unconfusing Mercoron SP myths
 

so been reading that a lot of owners will sledge hammer you if you say you are using syntheric ATF in your f-250 torqueshift tranny. in my case I have an 2005, and the book calls for Mercorn SP. supposedly only available by motor craft and supposedly not avail from anyone in synthetic.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...3iBCObS641xLZQ



Wolf’s Head Super Universal Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid

is such a superior

transmission fluid that it may be used wherever established fluids are required or specified by all

OEMs around the world including but not limited to General Motors approved Dexron® fluids

including Dexron® VI and GM T-IV; Ford Motor Company's Mercon® approved fluids including

Mercon® V, Mercon® SP and Mercon® ; Honda ATF-Z1, VTM-4, DW-1, DPF, Mercedes Benz,

Mitsubishi Diamond SP II, SP III, SP-IV, and Toyota T-IV and WS and many others.

My local bumper to bumper store has ford SP on the shelf. It is also where I got my ford gold coolant.

Stay WELL away from this stuff. The Mercon V and SP specs aren't compatible with each other. Meaning it's impossible for a transmission fluid to meet both requirements. I wouldn't put that stuff in a snowblower let alone something as complex as an automatic transmission.

Why not use the factory specified fluid?

Anything other than SP will ruin your transmission very fast. IIRC SP is a synthetic fluid. Mercron V is along the lines of a semi-syn blend. Modern transmissions should only be serviced with what the book calls for, in this case Use SP. I also think SP was replaced by LV. I am not an expert but I personally would only put in what the factory service manual says when it comes to modern transmissions. That being said I would not put "wolfs head" or any "universal" fluid in any of my vehicles.

You can get Motorcraft Mercon SP at O'Reilly Auto, at least in Albuquerque. I haven't found any other place that has it.

was in autozone looking at a qt of Mobil 1 syn ATF. Bottle says not recommedned for SP and LV applications.

to add to the confusion:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=154326

Ive see sp in orilleys and even napa. You can also use mercon lv.

The Orilleys by me has both Motorcraft MERCON LV and SP...I thought that Motorcraft was going to stop making the SP?
...Gage

They stopped making it a few years ago. But, as you can imagine, SP isn't a high volume seller when it was only used for the TorqShift. I believe they're just expending their old inventory.

The latest I heard was SP had been discontinued, but was being brought back because there really isn't a substitute for it. No question SP is not compatible with Mercon V. Wasn't LV supposed to replace SP?

Also been told the new Ford long life coolant is Dexcool.

Last tranny service I ponied up and bought sp. Eventhough the lv was a replacement. For me it was just piece of mind.

They are not bringing back SP there was a TSB about it a little while back. Just flush out all the SP and replace with LV.

Ford's LL coolant is closer to an OAT ELC than dexcool. Its the same color red and smell as the Rotella HD ELC that I ran in my 7.3.

i'm curious whether they actually discontinued SP or not.

according to the chart, SP is still the specified fluid for two transmissions, the 6r60/6r75 being one of them.

being that they are still recommending SP, and have not replaced it with LV across the board, it would seem that they still need to make it, even if in limited lots.

OR

at some point they are going to have to make it compatible with the older 6r's.

OR

they are going to have some seriously PO'd expedition owners.....

I was confused about that also, I asked the tech at ford when I had my 07 E350 5.4 transmission fluid replaced. The dipstick says "Mercron SP", the tech told me that they are switching to LV as a suitable replacement. If it is LV I haven't noticed a difference.

The ford dealer I use does not regularly stock SP anymore but they always have to order anything above 12qts.