A-833 trans fluid?

[R6red4spd69RT]

Hey guys,

I've looked through old posts and have found conflicting gear oil advice.

I just got my A-833 back in and was thinking of putting in ATF. I've used 80-90W in the past, also 80-90W with 25% 50W.

I think most of us tend to drive our rides in warmer weather than colder. So is ATF okay?

Any thoughts?

[elacruze]

ATF is adequate for cruising. When you crush the gear teeth with a big motor though, ATF doesn't have the film strength of EP Gear lube.
I'm using Royal Purple Max-Gear 85w140 in my transmission and in the rear axle.

The only reason OEMs specify ATF in manual transmissions is for fleet fuel economy.

[A383Wing]

personally, I would not use ATF in the 833....in 66, they called for 140w gear oil in them, starting in 67, they called for 90w.....I would not go any lower in oil weight...90w would be a low as I would think of putting in there

[R6red4spd69RT]

The '69 service manual calls for 140w in warm climate, and 80-90W or ATF in cold climate. Is there an error with that and a revision?

[matrout76]

I've been using Redline MTL in my manual transmissions for years without any problems.  It has actually cured some grinding-shift problems on a couple of Jeep AX-15 5 speed trannies.

there is some good technical information on the Redline website about the difference between manual transmission oil and gear lube.  you can read about it here:

http://www.redlineoil.com/content/files/tech/Man%20Trans%20Lubes%20PDS%208-10.pdf

http://www.redlineoil.com/content/files/tech/MTL%20and%20MT-90%20Tech%20Info.pdf

I would be interested to hear what Redline would recommend for an A-833...

[A383Wing]

The '69 service manual calls for 140w in warm climate, and 80-90W or ATF in cold climate. Is there an error with that and a revision?

I don't have a 69 manual..only 66, 67 & 68...I didn't know about the 140w being used in warmer climate...my books only say 140w in 66, and 90w in 67 & 68

[Ghoste]

Actually my 69 fsm says "During cold weather, if shift effort becomes extremely high, transmission should be drained and refilled with multi-purpose gear lubricant SAE80 or SAE90  or with automatic trans fluid.
I don't know that I'd be running atf during anything that could be considered normal operation personally.  

[R6red4spd69RT]

Previous posts have also given conflicting opinions on synthetic gear oil.

Some say "yes", others say "no".

[Ghoste]

So what do you think you should do?  Is there some reason you are considering using ATF in your trans?

[R6red4spd69RT]

So what do you think you should do?  Is there some reason you are considering using ATF in your trans?

The guy that rebuilt my tranny suggested ATF might be a good choice. Just wanted some feed back from those that might know better.

[Ghoste]

I still say if it were mine I would use the gear oil.

[John_Kunkel]

ATF was the factory's way of getting around the clunky shifting of the 833, especially in cold weather.

I've got the best all around shifting with Redline's MTL or 75W-90NS.