't know about other companies products but that much Redline told me for sure on their D6 ATF