Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle another fluid post

Ok so now I have tried MTL, ATF w/XL-3, and Ford Honey w/XL-7.

MTL was the break in fluid for my Torsen diff and everything shifted fine. However when I drained it it looked and smelled like bad news. So I ran the ATF w/XL-3 to flush the trans. The car shifted ok once it was warmed up, but it had trouble getting into gear with the cold. I ran the fluid for about 1300 miles and then changed over to Ford Honey w/XL-7. The tranny also shifts fine once it's warmed up, but damn does it ever suck to shift when its cold. When I shift into 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th it really feels like it's grinding.

I'm debating about flushing it and going back to MTL. Atleast I didn't have these problems of shifting in the cold with that fluid. However this is getting to be damn expensive. MTL was like $9 a quart, ATF not so bad, but Ford Honey with a discount was still $14 a quart.

Any ideas on these cold shifting issues before I drop another 30 bucks on tranny fluid plus handling from Summit Racing. Also I don't need to buy friction modifier for the MTL correct? I didn't the first time, but better safe then sorry.

Well,

I know at least one person running redline shockproof and is so far very satisfied. It is for higher abuse applications and he claims it shifts very well.
An individual from Torsen suggested it to me when I was looking to resolve issues with a high torque 3L turbo and the torsen diff.

However,
I've been running Torco RTF, and unless it eats up my transmission, I don't think I'll ever put in another fluid!
I can't tell you how well this stuff shifts cold and hot!!!
It was cold as whale balls this morning and frost everywhere and 7am I was rolling into work and never even thought about the trans, shifting, or warming up. So far every cold night/morning I've had it has been consistently this good. I fire it up, slap it into reverse/drive and just start rolling.

I'm not going to say anything about long-term-anything with it, but two months now and counting and I just friggin love the way it makes the shifter feel, keeps the diff fairly smooth and quiet even when hot....etc. I broke it in again with Redline MT90, which performed nicely but this stuff feels just better in cold shifting. Its 100% group5 synthetics too.

It is sold in the 1 Liter bottle so you probably only need two of them and its not too bad from BAT.
I have to admit it stinks to high heaven when you open it up, but Torsen came out directly in an email and said it will not hurt my transmission soft parts.

So far so good.

So do you run that stuff with the XL-7 synthetic friction modifier or do you run it straight without it?

The Torco product BAT shows in their catalog is MTF. Do they sell RTF also?

I found the stuff is cheaper by buying it through Torco direct www.torcoracingoils.com . It's 12.50 a liter for the RTF and then 6.25 a liter for the MTF. Theres a another site that is cheaper, but shipping is higher there 12.95 for ground (Torco is only 5.95). Anyhow I'm a bit concerned as I found this website post about it:

http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?threadid=43878

They are saying that it takes longer to warm up then other fluids and they started recommending Redline MT-90.

However your saying you have no problems with the cold mornings. How cold are your mornings? I'm looking at temps in the single digits here in MN.

Also the Ford Honey XT-M5-QS oil... is this an 80W oil?

Well, I used both fluids. I JUST switched from MT90 when I went to the torco RTF back in end of October I think it was. The RTF is better hands down in MY transmission for cold shifts. I like the MT90 but when winter came it felt a bit notchy and harder to get into gear.

My average temperature range on cold mornings here is 25-33F.

I know that is higher than Minnesota but if I can tell that since RTF is superior to MT90 for cold shifts in just 25 degree temps, it will probably be more pronounced in single digits. I don't think those diesel guys know what they are talking about. Maybe they mean Torco MTF rather than RTF?
The RTF is actually thinner than the MT90! ??? I mean it is obvious upon pouring it that the RTF is about the thinnest fluid I have used since straight ATF. I don't know the specs, but that is a good comparison for the RTF, about the thickness of an automatic transmission fluid, except that it is full synthetic with GL6 protection capabilities.

BTW, you can trust me on those observations as I have new and used MT90 on the shelf right now, and I have new Torco RTF, also on the shelf right now.
I can take any comparison you want between the two and I promise you that RTF has better cold temp pourability than MT90. Is it better? Don't know, but I think it is and I know it isn't worse.
So I can't help you any more than that. I'm just posting my observations and the little bit of information I have. My transmission has about 61K on it with maybe 15-18K miles on the Torsen. The clutch is new and the pressure plate is the same age as the Torsen. I have a medium age/wear transmission as far as contours go. I can't say how it would perform in a 100-120K+ mile MTX75 but I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't hurt.

Excellent information.

So what really is the difference in the Torco MTF versus the RTF? I think the RTF is a full sythetic and the MTF is a sythetic blend, but is one much better then the other? Because I'm looking at a huge price difference $12.50 versus $6.25

ttt...