GM Automatic Transmission Fluid - ATF History Part 2

Hello, I'm professor John Kelly and this is  the WeberAuto YouTube channel. In this episode   we are going to look at the history of General  Motors automatic transmission fluids. Now once   an important thing to understand about automatic  transmission fluids is that they are made from the   same base stock oils that your engine oils are  made of they just contain a different additive   package that is specific to the transmission  that it goes in most transmission fluids were   dyed red starting in 1967 to aid in leak detection  Diagnostics but prior to that transmission fluids   looked just like engine oil now I have received  many questions and comments regarding specific   transmission fluids and whether or not they  were synthetic or synthetic blend or refined   crude oil let's take a look at this table of  information that I put together from document   1509 from the American Petroleum Institute annex  II which is base stock oil categories now keep in   mind that these categories did not even exist  until the API put this table together in 1993   ok looking at that table in the far left hand  column base stock oils there's Group 1 2 3 4   and 5 and if you go over to the sixth column it  is the approximate technology starting year in   other words when was the technology available to  make that specific group of base oil so once again   base oil is what transmission fluid is made from  but then it just has an additive package at it in   same with motor oils starts with a base oil and  then an additive package alright so notice that   Group 1 started in the 1930s the technology  to make what is known as group 2 base stock   oils was not even implemented until 1971 here in  the United States noticed that group three based   on oil x' were not even available until 1993  group four based oils were available as early   as 1974 in motor oil but we didn't use those  in transmission fluids until 1989 and noticed   that group five base stock oil is only used as  a blended oil with one of these other groups so   automatic transmission fluid as they call it which  it really is oil they only changed the name to   fluid so that people would quit pouring mortar  oil in their transmissions so the transmission   fluids of today can be a blend of several of  these groups along with an additive package now   I want you to notice that in the seventh column  I have listed the automatic transmission fluids   that I believe used that technology and I base  that belief on looking at patents as service   bulletins at fluid specifications that I've been  able to find at SAE documents books websites at   service information from General Motors and so  on to the best of my knowledge that is accurate   but it there certainly could be some mistakes  there notice also there's service intervals in   the far right hand column and we will get into  more details on that here in a few minutes now   there's also two unofficial base stock oil  categories listed down below there's a group   two plus which is what is referred to as hydro  treated group two oil which gives it a higher   viscosity index and there's group three plus  base stock oils that were formed from a gas to   liquid process and they have very high viscosity  indexes also as you can see in the fifth column   in regard to viscosity indexes typically a higher  viscosity index number is a better base oil and   it would require less additives to maintain that  viscose keep in mind that a transmission fluid   is much more than just the base oil that it's  made from it is a complete package of the base   oil blend and the additive package combined now  in this next table I have rearranged everything   by the approximate year that technology was  available according to my research so we will   start exploring the general motors transmission  fluids beginning with fluids from the 1930s now   in the 1930s vehicle manufacturers were trying  to come up with ways to make driving a vehicle   easier General Motors in 1928 had already released  the world's first synchromesh manual transmission   in Cadillacs and Lascelles but now they were  looking to get rid of the clutch pedal and the   clutch disc and they wanted a transmission that  would shift automatically well ironically the   inventor of the manual transmission synchronizer  in 1922 Mr. Earle A Thompson who helped Cadillac   develop the synchromesh transmission was also  working on the project to develop the first   automatic transmission for General Motors he was  the team leader so by 1937 Earle A Thompson and   his team had developed what is known as the  automatic safety transmission and as you can   see here from this brochure and these magazine  ads this transmission wasn't quite the automatic   transmission that we know today it still had a  clutch disc in a clutch pedal but what it did   do was automatically shift so they had taken care  of one of the two technological issues that they   were trying to address but they still had another  issue of the clutch what do they do to get rid of   the clutch so the automatic safety transmission  was available in 1938 and 1939 and if you look   at the actual service information from the service  manual I purchased online for 1938 Oldsmobile six   and eight notice down here on this lubrication  table that it shows that the automatic safety   transmission uses the same oil as the engine oil  so in nineteen thirty-eight and thirty-nine it   would have been a 30 weight oil or a SAE 30 oil  like this Mobil Oil gargoyle oil from the late 30s   for summertime driving and then in the wintertime  when it was colder they would use SAE twenty boil   because it would have a thinner viscosity and  if it was really cold notice it says to add some   kerosene to thin it out so the first automatic  shifting transmission from General Motors used   motor oil as the lubricant well as it turned  out that wasn't a very good idea the quality of   the motor oils back then weren't very good and  it led to oxidation sludge buildup and varnish   coating everything inside the transmission so by  1939 that same Earl a Thompson and his group had   developed finally a fluid coupling to go with  and fully automatic shifting transmission the   1940 Hydra-Matic transmission very similar to this  1953 model that I have sitting right here if this   1940 Hydra-Matic transmission used a two element  fluid coupling it just had a turbine and a and an   impeller and a fully automatic shifting 4-speed  transmission behind it so I'd always thought   that the first transmission was a two-speed but  it was not it was a 4-speed this one right here   the Hydra-Matic transmission now anytime you have  a fluid coupling it's going to generate heat when   there is a difference between the speed of the  engine and the speed of the input shaft of the   mission the heat that was generated by the  fluid coupling did not work well at all with   motor oils and so they developed general motors  first automatic transmission fluid which really   is just oil but once again they renamed it to  fluid so that people would quit putting oil in   the transmission so this is a full can extremely  rare of General Motors transmission fluid number   one for the Oldsmobile Hydra-Matic Drive I can't  believe I even found this it got it off at eBay   several years ago and it's an incredible finder  they I've never seen one since so this fluid   today would be known as a group one base stock  oil not a very good quality base stock to begin   with and so it required a number of additives to  make it work well with the automatic transmission   the Hydra-Matic transmission and those additives  that they added to the base stock oil back then   are trying to accomplish the same things that  the additives today are and that is to prevent   corrosion it's to promote proper flow of the fluid  under all temperatures and this fluid did not work   very well in really cold temperatures when it  was warm it was okay but it had problems when   it was cold when a cleft when the clutch plates  were applied or a band is applied we wanted to   hold solid and not slip the fluid has to act  as a hydraulic fluid and a lubrication it has   to be able to transfer heat to the outside of the  transmission case and this original transmission   was not cooled there was no external cooler  connected to it initially eventually it was   and as to have additives to