(1) I'm a bit confused about the order of operations for using ARX in a transmission (manual). My reading of the instructions are: add 5oz of ARX to the tranmission, then run it for the prescribed time, then drain, then refill with the transmission fluid.
Do I need to drain off some of the transmission fluid before adding the ARX, to make space for the ARX?
OR, should I drain and refill the transmission minus the volume of ARX to be added, then add ARX, run the car for the prescribed time, and then re-drain, refill with new transmission fluid?
(2) Can I use synthetic transmission fluid (i.e. Amsoil 75W-90) in the transmission after ARX or should I use dealer-prescribed OEM transmission fluid? The OEM transmission fluid is quite expensive ($23.22 per quart) and I'm not sure whether it is synthetic or dino-oil based. So far there are NO transmission leaks and never have been.
Below are the instructions for a manual transmission from the ARX website just fol;low them and you will be ok
Manual Transmission Instructions.
The application ratio is 1 ounce of Auto-RX® per quart of oil. Drive 1,000 miles and drain the Auto-RX® and oil. Refill according to your vehicle manufacturer's recommendation. The application will last for the life of your manual transmission.
Since my transmission is 5.3 quarts, I assume I need to add 5 oz of ARX. But won't this overfill the transmission case? I don't want to blow a gasket or seal. Should I drain out 5 oz of transmission fluid before adding ARX?
Use 6 ounces drive for a 1000 miles and drain refill with transmission fluid of your choice. Auto-Rx is not an oil or a solvent and will not change oil viscosity. Auto-Rx is green chemistry and all it does is clean even if it did overfill nothing would happen (overfilling is difficult to do as transmission units like engines have excess tolerances.)
It is more important how your going to drain unit. Transmission Fluid is base hydraulic oil very viscious and if you don,t clean the torque converter than you have wasted Auto-Rx.
Frank Miller wrote: It is more important how your going to drain unit. Transmission Fluid is base hydraulic oil very viscious and if you don,t clean the torque converter than you have wasted Auto-Rx.
My transmission is manual, so I believe there is no torque converter. There is a a transfer case attached to the transmission which holds a front and center differential.
The shop service manual shows the transmission and front and center differentials as one unit and lists their combined capacity at 5.3 quarts (5.0 liters). I am assuming that when add the 6 oz. of ARX to the transmission through the filler plug, it will also enter the front and center differential as well. I plan on using 2 oz. of Auto-Rx in the rear differential (1.2 quarts size).
I may either drain and refill the manual transmission myself, but I am checking with the local Toyota dealer if they can do it instead, perhaps with some sort of T-Tec machine, however, I am unsure if a T-Tec works with manual transmission.
Is there only one drain and one fill plug on that combined unit? Just asking, because even if they share the same lubricant, I have seen various units in the past that at have more than one drain or fill plug.
You did not mention the name of the vehicle that you are asking questions about, so that makes it harder to give specific answers, although you did briefly mention Toyota. You asked about which fluid can be used. If you want to use Amsoil, why not go to their website and look up on their automotive (car and light truck) application guide. There you should find some answers. I have found their gear oils to be excellent. Their GL4 75W-90 gear oil for manual transmissions was a problem solver for poor shifting on several vehicles so far.
Main thing for you to determine is: does your unit require GL4 or GL5 rated fluid? Generally, GL5 fluid is needed for HYPOID-geared diffs only. If it says that either spec is acceptable (many Toyotas can use either), I would choose the GL4 fluid since it will shift better. If GL5 is required for your car/truck, then their application guide will recommend one of those to you. I would recommend to use one of these synthetics (if rec by Amsoil) and try it out. The cost of the dealer fluid is usually very high for what you are getting.
Thanks. My car is a Toyota Corolla 4WD. I only see one side fill plug and one bottom drain plug on the manual transaxle, and one top fill plug and one bottom drain plug on the manual transfer case attached to the transaxle. But my service manual never mentions draining the transfer specifically, just the transaxle.
The car uses hypoid gear oil API GL5, specifically Toyota transaxle oil E50. I've already talked to some of the people on BITOG BobIstheOilGuy.com about the use of Amsoil 75W-90 or 75W-110 (the latter in the rear differential).
Of course, my local dealer strongly recommends the E50 and is vague about where to do it I think he wants me to take it to them for the transmission drain, but total cost with labor and oil would be $200.00, mostly because E50 is nearly twice the cost of Amsoil. I don't know if the E50 performs any better. Amsoil has an impeccable record of performance.
For now, I plan on just using ARX on the rear differential (1.2 quarts), try Amsoil when I do the change, and see how things go. If there are no surprises, I'll then try ARX in the manual transaxle (5.3 quarts), and drain and refill with Amsoil.
