Would you buy this? Obviously reputable brand but I'm reluctant to pull the trigger because I read some nonsense that it might not be up to spec since Mercon spec is no more.

What do you think?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000CQ...I25IKIWJC9U17F

 

I won't comment on the fluid compatibility stuff. Maybe Pete or Rich or someone with more knowledge will stop by and see this.

I will say I've seen the Dex/merc stuff at local parts stores and wally worlds and that link isn't that great a price.

 

Price drops to $80 regularly. If you factor in free shipping, no sales tax and 5% cash back it comes down to less than $3.5 per quart. Cheapest I ever got Mercon 5 for was $4 and I had to drive to 3 different stores to get all 20 quarts.

Plus, anything from amazon has a lesser chance of the wife detecting yet another truck-related purchase

 

If you buy at your local commercial fuel/oil supplier by the 5 gallon bucket (20 quarts) you get the price between $2.75 to $3.50 a quart for Mercon V.

Just a thought!

 

Can you explain a bit more please or provide a link?

 

I'm not sure why are you calling what you read nonsense, but if what you read was that Ford no longer licenses the fluid labeled as Dextron III/Mercon so there's no guaranteeing what's in it, then it's not nonsense.

Ford reformulated Mercon V and now that is the trans fluid licensed and recommended for the 4R100 transmission.

Stewart

 

Well, until someone finds ANY evidence the composition has been altered, I'm calling bull****.

Not only that, a barrel of oil costs $50.
Refine, add some detergent and additives and POOF you charge $1000 per barrel.
$3000 if you buy individual quarts.

I'd be really surprised to hear about a multi million dollar reputable brand (like Valvoline) risking their name diluting a product that carries 500%+ margin.

Now, put that in contrast with 'some truckshop' that sells ATF for $2.75 a quart...not that sure if I'd buy that.

 

That oil is not Mercon V and I would never put it in a 4R100.

 

Ad hominem,

Did you read the manual?

It was good for 25+ years and now that iphone 6 is out it's suddenly unacceptable.

 

You're calling bull on what exactly? I never said the composition has changed, just that it's no longer licensed by Ford, so there is no guarantee that it's the same formulation that Ford use to require.

Nobody is claiming it's inferior either, just that Mercon V has been reformulated and is now the licensed trans fluid for the 4R100 and the only one recommended by Ford for the 4R100.

Did you read the TSB?

Do you get all chest-thumpy like this often? Jeez dude take a chill pill and relax. It doesn't matter if it was good for 25 years or a hundred years. As for the manual, well, things do get superseded after manuals have been printed you know.

Calm down and stop stirring up drama.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post11347384

Let me google that for you

Now, obviously you can do whatever you want, it's your rig. Heck, if you wanna put 10w - 40 in your transmission, that's your choice. But you ASKED us if we would buy what's in the link you posted and you asked us what we thought. We're just trying to get you the proper info so you can make an educated decision.

Stewart

 

Instead of buying by the quart, you can save money by buying Mercon V by the 5 gallon bucket. Usually your local fuel oil company can give you a commercial price which provides further savings. You can also get deals sometimes at local parts stores. In November O'Reilly's was selling Castrol Mercon V for $62.50 for a 5 gallon bucket. If you talk them down $3 or $4 bucks, it's like getting it tax free.

Hope that helps!

 

MSG, I see your point, and your iPhone 6 line cracked me up.

FWIW, I still use the original Mercon specification ATF in my 4R100. As you pointed out, Mercon is the fluid specified in the owner's manual, and the transmission hasn't changed. I just happened to buy a several cases of ATF about 15 years ago, and haven't used all of my supply yet. I use Mobil1 full synthetic dual specification DexronIII/Mercon.

For transmission flushing, I use Chevron dual specification DexronIII/Mercon, that used to only cost $1 a quart at Costco when sold by the case. And I have another couple of cases of Ford Motorcraft full Synthetic Mercon which Ford spec'd for the ZF6, but later released a TSB recommending it for the 4R100, back when Mercon V was emphatically NOT recommended for the 4R100.

Fast forward to today, and now I think Ford has three different Mercons with letters behind them.... Mercon SP, Mercon LV, and Mercon V. Like Stewart said, the Mercon V is the fluid that Ford recommends in the 4R100 today, even though 10 years ago Ford specifically cautioned against Mercon V.

But like you said in another post, it's 2015. Times change. And for Ford, the time changed a long time ago with respect to fluid specs for the 4R100. Ford did whatever testing they needed to do and made whatever fluid changes they needed to make, and for a very long time now, Mercon V has been the only new fluid spec recommended for the 4R100.

However, in another twist, Mercon V is NOT recommended for transfer cases, whereas regular Mercon was (in our owner's manuals). So now, one needs to also locate "Transfer Case Fluid" from Motorcraft, if the only transmission fluid they have on hand is Mercon V, since V is not to be put into transfer cases. This wasn't the "case" with the old Mercon, which could used in both applications.

So, it's up to you. I recommend synthetic fluid, either way you go. The Mercon V is a superior transmission fluid over the Mercon it replaced, but unlike a newer transmission whose design from the get go required Mercon V, one can still use Mercon in the transmissions originally designed for Mercon.

Without Ford licensing the specification any more, does the new Mercon you are considering meet the spec? I understand your point about the big name oil company Valvoline not risking the devaluation of their brand by selling fluid with fake specs, but one thing you might look into is whether or not oil companies are even permitted to sell a fluid that claims a specification that is not licensable. I don't know enough about that element of the business to offer any guidance, but I can say that my trans still works with Mercon from the days when Mercon was licensed.

I suppose that if someone sold me the license to make Moonshine, and gave me the exact recipe to do so, and then later came up with a new recipe and called it Moonshine V, and informed me that they will no longer license the original Moonshine... I could probably get just as drunk using the same recipe that I already paid for earlier, even if my original license expired.

 

I just bought a used 2000 f350. It was serviced at the dealer always. I needed to add some fluid and used the Dex/Merc like the manual said, but from the conversations ford might have done the tranny flush with mercv. Is it safe to mix the fluids, or should I plan to flush and know exactly whats in it.

 

I red tons of threads about how the spec of Mercon V changed, licensing and all that common knowledge stuff.

BUT this moonshine example is precisely at the core of my question.

Your example is perfect!
See, the difference is that it's not me and you making moonshine in a shed and selling it under the table to folks that can't afford real stuff.
It's a HUGE corporation with a 500% margin product. Have you ever worked for a business like that? Picking the toilet paper brand requires 3 separate approval forms.

My doubt is in the economical motivation of this large corporation. Whether to cut the quality of ingredients or not would have been a risk-reward weighted decision made by some guy that has more zeros on his paycheck than we have miles on our trucks.
Basically, is it really worth it for them to risk the cash cow?

Oil and lube market is extremely competitive with marketing being #1 decisioning making factor for what people use. Let's face it, we have NO idea how good royal purple really or mobile one really is. Is it 10% better ? 20%?
What I can assure you that it is not 100% better yet it costs close to double.


All in all I have very strong feeling about paying through the nose.
It's not a money thing more a 'bending over backwards' thing... I don't mind when other people do it but personally...I'd rather not.

 

Someone turn the Mark light on over FTE! We need a transmission specialist to provide an expert and comical response, at the speed of light-ning, white lightning!