try to maintain the  proper viscosity now there's a brochure as you can   see here for the 1940 Hydra-Matic transmission and  they are claiming this major advancement because   they are saying as you can see here that the fluid  not thin or thickened for at least 5,000 miles   with the automatic safety transmission they told  you retain to change the oil in the transmission   every 10,000 miles and to check it every 1,000  miles but when they went to this transmission   fluid here because of the fluid coupling added to  the transmission they told you to check it every   1,000 miles change it at the first 5,000 miles  that you came to and then change it again every   10 to 12,000 miles after that depending on whether  or not it was an automobile or a Cadillac or what   model year was but about ten thousand miles is  all you got out of that old transmission fluid   now this transmission came out in fall of 1939 and  the United States was drawn into World War two at   the end of 1941 so the US government ordered a  shutdown of all automotive manufacturing at the   beginning of 1942 and instead the automobile  manufacturers and their assembly plants made   war equipment to help support the war and part  of the war equipment being produced were tanks   and this Hydra-Matic transmission here was used  in certain tanks and other military vehicles in   world war ii and as you can see here in these  magazine ads they're claiming that it is it   was battle tested because this transmission  had some growing pains and nothing like heavy   duty severe use in big tanks and other equipment  during the war to really prove this transmission   reliable or not and enough changes were made and  improvements were made in the transmission that   it ended up being a very good transmission and  as I said it lasted for about 16 years this can   that you see right here is a little bit newer can  of the same fluid Hydra-Matic fluid that I just   this would be from the 1950s fluid for the old  Hydra-Matic transmissions okay when World War two   ended at the end of 1945 automobile production  picked up again and the automatic transmission   seemed to be a hit a lot of people liked the  automatic transmission and how easy it made   Drive in a vehicle the problem with the original  4-speed Hydra-Matic transmission that we just   looked at is that it was a big expensive 4-speed  transmission and Chevrolet and Buick decided they   wanted a transmission that was less expensive  they liked the idea of an automatic transmission   but they wanted one that was less expensive and  for the 1948 model year Buick came up with the   Dyna-flow transmission but right behind me this  is a two-speed automatic transmission the first   Dyna-flow you still had to move the shift lever  to go from first to second gear but there was no   clutch required and it was just a flick of the  finger to make it shift from first to second   gear but later models shifted automatically but as  you can imagine with a two-speed transmission that   doesn't give you a lot of gears for acceleration  and these weren't exactly known for being hard   accelerating vehicles the Buick two-speed so to  compensate for just having two speeds rather than   the four that the Hydra-Matic had they had  to design a special torque converter now if   you remember the Hydra-Matic only had a fluid  coupling just to impellers next to each other   so to compensate for only having two gears Buick  engineers came up with a fluid coupling that had   an additional part inside of it called the stator  and the stators job is to multiply engine torque   delivered to the input shaft of the automatic  transmission it does not increase the power of   the engine but it increases the power delivered  from the engine to the input shaft well this   torque converter has three Staters in it and has  a torque multiplication factor of almost 2.6 to   one so you could take engine torque and multiply  it by 2.6 under heavy acceleration conditions and   make it feel like it had more than just two gears  than in the automatic transmission as far as how   quickly you would accelerate the problem with this  unique torque converter design though is that it   created even more heat and that additional heat  required a better fluid so prior to the release   of the next fluid specification the type a  fluid specification that we'll look at here   in a moment the previous fluid the General Motors  Hydra-Matic transmission fluid for Oldsmobile and   for Cadillac these fluids were only available at  Oldsmobile and Cadillac dealers and Pontiac used   it also and I have not been able to find a can  of Pontiac fluid but they were only available at   dealerships now because they were only available  at dealerships when a vehicle owner would bring   their vehicle in to have the fluid checked if  it needed fluid and that service station gas   station repaired rods whatever it may be didn't  have that fluid they did have motor oil and they   knew from the instructions in the repair manual  in the owner’s manual that 20 weight oil could   be used temporarily in place of the official GM  transmission fluid but as soon as possible that   2008 oil needed to be flushed out and replaced  with the proper fluid well that wasn't happening   so instead motor oil was being poured in to the  1940 through 48 Hydra-Matic transmissions rather   than the official fluid that it that it called for  and this was of course causing problems especially   cold weather related failures the fluid the oil  would be too thick would cause delayed engagements   and burned clutches and other issues that are  common to cold weather automatic transmissions   so four 1949 General Motors developed an  industry-wide type a fluid specification   and the type a fluid specification would mean  that the fluid would not just be available at   General Motors dealerships but it would also  be available at any corner gas station or store   anywhere in the country and it could be sold by  other oil manufacturers so for example here's an   early can of Texaco Texamatic fluid type a this  fluid obviously would be available at Texaco gas   stations which were nationwide back then in the  in the 40s so the 1949 fluid specification had a   licensing program and what that meant is pretty  much what it means today that if somebody liked   Texaco or Chevron or whomever Gulf wants to sell  transmission fluid and claim that it will work as   whatever specification the year older Hydra-Matic  the type a the later ones the Dexron and so on   that they have to submit their oil their fluid to  this independent testing laboratory and General   Motors enlisted the help of the Armour Research  Foundation back then and this this foundation   would test who's ever fluid was sent to them for  a price and it was an expensive set of tests to   do and if the fluid with the proper additives  passed the test that fluid would be issued an   Armour qualification number so right here on the  top of this fluid can you can see the letters AQ   for qualification the company that certified it  ATF for automatic transmission fluid and then the   number-10 - this is the second fluid that was  certified by the Armour Research Foundation in   1949 I find it incredible that I even found an  AQ ATF 102 no it started with 101 and they only   did two of them in in 1949 101 on 102 101 was the  General Motors fluid so from not from 1949 to 1951   the type a fluids were available at General Motors  dealerships everywhere and any Texaco service   station or where Texaco products were sold and it  was an experiment to see how that worked and then   in 1951 and later they allowed other companies  to submit fluids and get qualification numbers so   there were hundreds of other brands of fluids that  were licensed and qualified by the Armour Research   Center and they all received the AQ qualification  numbers so here's some Buick they call it Buick   Special oil but on the back of the can in fine  print right there it says automatic transmission   fluid type a and this is a AQ ATF one-nine-five  Gulf sold automatic transmission fluid type a   it says and it has a AQ ATF 291 on the top Delco  type a transmission fluid AQ ATF 396 right there Mopar Type-A AQ ATF 600 so that can of Mopar  Type-A fluid had a very high license number the AQ   ATF 600 and remember we started with 101 and 102  right here so there were there was no shortage of   type a fluid anywhere