Somebody Use No Lifetime Atf

[Unregistered]

I want to know if can I use no lifetime transmition fluid? if yes, which one?

[winfred]

oh sure what the hell , doctor dixons double nut root oil is all i use.

a year and model of car just may help

[Unregistered]

Sorry!! my car is 540i/94 and the owner manual said use lifetime transmition fluid, my big problem in this area nobody know about this, and somebody else told me "I'm working in automatic transmition for 35 years and never listen about it"

[winfred]

there has been a lot of talk about what will work but nothing is really certain on what will not affect the life span of the tranny in a bad way, the factory fluid is around $100 a gallon at the dealer and a rebuilt tranny can run $2000, you don't exactly want to kill your tranny with the wrong stuff, id stick with the dealer fluid

[Tiger]

Ya know... if your tranny is near the end of life, then it wouldn't really matter because you need rebuilding... Let's say someone got. Most tranny that have lived in city or suburb area with normal driving of mmm... 60% city/40% highway, tends to see the life of the tranny at about 150,000 miles. Those cars that are highway warriors see about 220K miles... generally speaking.

So if your car is at 110K miles and you want to change the tranny fluid... with expectancy of 40K miles... 2 years or three... I don't see the harm of using other compatible fluids such as Pennzoil Multi-Vehicle, Quaker State Multi-Vehicle, or Redline ATF D4. I strongly suspect the Pennzoil and Quaker State is same stuff as Shell OEM... why? Because Shell owns both company... and the both product is semi synthetic.

American culture is easy way out... Look at GM, Ford, Chrysler... oil companies are no different... if it doesn't cost a dime for research and good for most tranny... sell in bulks... profit is up. In the case of Shell, because the product is so limited usage, that's why price is way up there... and now just recently they released this Multi-Vehicle formula... I think it is the same stuff.

[632 Regal]

If you do any research into this issue the fluid the trans is made to work with has exactly whats needed, if you use other fluids they actually break down the glue that holds the friction material on the clutches. Not actually a good thing on any transmission let alone a tired one. You might get lucky and get a month or 6 months out of it with "other" fluids. The 540 trans is just one that happens to require the expensive stuff.

[Unregistered]

Thanks guys for your help, I let you know what going on in the future.

[l8apex]

I am the original owner of a 1994 540iA. It now has nearly 180,000 (mostly highway) miles on the original tramsmission and Nikasil block. I drive my car almost exclusively on the track these days, and I don't baby it. I have considered changing the "lifetime" fluid several times in the past, but was talked out of it each time. The best arguement not to change it that I have heard goes something like this:
It was really intended to last the life of the transmission, which is probably between 150,000 and 250,000 miles. If you change it, even if you use the "lifetime" fluid as a replacement, the "fresh" fluid will probably loosen up deposits and cause them to circulate throughout the transmission, thus decreasing it's life expectancy.
Another good arguement is that it's impossible to remove even half of the transmission fluid without pulling the transmission out and draining the torque converter. Why pull the transmission in order to do a fluid change? A series of "partial" fluid changes will gradually "dilute" the original fluid, but at the considerable expense of also losing a percent of the "fresh" fluid. As you progressivly drain and refill the transmission, each time it is drained, you lose a larger percentage of "fresh" fluid, making it progressively more expensive.
I have heard many arguments against using anything except the recommended "lifetime" fluid if you are going to change it. Cutting expenses by using a substitute is false economy, as the transmission will probably wear faster than it would otherwise.

[632 Regal]

But I feel that changing 3 quarts or so at a time is better than none at all and also better than changing all of it at once because of the deposit clogging issues. If I had one of those 5hp22 trannies (I think) I wouldnt be afraid of changing the filter a few times till the fluid was cleaner. Have to drive at least 1000-1500 miles between changes as to not upset everything at once. What I read was lifetime meant 80-100k not 200k.

Im glad my trans (5hp18) takes the dextron III its cheaper but the trans is weaker so I will have to hold back on the Nitro Methanol at the track for now. Not to mention how small the ring and pinion setup is on these non-540 vehicles, no trans brake either.

[NoSpeedLimits]

For what it's worth, when I had gone to the local stealer to discuss the trans fluid change, the mechanic (not the appointment scheduler) confirmed exactly what you guys are saying.

Hay I8apex, question for ya, since you take your car to the track I figured you ought to know the answer to my silly question: with the traction control turned off, heading in a straight line, from a stand still, pedal to the floor take off, is it possible to spin the rear wheels? TIA. Other input welcomed... I fear that something is wrong... I would have thought that the V8 would require some feathering of the throttle at take off.

BTW. I was also wondering if anyone could provide me with the weight of a 94 540ia?