Transynd Oil Change

[Larry Fisk]

Thanks Joel,  I'll plan on changing it in a year then.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Castrol told me to do a simple fluid change plus filters. This means I put in 7 gallons of Transynd instead of 9 gallons for a complete drain. Castrol says to change the Transynd again at 50,000 miles or 1 year . This 2nd change will mean I am running 99% Transynd.  

[Edward Buker]

Actually you end up with a little over 75% Transynd after your first drain and fill change with new filters getting about 31 out of 40 quarts to drain per the Allison website with a 2 inch sump. I think I got 30 quarts in mine with my first change. Jeramy, if you have to drive far to pick up the fluid you may want to pick up 8 gallons to be sure.

The second change gets you to 95% Transynd which Allison considers acceptable for the extended change intervals. Allisons actual limit is 90% for the extended change intervals. At this point you still have about 2 quarts of earlier Dexron versions in the mix. Your third transmission fluid change would get you to the 99% Transynd. Fluid capacities are here for the 4000 series among others.

http://www.allisontransmission.com/servlet/DownloadFile?Dir=publications/pubs&FileToGet=SA5429EN.pdf

Jeramy, given the age of these transmissions, I do not think we would be under warranty, even with the Transynd change over but I am not sure of this. Maybe you could buy an extended warranty at this point? You mentioned Castrol... I think you would need something that is documented from Allison to be sure of the warranty policy. Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Transynd is compatible with Dexron.

[Joel Weiss]

Transynd is compatible with Dexron.

Right, it is totally compatible but a significant percentage of it in the fluid will degrade the "long lasting" properties of Transynd so you have to treat the transmission as if it were filled with Dextron and not Transynd.

[Jeremy Parrett]

Transynd is made by Castrol.  My percentage was wrong......it is 95% at 2nd fill.   My trans temp gauge dropped from 200 deg F to 170 deg F when I changed  to Transynd.
Also I was incorrect about any warranty except for a brand new transmission.

[Joel Weiss]

Since I'm not sure if my transmission is on its first or second fill of Transynd, I'm going to have an oil analysis done before having it replaced.  The analysis will be able to show if it needs replacing.  I'm going to use the low-cost kits available from these folks--http://www.jglubricantservices.com/  The owner, Tom Johnson, was a senior Allison engineer and describes himself as "the father of Transynd".  

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Jeremy, In one of your posts you state that if you have 95% Transynd in your tranmission that Allison will warranty your transmission. Am I getting that correct? Change to Transynd and they will put a warranty on your 11 year old transmission? Marty

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Jeremy, I find that hard to believe. I have made myself a note and will try to get a hold of Allison to get an answer. I do know that in the trucking industry, if you specced out a new truck with synthetics in the diffentials and the transmission, the manufacturer warrantied them longer (from 100,000 to 500,000 miles). In all my years in trucking I never heard of any company offering a warranty for changing to synthetics on used running gear. I'll let you know what I find out from Allison.
Marty

[Jeremy Parrett]

Ok Marty,
 I shall be very interested to hear what you can find out.    Jeremy

[Marty and Suzie Schenck]

Jeremy, I just spoke with the service dept. at Pacific Power Products in Kent, Wa. 253-854-0505. If you put in a remanufactured Allison transmission in your older vehicle and choose to put Transynd fluid in it, you will get an extended warranty over just using Dexron III. The warranty is not for just changing to Transynd. Marty

[Jeremy Parrett]

Hi Marty,
  thank you very much for clarifying this . Some service centers give out wrong information and this was one of those times.    I guess it is good news for those of us who have to install a rebuilt transmission.

[Keith Moffett]

Keith;
There are several reasons to use Transynd instead of Dexron III when you service your transmission. The first and most important reason is that Transynd lubricates better. If you change to Transynd from Dexron III, your transmission operating temperature will drop about 15 degrees because of less friction.

Next the cost of service will be less on Transynd over four years because of the labor cost in replacing the Dexron III four times (every 12 months), and replacing the Transynd only once.

The change-over method that you can use to remove all of the Dexron III when changing to Transynd is to remove the line running from the transmission cooler to the transmission after you have drained and refilled the transmission. Then crank the engine and let it idle as the transmission pumps the new fluid through the torque converter and transmission cooler and turn off the engine as soon as you see the fluid color change as the old darker Dexron III is exhausted and the lighter color Transynd starts to replace it. Then top-off the transmission fluid to the full level after reconnecting the cooler line.

This method will take about 2 gallons more fluid, but it will extend your next change to four years with one fluid change, instead of the two changes necessary to extend to four years with the drain and refill method.

Gerald  

Gerald
How does one tell between the in and out lines on the transmission?  Are they marked in some way?  Also, Pacific Torque in Seattle suggests pushing the Dextron out with air.  This seems to allow the possibility of air gaps in the cooler.  Does that sound reasonable to you?
Lastly, as there is no cooler mounted on the outde of the main radiator, I assume that the transmission cooler is integrated into the radiator.  Will this still require an extra two gallons like the seperate cooler you mention above?
Keith

[Gerald Farris]

Keith,
There is nothing wrong with using air to purge the cooler, however that does not purge the torque converter also like the method that I recommended. Blowing out the cooler with air only and not purging the torque converter will probably take an extra 1 to 2 quarts of fluid as apposed to the 2 gallons that I mentioned, because most of that was going into the converter.  

There are three types of transmission coolers used on Beaver coaches. There is a air to oil standalone cooler in front of the radiator that is seldom used because it will not help in raising the transmission fluid temperature in cold weather to keep the transmission at the proper operating temperature. The other two designs are both coolant to oil coolers. One uses a cooler in the radiator end tank, and the other design uses a cooler built into the radiator inlet hose. The one that is built into the radiator inlet hose is preferred on 4000 series transmissions because they help the transmission reach operating temperature quicker, and the 4000 does not do as well cold as a 3000. So you see that a transmission cooler is also used as a warmer when necessary. The main goal is to keep the transmission at the proper temperature at all times, not too hot or too cold.

Gerald  

[Keith Moffett]

Thanks Gerald
Also for the first timers like myself, here is a youtube video.

http://youtu.be/lZD8ey8mUo8