in the country and it spread  to many countries throughout the world where   General Motors products were sold so starting with  1949 the licensing and testing program was set up   with General Motors and it's been used ever since  it's not the same company doing the qualifying   today but there are companies that are doing  that for General Motors okay I forgot to mention   on the type a fluid that the service interval  increased to 15,000 miles from the 10,000 or the   12,000 that was used on the previous Hydra-Matic  transmission now right behind me here we have the   cast iron Powerglide transmission from Chevrolet  and this came out in 1950 and I told you Chevrolet   was looking for a less expensive transmission  for their models of vehicles and Chevrolet also   developed a special torque converter for their  vehicles it's this three element torque converter   right here and that torque converter design  is basically the design of torque converters   today - the torque converter clutch it's a three  element design with a turbine and impeller and   a stator a single stator now this particular  stator is made for high torque multiplication   because it's just a two speed transmission the  stators used in modern transmissions don't need   as much torque multiplication as the two-speed  Powerglide did by the way the higher the torque   multiplication factor less efficient the torque  converter can be and so it takes special designing   of the torque converter to make it be both  efficient while driving at freeway speeds   highway speeds which the interstate freeway system  did not even exist back when these transmissions   were made and also to give you good acceleration  with the proper amount of torque multiplication   by the way have you ever wondered why low and  reverse were right next to each other on the   gear selector for an automatic transmission from  vehicles from the 1950s and 40s as I mentioned   before the interstate freeway system was not in  existence at the time and many of the roads were   not paved there were just dirt roads and it was  fairly common to get stuck on a muddy road and   one way to get unstuck was to rock the vehicle  forward and backwards well these transmissions   were designed to rock forward and backwards that's  why they put low right next to reverse and in the   instructions in the owner’s manual and the service  information you could actually do a part throttle   shift from low to reverse low to reverse and  back today if you try to do that the computer   will block you out and won't left it won't let the  shift complete but back then they were designed to   do that to try to rock the vehicle out of being  stuck a little bit of trivia there by the way   the 1950 and above Chevrolet two-speed Powerglide  transmission with that torque converter caused so   much heat and oxidation which is error mixing  in with the fluid and reacting with chemicals   in the fluid and materials in the transmission it  caused the need for a revision in the type a fluid   specification that revision took place in 1951  okay so up to this point we've seen three fluids   the regular motor oil from the automatic safety  transmission the Hydra-Matic drive fluid from the   original four-speed Hydra-Matic and now the type-a  fluid for the two speed transmissions that were   developed in the late 40s early 50s now let's  move on to the next generation of technologies   that cause the fluid to change several times in  the 1950s and 60s okay right behind me here we   have the second generation four-speed Hydra-Matic  transmission the second generation transmission   was supposed to be an improvement over the first  one because the first one had a problem of a very   harsh 2/3 up shift and 3/2 down shift and the  problem resulted from having to release a clutch   pack at the same time as applying a band and if he  didn't get the timing correct if you applied the   band before the clutch pack was totally released  it would cause a binding action that would feel   like and give you a hard harsh shift from second  to third or third back to second and so in an   attempt to remedy that situation they came up with  a unique design and this transmission is called   the controlled coupling Hydra-Matic transmission  and I want to show you the controlled coupling   this is the controlled coupling and if you look  at it looks like a little miniature fluid coupling   and that's because it is so this fluid coupling  takes the place of the clutch pack that had to be   released that the band would then grab to go from  second to third gear on that first transmission   so this fluid coupling was in addition to the  regular fluid coupling back here that I had in   the front of the transmission so this thing  had two fluid couplings inside of it and so   of course heat buildup could go much could go  much higher and these things could run really   hot they were finally externally cooled they  had cooling lines that went to an external heat   exchanger that was liquid cooled by the engines  coolant so the controlled coupling Hydra-Matic   transmission it gave some smooth shifts but it was  a very complex automatic transmission so because   of the extra heat generated by having two fluid  couplings as well as the air that was being mixed   in with the transmission fluid promoting oxidation  and the foaming that was taking place a new fluid   was required that had additional additives to  address the foaming and the oxidation and other   things that were taking place so this new fluid  was called Type A suffix A fluid Type A suffix A   fluid so if you look at the cans of fluid from  that period they still say type a on a lot of   them but on the top of the can now that they have  the Armour qualification number notice this one is   an AQ ATF six nine six and then the a at the end  it has a suffix that is the Type A suffix A fluid   that you may have never heard over you may have  seen it on some one-size-fits-all fluids that are   sold at auto parts stores today and so everyone  including Texaco who wanted to sell the new fluid   would have to have that fluid tested to make  sure that it met the manufacturer requirements   and the fluids of the dead had the Type A suffix  A license number on so here's a the can of Texaco   fluid from the Texas company that was their name  before they switched to Texaco here's a can with   the same number after they switched company names  to Texaco Incorporated here's a can of Mobil they   call it mobile fluid automatic transmission fluid  notice it is a Type A suffix A AQ ATF 775 to a so   for mobile here's Cadillacs Type A suffix A fluid  it's really hard to read but it says AQ ATF 775 a   in the rusty lid okay the next transmission  technology that was developed was the 1957   through 1962 Chevrolet turbo Glide transmission  and as you can see I've got one here behind me the   turbo Glide transmission was a unique transmission  in that it was basically an infinitely variable   ratio transmission this does not have a valve body  it does not have shift valves it does not shift   instead it has a very unique torque converter  and this torque converter has three turbines   with three input shafts and each input shaft is  connected to a different part of two different   planetary gear sets inside of this they call it  a three ratio transmission but it's much more   than three ratios it has a minimum gear ratio  like a low gear ratio and it has a maximum gear   ratio like them the overdrive or direct drive  that automatic transmission won't have but this   transmission as the engine speeds up and the  vehicle speed increases it changes which turbine   is most effective and it has a variable pitch  stator inside of it the vanes on the stator the   angle of the vanes on the stator can be varied  in two positions on this one there's a another   model that they're variable in more than two  positions and it will cause what today if you've   ever driven a vehicle with a continuously variable  transmission this transmission I understand would   drive just like that no shifts which is one  customer complaint that I've heard of is that   people didn't like it because it they couldn't  feel it's shifting but it really was a very unique   design well ahead of its time that would allow  the engine to rev up to a certain point and give   you maximum power and then it would accelerate it  whatever rate was determined by the pitch of