another trans fluid question

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02-13-2009, 07:08 AM
bmwrp8

another trans fluid question

To the trans guru out there im just curious.. My friend has a 1998 523iA e39 with 60,+++kms. 2 years ago he completely drain/replaced his trans. ATF and filter but he used dextronIII WTF?! now he replaced it again last dec. but only drained the ATF in the pan but not the torque converter changed his filter again. tranny still shifts great no slipping or failure whatsoever. It has a GM tranny and now has 105,+++kms on the clock. I thought you cant use dextronIII in a GM tranny with lifetime ATF originally. Can anyone shed some light?
02-13-2009, 08:05 AM
Bill R.

According to the etk you friend has a a5s310z trans which calls for esso
Lt 71141 fluid which is a lifetime fluid. I've posted here in the past that there are now a number of dexron type fluids that meet this spec. There wasn't a few years ago but now there are a number of them. Castrol import atf meets these specs, Pennzoil multi vehicle atf , Valvoline maxlife, etc.
Since i'm in the US i'm not sure what fluids you have and the specs for them but i'm sure that a number of them meet LT 71141 specs also.
If he's using one of these fluids then he won't have any problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmwrp8

To the trans guru out there im just curious.. My friend has a 1998 523iA e39 with 60,+++kms. 2 years ago he completely drain/replaced his trans. ATF and filter but he used dextronIII WTF?! now he replaced it again last dec. but only drained the ATF in the pan but not the torque converter changed his filter again. tranny still shifts great no slipping or failure whatsoever. It has a GM tranny and now has 105,+++kms on the clock. I thought you cant use dextronIII in a GM tranny with lifetime ATF originally. Can anyone shed some light?
02-13-2009, 10:21 AM
bmwrp8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill R.

According to the etk you friend has a a5s310z trans which calls for esso
Lt 71141 fluid which is a lifetime fluid. I've posted here in the past that there are now a number of dexron type fluids that meet this spec. There wasn't a few years ago but now there are a number of them. Castrol import atf meets these specs, Pennzoil multi vehicle atf , Valvoline maxlife, etc.
Since i'm in the US i'm not sure what fluids you have and the specs for them but i'm sure that a number of them meet LT 71141 specs also.
If he's using one of these fluids then he won't have any problems.

we don't have pennzoil multi , valvoline maxlife here we only have castrol which is around $6.00 per liter but im preety sure its not castrol that he use but some cheap dextron III which he told me he bought in an ordinary shop (auto supply) for 120 pesos per liter or less than $3.00 per liter.I think I saw your post before but i know those ATf that you mentioned will exceed pass $3.00. what he's using is the ordinary if im not mistaken china or taiwan dextron III that we don't really hear about.. Is he asking for a disaster? but for almost 60,000kms or 31,000miles that he's using ordinary dex.III the tranny is in perfect shape.
02-13-2009, 11:33 AM
Tiger

He really is asking for trouble... it will fail soon. Double check on what fluid he used. What market if that car sold under? They might have a different transmission.
02-13-2009, 11:34 AM
bmwrp8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiger

He really is asking for trouble... it will fail soon. Double check on what fluid he used. What market if that car sold under? They might have a different transmission.

its a tiptronic gm tranny. wierd that for 31,000miles and 2 years of dexIII it still runs great