the   blades on the turbines in the and the stator but  that thing got hot it got really hot he got so hot   it cracked the case on many transmissions and it  was a basically a massive failure it didn't work   very well it was not widely accepted and was  only used from 1957 through 1962 when it was   replaced with the aluminum Chevrolet Powerglide  or General Motors Powerglide at that time but that   transmission and the third generation Hydra-Matic  right behind my head here caused so much heat to   be developed that the transmission fluid spec  had to be revised the Type A suffix A fluid was   revised three times one in 1958 right after the  release of this transmission one in 1959 and one   in 1960 and I have examples of some Buick oil that  are Type A suffix A with the AQ ATF one seven one   six a so 1716 licenses so really widespread use  of the fluid here's Texaco AQ ATF 1735 a here's   some General Motors Type A suffix A fluid and  it is a QA TF 2882 a and that was one of the   last ones licensed it was around the 3000 mark  that the suffix a fluids ended now just like   today there are there were fluids back then that  we are either counterfeit or misleading and I   want to show you two of them from the 50s this  one right here is from a company called war Co   and if you look at the can here it says automatic  transmission fluid and then on the top it's kind   of hard to read because it's rusty but it reads  WL Co - ATF 334 suffix A so instead of the AQ ATF   and then a number suffix a this says WL Co - ATF  and then a number suffix A so to an unsuspecting   consumer this untested unlicensed fluid might  look like hey that's the good fluid to get and   I suspect I don't know that this fluid was a lot  less money than the licensed fluid because it   seriously costs a lot of money to have that your  fluid tested to make sure that it passed all of   the qualification tests required to be a licensed  and GM approved transmission fluid so there are   companies out there that say yeah let's just short  cut that these people were obviously trying to   fraudulently trick the public but it I've found  a few cans out there like that it has a patent   number on the side you look up at patent it's  for the container that the fluid is in not for   the fluid itself all right then here's another  very interesting can of fluid and it also is a   non-approved fluid I want you to notice that that  it has RL ATF 2767 and it's called red label and   on the back it says automatic transmission fluid  suffix a and it tells you which transmissions   it'll work with and so this is a counterfeit  fluid this is not a GM licensed Type A suffix A   fluid but this fluid I think drove a transition in  transmission fluids I'm going to read you what it   says here on the back a special red additive has  been added for instant leak detection red label   ATF is specifically recommended as a supplemental  fluid to restore transmission fluid level to full   capacity in newly rebuilt transmissions or ruin  or win refilling a transmission completely it is   recommended to add at least two cans of good  conditioner so this basically is a red dye   fluid so remember I told you at the start of  this series that transmission fluids were not   read until a certain point well the aftermarket  fluids were came up with appear to have come up   with the idea to have red fluids because in the  in the next fluid after Type A suffix A which   is the original Dexron fluid in that in the fluid  specifications for that fluid it doesn't require   it but it recommends that the fluid color be red  to aid in leak detection it wasn't until Dexron   II that they actually required the red color  that is still there today for General Motors   and many other fluid specifications for automatic  transmissions okay engineers the general motors   weren't done experimenting with different types  of automatic transmissions for the 1961 model year   they released the third-generation Hydra-Matic  transmission so we had the first one in 1940 the   second one in 1957 the controlled coupling one  and now we have this three-speed instead of a   four-speed Hydra-Matic transmission now this also  ended up driving the need for better fluids and   the unique thing about this transmission is that  it does not use the traditional torque converter   it has what looks like a manual transmission  flywheel and a torque damper much like you   would see on a manual transmission clutch disc  this torque damper would slide on to the input   shaft of the automatic transmission right here  and that was the connection there was no torque   converter between the input shaft and the back  of the engine crankshaft however inside of the   transmission in this little bold area right here  is this little mini torque converter and there was   a three element torque converter with a variable  pitch stator and it was it was pretty small and it   also would develop a lot of heat and had oxidation  and other problems that drove the need for an even   better fluid now by the 1960s oil refining had  improved the group one base stock oiled that all   of these transmission fluids have been comprised  of along with additives being added up to this   point was refined with something called solvent  refining and dewaxing but a new process called   hydro treating would help make the transmission  fluid more stable to was less prone to oxidation   now I am NOT a chemist and I don't claim to  know everything about transmission fluid so   I'm just looking at the history of these fluids  so don't ask me all the chemical questions here   of how things work but from what I understand it  stabilized the fluid there are carbon hydrogen   chains that were unstable that bypassing hydrogen  through there it would make them even more stable   so the fluid would be a better fluid and last  longer and those improvements led to a new fluid   in 1967 called Dexron so let's take a look at  the Dexron fluid okay before we talk about the   Dexron automatic transmission fluids we need  to talk about a pivotal moment in automatic   transmission fluid history and I call it the  big divergence and that is in 1959 Ford decided   they were going to develop their own automatic  transmission fluid standards and not use the   General Motors standards any longer so I will have  a separate video on the history of Ford automatic   transmission fluids but 1959 is when they split  off from using General Motors type a and Type A   suffix A automatic transmission fluids in their  transmissions one other historical development   in the early 60s in 1963 Toyota released their  first automatic transmission the two-speed toil   glide transmission and it also used the GM Type  A suffix A fluid and I will have a separate video   on the history of Toyota automatic transmission  fluids coming up also another pivotal year is   1964 two important things happened in 1964 one  General Motors quit using divisional branded or   built automatic transmissions there was no more  Buick transmission there was no more Chevrolet   transmission there's no more Cadillac transmission  there everything was just simply General Motors   and it was used in all divisions of General  Motors from that point forward so the first   corporate automatic transmission used in all GM  lines in 1964 was the Hydra-Matic 400 also in   1964 Chrysler starts producing their own automatic  transmission fluid specifications and I will have   a separate video on the history of Christ through  automatic transmission fluids coming up now in   1966 General Motors released a few more corporate  transmissions we had a front-wheel drive version   of the turbo 400 as well as heavier versions and  lighter versions of the turbo 400 and all of these   transmissions were three speeds and used the Type  A suffix A fluid okay in April of 1967 General   Motors released the first Dexron notice there's  no Dexron 2 or 3 or anything else after it it's   just plain Dexron automatic transmission fluid and  yes a dispelled Dexron there's no T in there it is   not Dextron, it's Dexron automatic transmission  fluid and of course there was a licensing program   for the this fluid specification the licensing  numbers began with the letter B and this was the   very first one right here B10001 a pretty rare can  of transmission fluid right here this particular   cam was made November of 1968 notice on the back  of the can here it tells us that there are great   improvements in this automatic transmission fluid  one of those improvements is a 24,000 mile fluid   change interval now and it tells us as non-foaming  action qualities for year-round use for passenger   cars and light trucks high heat resistance  antioxidant and it's not for use in engines   so just like the previous licensing programs and  testing programs from General Motors to make sure   that the fluid meets the specifications required  by GM there was a licensing program so here's a   can of Texaco tax Matic fluid it has its license  number right on the front B 0 1 0 1 this can also   interestingly enough has a Type A suffix A AQ  ATF 2865 a marking on the top and it tells us   on the back of this can it tells us that this  Texaco tax Matic fluid is recommended for use   in automatic transmissions and power steering  units where either Dexron or an AQ ATF Type A   suffix A fluid is specified and this can is even  older than the other one this is tan of 1967 and   remember the spectra member the spec was issued  in April of 1967 so this is a very early kin of   the fluid with well it looks like it's one  hundred numbers higher than the GM one that   I have right here with the license number of  10001 this is ten thousand one hundred and one okay you could get the fluid in much larger  containers here's a Dexron can license number   B11424 by the way the b4 debt in the Dexron is  this is a Type B fluid so we had type a fluid   and a Type A suffix A this is a Type B so Dec  the original Dexron is Dexron B and then the   next Dexron is Dexron 2c and IID and so on we'll  take a look at that here in just a moment so in   1969 General Motors released the Hydra-Matic 180  another three-speed transmission but this one just   used a regular three element torque converter with  no fancy or weird torque converter designs like   we've seen out of the 50s and the early 60s so in  1971 improvements in oil refining specifically a   process called hydro cracking ended up producing  a better quality base oil and because of this   improvement in base oil qualities a new fluid  specification came out in 1973 called Dexron II so   here's a can of Dexron II automatic transmission  fluid remember I told you that the original deck   Franz had license number beginning with the  letter B well the Dexron twos began with the   license number beginning with the letter C so this  is a C 2 zero one zero nine so it begins with the   C 22 instead of a B 2 1 so the Dexron to C fluid  came out in 1973 and was used until 1978 when it   was discovered that this fluid was promoting  corrosion inside of automatic transmission   fluid coolers so General Motors revised the  specifications and changed the licensing - where   the fluid license numbers now had to begin with  the letter D in 1974 a significant event occurred   in the production of base oils and that is the  production of the first synthetic base oils   the pa-o poly alpha olefins based oils were first  produced in 1974 and they were used in mortar oil   and they were marketed under the Mobil 1 oil brand  and they still are today but it was not until 1989   the Mobil came up with the first fully synthetic  automatic transmission fluid the Mobil 1 automatic   transmission fluid now today there are still fully  synthetic automatic transmission fluids available   and we'll take a look at some of those coming  up but the first time any pa-o based synthetic   automatic transmission fluid was available was  1989 so here's a can of Delco Dexron - fluid it   has a license number of D mm - so this is Dexron  II D and the D doesn't mean Dexron that's just we   had type a Type B was the original Dexron type  C the promoted cooler corrosion and now type D   fluid is the next Dexron out there so type D fluid  came out in 1978 here's a can of it from Valvoline   the valve automatic fluid notice it says right  on top of it it's a type D fluid they were real   big about advertising that this was not the type  C fluid this has a license number of D20884 and   here's a can of Texaco Texmatic Dexron II that has  a license number of D21058 so up to this point we   have seen three different Dexron’s the original  Dexron B the Dexron IIC and the Dexron IID so in   that time period General Motors released a few  more three-speed transmissions we had the Turbo   Hydra-Matic 200 the Turbo Hydra-Matic 250 in 1978  we had that front wheel drive 325 Hydra-Matic and   then we had in 1979 another technology changer the  torque converter clutch so as a result of the 1973   Arab oil embargo the very first government  corporate average fuel economy ratings CAFE   ratings were established and had to begin in 1978  so one of the ways to improve fuel economy was   to get an overdrive transmission go to a 4-speed  overdrive and to get rid of the slipping inside of   the torque converter by installing what's called  a torque converter clutch and the torque converter   clutches back then would lock the engines  crankshaft to the input shaft of the automatic   transmission while you're driving down the road at  a steady speed and it would improve fuel economy   because normally you would have a slip or a speed  difference of two or 300 rpm a whole new batch of   technologies had to be invented to meet these  corporate average fuel economy standards so for   the 1979 model year General Motors released two  transmissions with a torque converter clutch they   were existing versions of the turbo Hydra-Matic  200 and the 250 but they put the letter C after   their designation to indicate that it had  a torque converter clutch now there were no   computer controls involved it would just simply  pursue switches and a brake switch involved in   activating and deactivating the torque converter  clutch in 1980 they developed a front-wheel drive   version of a transmission a three-speed with a  converter clutch it was called the 125 later known   as the 3T40 transaxle in 1981 they added a torque  converter clutch to the turbo Hydra-Matic 350 that   transmission came out in the mid 1960s in 1982  they came up with another transmission called the   2004R which was a 4-speed overdrive transmission  with a torque converter clutch also in 1982 they   released a 325-4L with a torque converter clutch  this was the front wheel drive transmission that   went in vehicles like the Oldsmobile Toronado  and other front-wheel drive GM vehicles and then   also in 1982 they released the ill-fated 700R4  transmission with the torque converter clutch   and then in 1984 they released a four-speed  front-wheel drive trans axle which is the   grandfather of this 4T65-E here behind me behind  my left shoulder it was called the 440-T4 and all   of these had torque converter clutches in the  mid-1980s General Motors was experimenting with   electronically shifted and controlled automatic  transmissions there was a Cadillac F7 front-wheel   drive transmission there were some import vehicles  that had electric shift transmissions that   the Chevrolet sprint three-speed was an electric  shifted transmission and so on but it wasn't until   1991 that this transmission right here the 4L80-E  was released and was widely used not just in a   single car experimental car but widely used in  pickup trucks and this 4L80-E is a combination of   the old turbo 400 transmission with an overdrive  unit in front of it and it's electronically   controlled it has two shift solenoids and a  pressure control solenoid and a torque converter   clutch solenoid there are four solenoids in this  transmission and because of the changes in adding   these extra electronics and the need to have fluid  flowing through the solenoids at a proper rate   under all temperature ranges a new transmission  fluid specification was released by General Motors   in October of 1992 and this was the Dexron IIE  fluid specification now I could not find a bottle   or can of Dexron IIE anywhere in the last three  years of searching if you know where I can get   one let me know but I can't find it they they've  disappeared in 1993 another significant event   occurred in the production of base stock oils and  that is the production of what we now call Group   three base oils Group three base oils are still  refined crude oil but they're highly refined to   where they're very clean very pure they don't  react with other chemicals and oxygen as easily   as the group two base oils did and they have a  much higher viscosity index than the group two   base oils now to my knowledge there are no group  three base oils that are used primarily as the   base oil for automatic transmission fluids instead  the group three base oil is blended with Group two   base oils to come up with whatever viscosity index  the vehicle manufacturer desires they can also mix   in group 4 group 5 base oils to come up with the  desired viscosity index so the group 3 base oil   was developed in 1993 that is the same year that  the American Petroleum Institute the API came up   with this table of base stock categories that we  refer to today also in the 1990s a better refining   method for the group 2 base oils was developed and  it's called hydro treating and the hydro treating   cleaned up and helped stabilize the base 2 oils  to where they're viscosity index would be at the   higher range of the base 2 oil group rather than  the mid-range of the lower range it would be they   were at the higher range and this new method of  refining led to an unofficial API group called   the group 2 plus base oils now the development  of the group 2 plus base oils was occurring at   the same time that General Motors made some  big changes in their automatic transmission   fluids and the service intervals for changing  that fluid so right in between the Dexron IIE   fluid specification that was used in our 1991  4L80-E transmission there and the next fluid   specification the Dexron IIIF transmission fluid  was this change in refining methods to produce   what is called the group 2 plus base stock oils  so in 1995 General Motors changed their fluid fill   specification to a Dexron III rather than Dexron  2 with the F as the suffix at the end so Dexron   IIIF and I have a technical service bulletin from  General Motors here from March of 1995 describing   the Dexron IIIF fluid General Motors has phased in  a new automatic transmission fluid the Dexron III   that does not need replacing under normal service  Dexron III is designed to help deliver the best   performance under all conditions the improvements  in Dexron III include better friction stability   more high temperature oxidation stability and  better material compatibility Dexron III has   the same low-temperature fluidity as Dexron  IIE for better transmission performance in   cold weather Dexron IIE & Dexron III are fully  compatible Dexron III is fully compatible with   any General Motors vehicle or light truck with  an automatic transmission built since 1949 and   remember 1949 was the very first year for the type  a fluid specification now the stuff about Dexron   III and all these letter ones never needing their  fluid changed that's under what they call normal   conditions well normal conditions is not the  normal everyday driving of me I drive to work and   back every day but I don't drive under what they  define as normal conditions in the maintenance   guide so you need to read the maintenance guide  here are their fluid change recommendations from   the service bulletins the 1995 transmission  fluid changed intervals will be the following   1994 and prior should use the schedules as  written in the owner’s manual when if the   vehicle is mainly driven under one or more of the  following conditions in heavy traffic where the   outside temperature reaches 90 degrees or higher  Fahrenheit in hilly or mountainous terrain when   towing a trailer when founding uses such as taxi  police car or delivery service for vehicles over   8,600 girls vehicle weight rating change the fluid  and filter every 50,000 miles if the vehicle is   not used mainly under any of these conditions the  fluid and filter do not require periodic changing   for vehicles under 8600 GVWR so the service  interval for Dexron III fluid is every 50,000   miles for a large majority of the drivers out  there now the change to the Dexron III automatic   transmission fluid I believe was just a natural  progression as the refining methods for base stock   oil improved and the oil itself improved but  there was also a new technology on the horizon   coming up for the 1997 model year transmissions  and I've got the very first transmission here   behind me that has what's called an electronically  controlled clutch capacity torque converter clutch   so the ECC C and what that means is instead of  the torque converter clutch applying solidly and   connecting the back of the engines crankshaft to  the input shaft of the transmission it's going to   allow for some slip between the two now not the  normal amount of slip that you would get with   a fully released torque converter of two 300 rpm  while driving down the road depending on how heavy   your vehicle is this slip would be controlled  somewhere between approximately 20 rpm and 80   rpm and if it ever fell outside of those ranges  while applied it would set a trouble code so the   reason that we went to the ECC slipping style  torque converter clutch was to help avoid engine   misfire trouble codes the p0 300 style trouble  codes and obd2 regulations require that the PCM   or ECM for the engine monitor for engine misfire  conditions and it monitors that by watching the   normal crankshaft rotational fluctuations as you  drive well with a torque converter clutch that   is solidly locked and engaged every time you  accelerate or decelerate the vehicle it would   affect those normal crankshaft rotations and  possibly trigger a false p0 300 trouble code   so to avoid that situation they allow the torque  converter clutch to slip with a controlled amount   of slips of the controlled capacity the electronic  control clutch capacity was their method in 1997   and they are still using it today not just General  Motors but almost everyone is using this method   of slipping the torque converter clutch to avoid  the p0 300 style trouble codes but this slipping   of the torque converter clutch caused some unique  problems one of the problems is a shutter problem   whereas it would apply and release or even while  it was holding it would cause a shuttering a   vibration and they've been modifying transmission  fluids and their additives ever since then trying   to get rid of that so the original transmission  fluid spec for this 4T65-E front-wheel drive   transaxle here in 1997 model year the fluid  specification began with Dexron IIIF but because   of the shuttering they went to the Dexron IIIG  fluid specification in 1998 to try to correct   a lot of the shuttering in the year 2000 General  Motors released two five speed transmissions the   Allison 1000 five-speed transmission for the 2001  model year 2500 and 3500 series trucks and then   the 5L40-E 5-speed transmission for some Cadillacs  and others lighter weight passenger cars these   five speed transmissions improved fuel economy  and helped reduce vehicle emissions then in   2003 General Motors revised the Dexron three fluid  specification again so we started with Dexron IIIF   and then we went to a G the fluid specification  next went to a Dexron IIIH the Dexron IIIH fluid   specification stayed in effect for automatic  transmission use until 2011 when General Motors   inactivated that specification then in 2016 GM  came up with another revision of the Dexron III   fluid the Dexron III a fluent so this is the H  but you need to be aware that that fluid is no   longer for automatic transmissions the only reason  they’re release the Dexron three fluid is that   there are manual transmissions out there and power  steering systems that still require Dexron three   fluid so what they have done is they've removed  the additive package that made it suitable for   use in automatic transmissions and now it's just  for manual transmissions that that require it and   not all of them do and power some power steering  systems so be warned there's Dexron IIIK fluid   out there that is not for automatic transmissions  okay the next significant change in General Motors   automatic transmission fluid history took place  in the Year 2005 in 2005 General Motors released   the Dexron VIJ series of six-speed automatic  transmissions co-developed by General Motors and   Ford we have the rear wheel drive 6L80 right here  that came out in the 2006 Chevrolet corvette and   has been used subsequently in pickup trucks and  other rear-wheel drive passenger cars by General   Motors I believe the equivalent of this that came  out a few years later in Ford was the 6R140 now   the initial release of the Dexron VI automatic  transmission fluid here it does not say on the   back of the of the bottle or anywhere on here that  it is a fully synthetic fluid and it was revised   again in 2013 and on the 2013 bottle of Dexron VI  it says right on the back of it the Dexron VI is   a fully synthetic automatic transmission fluid  now both of these bottles on the back say that   they are backwards compatible with Dexron III and  IIIH it also says in all applications except power   steering and manual transmissions so the Dexron  VI fluid is not backwards compatible with Dexron   fluids and the type a and the Type A suffix A  and all that clear back to 1949 it's only going   back to the Dexron IIIH that makes me think that  the Dexron IIIH fluid is a much higher quality   fluid than I had first suspected now the very next  model year the 2007 model year the Dexron VI fluid   was also used in a front-wheel drive transaxle  co-developed by General Motors and Ford called   the 6T70 in General Motors vehicles the 6F50 in  Ford vehicles Ford had their own version of this   fluid they called the Mercon LV now a word about  aftermarket fluids for automatic transmissions   I have three different bottles of transmission  fluid here from various stores this particular   bottle right here is from O'Reilly Auto Parts  and it says right on the front of it that it's   compatible for use in General Motors and Ford  transmissions but then it says meets Dexron IIIH   specs and little tiny letters see the back panel  for specific applications so on the back panel   here it tells us that this high quality product  is suitable for use in all General Motors and   Ford automatic transmissions calling for Dexron  IIIG and H so Dexron IIIH is at 2003 and earlier   specification it also says it's compatible with  Dexron IIE, IID, plus 2 as well as Mercon type   CJ and Type A suffix A fluid from 1958 so in  other words this transmission fluid that states   that it's compatible with General Motors and Ford  transmissions that's true but only if you have a   2003 or earlier vehicle this proline automatic  transmission fluid that I got from Pep Boys I   believe pretty much says the exact same thing on  the back this bottle of Mobil 1 fully synthetic   transmission fluid that I just bought a couple  of weeks ago is telling you the same thing on the   back the Mobil 1 synthetic ATF multi-vehicle  formula is recommended by ExxonMobil not by   General Motors for use in applications requiring  Dexron, Dexron IIIH, Dexron IIIG Dexron IIE, IID,   2, and a few other manufacturer specifications  so in other words this bottle of fully synthetic   Mobil 1 ATF is still not a Dexron VI compatible  fluid and it says right on it not recommended   for applications requiring Mercon LV Mercon SP or  Dexron VI so a 2003 model year and older is what   this fluid was made for so buyer beware they're  not lying to you but you need to read the fine   print and you need to understand when these  fluid specifications even came about because   you pour the wrong fluid in your transmission  and it can affect how it operates and the life   of that transmission and it won't necessarily  cause a failure today tomorrow next week next   month it might cause a failure a couple of years  down the road that might be several years sooner   than it should have been with the proper fluid for  the 2011 model year General Motors released the   Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicle  and that vehicle came with the 4ET50 transaxle   this was a 4 mode electric transaxle and this  hybrid electric transaxle requires the Dexron   VI automatic mission fluid as well so this system  runs on up to 400 volts while you're driving and   so obviously automatic transmission fluids must  be nonconductive for the system to work properly   any incorrect fluids or additives put into these  transaxles could cause a loss of isolation of the   high voltage which could damage the transaxle  or shut the vehicle down and keep prevented   from moving for the 2016 model year General Motors  released the Chevrolet Volt second generation and   that model came with a 5ET50 transaxle a five  mode hybrid electric transaxle by the way the   fifth mode added was a power split mode much like  the Toyota hybrid system and that transaxle also   requires the Dexron VI automatic transmission  fluid in July of 2013 General Motors released   the Dexron HP fluid specification the Dexron HP  fluid is a full synthetic automatic transmission   fluid it says right on the back of it that it is a  PAO based fluid and this fluid release was for the   upcoming 2015 model year 8-speed rear wheel drive  transmissions that General Motors had developed   so we have the 8L90 and there's also an 8L45  now this transmission fluid although it's made   from a PAO synthetic base oil it has an additive  package that is necessary for this transmission   fluid to operate properly well what happened with  these 8 speed transmissions is that the torque   converter clutch is one of those electric control  clutch capacity type torque converter clutches   that slip all the time and they are having a  shuttering problem and because of the shuttering   problem they did a revision to the Dexron HP fluid  specification and now they call for mobile one but   not just any mobile one automatic transmission  fluid this has to be mobile one synthetic LV   for low viscosity ATF HP and it has to have this  Dexron license the logo on the front of it now by   comparison this bottle of synthetic ATF does not  have HP on it does not have the Dexron fluid logo   or license on it and it says nothing about Dexron  HP yet they're both pa-o based base fluids so the   difference between these two is this one does not  have the proper additive package for the 8-speed   transmission torque converter clutch shutter issue  this one does so just because it's as a synthetic   base oil transmission fluid doesn't mean that  it's this wonderful fluid that's going to solve   all your problems it has to have the right  additive package with it so there are two Dexron   HP fluids the original version and then the newest  version that the synthetic LV ATF HP that you were   supposed to go in and totally flush out everything  from this transmission get it all out of the   torque converter and the entire transmission  and then replace that with this mobile one now   both of the bottles of Dexron HP fluid here say  on the back that it's compatible with earlier   versions of Dexron fluid that is incorrect it is  not compatible with earlier versions of Dexron   fluid they've made a whole bunch of these with  the wrong information on the label even the mobile   one fluid says that it can be used with vehicles  specifying Dexron VI two or three type fluids well   there's a service bulletin from General Motors  saying that is incorrect only use this in the   8-speed transmission and other transmissions that  it may be called for and that it is not compatible   with the previous versions so another transmission  that it would be compatible with is the 2017 and   above Chevrolet bolt EV it has a gear reducers so  that the electric motor spins much faster than the   tires that gear reducer needs the Dexron HP fluid  okay in January of 2014 Ford released the Merc on   ULV automatic transmission fluid specification now  this is for the new 10 speed transmission the Ford   10 are 80 and the GM 10L90 transmission which  is a jointly developed automatic transmission   rear-wheel drive just like they did back in  2006 for the 2007 model year there's also a   nine speed front-wheel drive transaxle that  we've got in a Chevrolet Traverse over here   that is a joint venture to be used by Ford and  General Motors and so Ford what seems to be the   primary developer based on the documents for the  fluid specification of the 10 speed transmission   and GM seems to be the primary developer of the  nine speed transit trans axle as far as the ULV   fluid is concerned ULV stands for ultra-low  viscosity so here's the bottle of Mercon ULV   here's the bottle of Dexron ULV and if you look  there are identical bottles this one's obviously   black where this one's kind of an orangish color  but obviously out of the same producer but rather   it's Dexron ULV for the General Motors 10 speed  or Mercon ULV for the Ford ten-speed it's the same   it's the same fluid specification so for this new  10-speed transmission this is the only fluid that   is compatible with it the application of the  clutches the operation of all the pulse width   modulated solenoids the torque converter clutch  engagement and slipping and control everything was   calibrated for this ULV fluid now in my research  and downloading or purchasing and downloading of   the ford specification for the ULV it does not  indicate that it is a full synthetic fluid as a   matter of fact in the MSDS the material safety  data sheet for this fluid it indicates that it   is a hydro treated light paraffinic which is  a crude oil based base oil so this is not a   fully synthetic fluid okay the Dexron ULV fluid  indicates on the back that it's specifically   designed for use in ten speed transmissions and  it is not a suitable replacement for Dexron three   or Dexron VI now it doesn't mention dexter on HP  in there but that kind of gets to the point I'm   trying to make here so this 10 speed transmission  came out for the 2017 model year and it was 1937   that the first General Motors automatic safety  transmission came out for the 1938 model year and   hopefully you can see through all the fluids and  the technological changes that have taken place   through all the years here in this video that the  face fluid is one thing and that these additives   to make it work with that transmission properly  are another thing and so I don't see why anyone   would want to use anything different than what the  original factory fluid called for or whatever the   revision has been since then if I bought a brand  new vehicle and wanted it to work the same way   that it always has I would want to have the same  in it and I would use the same fluids and I would   highly recommend that now I know that there are  those out there who might disagree with that and   they like a certain brand of fluid and they've  put it in their car and they've never had any   problems yet and maybe they won't maybe they  will but once again the base stock oil being   synthetic or non-synthetic or the group 3 plus or  whatever it may be is just a piece of that puzzle   it's the additives and the electronic controls the  programming of the solenoids in the transmission   or transaxle to make that transmission work as it  should the compatibility with the seals and the   plastics and the nylons and the clutch packs and  bands on the older transmissions the anti-forming   the anti-corrosion the anti-shuttering and  all the other issues that can be unique to   a specific transmission are addressed with those  additives now as we wrap up this episode on the   history of General Motors automatic transmission  fluids I told you in the introductory video that   I would tell you where you could find the fluid  specifications there's a website its global dot IH   s comm and this is a website for a company that's  been in business since 1959 and they distribute   factory specifications for fluids and other things  for several different vehicle manufacturers there   are some vehicle manufacturers that don't share  their transmission fluid specifications and   that's because they don't license their fluids  to the aftermarket their dealer only fluids like   the original Hydra-Matic drive fluids for the 1940  Hydra-Matic you can only get those at a dealership   there are there is no compatible there is no  authorized or licensed replacement fluid for that   another place you can find fluid specifications  is on the Society of Automotive Engineers web   site if you log in and do a search for any name  of transmission fluid you will find technical   papers written by people when that standard first  came out and a lot of times they will have the   full specifications they won't have the testing  procedures in there which make the whole document   almost a hundred pages long on some of these fluid  specifications there's the specifications which   are twenty to thirty thirty-five different  specifications but then there's the testing   procedures of how do you test that fluid to make  sure that it meets the twenty to thirty five   specifications I told you that we would find out  when transmission fluid turned red and as we saw   there were aftermarket additives dyes to turn that  fluid red in the 50s and 60s and it wasn't until   Dexron II that it was an actual requirement that  a be read for General Motors transmission fluids   we looked at the service intervals for fluids  we saw that we started around 5,000 miles went   to 10,000, 12,000, 24,000, 50,000, 100,000 and the  supposedly fluid if you read in the maintenance   guide of your owner's manual or that came with the  owner's manual on your vehicle typically it will   have to service schedules one of them for what  they call normal driving which as we've discussed   already hardly anyone does normal driving because  it does not include city driving and then it has   what is considered severe service or rough duty  intervals which is typically about half of what   the so-called normal service intervals are there  are also many technical service bulletins issued   by each vehicle manufacturer talking about  the upgrades in the fluid specifications over   the years so if you have access to TSB's  technical service bulletins for different   vehicle manufacturers then you can look those up  or that particular fluid I also told you that we   would look at the technological changes that  drove the fluid to change and there were many   technological changes we also saw and learned  that there are many regulatory changes in the   law for fuel economy and tailpipe emissions to  make transmissions more efficient so parts can   rotate more efficiently I've read articles and  received all kinds of comment from people that   think that that fluid this ultra-low viscosity  fluid is too thin and that they know better than   the factory and they're going to put this other  fluid in their transmission instead and all I can   say is good luck there was actually a technical  service bulletin from Ford that I will show you   in the history of Ford - automatic transmission  fluids we're a government fleets police cars   could not reach the top vehicle speed that they  used to be able to reach after a transmission   service and they traced it to the fluid being  the incorrect fluid being put in during service   so having the wrong fluid in the transmission  physically slowed the vehicle from reaching its   top speed which is quite incredible it makes you  wonder what else it's preventing or what else it's   causing what extra wear or malfunctions that it's  leading to prematurely or things that never would   have happened with the proper fluid in them this  video was extra-long because it covered 80 years   of history the upcoming videos won't need to be  that long because they don't cover as many years   of history and they use General Motors fluids in  their transmissions until they develop their own   transmission specifications this transmission  fluid history project has been very fun for me   to gather all of the different fluid cans and  bottles that I've been able to find and to do   the research it's taken a lot longer than I ever  expected it so just about three years now to put   all of this together because I wanted to do more  than just have some chart to show you I wanted   to show you the actual cans of fluid and the  transmissions that go with them I was unable   to find every transmission I wanted but I was  able to find enough to make this video very long but hopefully somewhat informative and  educational to you okay well it's been   an interesting 80 years of transmission fluid  history for General Motors we've got at least   three more videos coming up the history of Ford  transmission fluids Chrysler transmission fluids   and Toyota transmission fluids I've had a lot of  requests for Honda transmission fluid information,   and I will try to find information on that  thank you for watching and have a good day you

Channel: WeberAuto

Views: 285,257

Keywords: Professor, Mobil 1, Weber State Automotive, Weber State University, Which ATF Should I Use?, Cadillac, Pontiac, What transmission fluid should I use?, Dexron III, GM, Guy in wheelchair, Dexron HP, Dexron VI, Chevrolet, Automatic Transmission Fluid, WSU, NATEF, STEM, Dexron ULV, Dexron II, NACAT, ASE, GMC, CAT, Type A Suffix A, Oldsmobile, John D. Kelly, Dexron, Buick, Type A

Id: 8oWFTOY-3tY

Length: 88min 27sec (5307 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 14 2018