Is there any difference with the 06 Allison compared with earlier years? Is the 6L80 the Allison?

Allison's website says to use Dexron III. Any input?




GM introduced the Dexron-III(H) spec just two years ago, but decided it needed to upgrade again to accommodate the Hydra-Matic 6L80, its first six-speed automatic transmission. As far as the transmission fluid is concerned, the biggest change with the 6L80 is that it puts clutch interfaces in direct contact with each other, rather than using a buffer such as a freewheeler between them. Having direct contact improves the speed and efficiency of power handoffs between clutches, but it also requires greater precision to keep those interactions consistent.

“With this new transmission, we have to be much more precise in our lubricant performance,” Steven Kemp, engineering group manager for GM Powertrain’s Fuels and Lubricants Department in Pontiac, Mich., told Lube Report Monday. “Without that improvement, you could have inconsistent shifts, and that could potentially detract from customer satisfaction.”

GM, Afton and Petro-Canada sought to develop a fluid with a more consistent viscosity profile compared to Dexron-III(H); that would perform more consistently in extreme conditions; and that would degrade less over time. They achieved these improvements, officials said, by raising requirements for oxidative and shear stability, foam performance and protection against pitting.

GM claims that Dexron-VI delivers more than twice the durability and stability in friction tests than do existing fluids. Although the company is still gathering data, it expects this to lead to a drain interval extension of roughly the same order.

“The result [of the effort] is a new fluid that significantly outperforms existing fluids in every aspect,” said Roy Fewkes, driveline fluids group leader for GM Powertrain. “In fact, we have had to significantly extend the length of our durability tests to fully test the fluid’s capability.”


http://www.imakenews.com/lng/e_article000384801.cfm?x=b11,0,w

Well, I did a little more searching and found 6L80 is RPO MYC, which I don't have sadly.

It's found in Corvette and Cadillac STS.

IS there any reason not to use Dex III in the Allison. It worked great in my 03 2500hd. I had zero problems.

(although I did have a weird scenario happen a few times where it felt like I had been rearended in traffic. It's been suggested to me that is a slip yoke problem though.)

I would go with synthetic... TranSynd is the official Allison fluid and the safest bet. Citgo QuatraSynd is also very good.
Amsoil TorqueDrive is good stuff (though not on the Allison approved list).
Mobil-1 Dex-III would be the minimum that I would run. Dex-III and Dex-VI are not full synthetics, and were primarily designed for the GM-built trannies.

The clutch material was not changed from the 5 to the 6 speed, but some of the clutch packs appear to be working harder, making a good fluid even more important.

Dex-III is going away... GM will stop licensing it by the end of the year.

Citgo? Uhhh. No thanks. I think don't think we're supposed to say anything political here, but I'm not exactly fond of a certain head of state from a certain unmentioned South American country that exports vast quanities of oil.

Anything made by an American company for my American truck?

TranSynd is made for Allison by Castrol.

Amsoil TorqueDrive... they buy their base stocks from Mobil.

I filled up my allison filter with Castrol DEX III (non synthetic), this is fine right?

For what it's worth I use DEX III. I manage a fleet and we have 10-2000's, 8-3500's and 4- 4500's. We change the fluid and filters every 20,000 miles and have over 200,000 miles on two of the 4500 series with no issues so far. The local Allison shop said DEXIII is fine. If you use The Trans Syn it changes your PM schedule to 75K miles. The stuff is super expensive. Last I checked It was like $24.5 a gallon and we pay approx $4 for DEX III in bulk.

Scott

So does TranSynd come in the Allisons from the factory?

I was thinking about replacing my fluid and filter now (6,000 miles) - or is it only necessary to replace the filter? do you have to be quick if you only replace the filter or does the fluid stay in the tranny long enough to get the new filter on?

So does TranSynd come in the Allisons from the factory?

I was thinking about replacing my fluid and filter now (6,000 miles) - or is it only necessary to replace the filter? do you have to be quick if you only replace the filter or does the fluid stay in the tranny long enough to get the new filter on?To my knowledge 2006 transmissions have been coming from the factory with Dexron VI.

GM says to change the spin-on filter at first maintenance point. Many members here will also change the oil a this point, but that is not GM's recommendation. It's up to you. You only lose the amount of fluid that's in the spin-on filter when you change it. Slowly fill the new filter with approx 1 pint of fluid and you'll be OK. Check the oil level again after the transmission is up to operating temperature.

Ya.... '06 DA's are coming with Dex-VI, '05 and earlier came with Dex-III.

For what it's worth I use DEX III. I manage a fleet and we have 10-2000's, 8-3500's and 4- 4500's. We change the fluid and filters every 20,000 miles and have over 200,000 miles on two of the 4500 series with no issues so far. The local Allison shop said DEXIII is fine. If you use The Trans Syn it changes your PM schedule to 75K miles. The stuff is super expensive. Last I checked It was like $24.5 a gallon and we pay approx $4 for DEX III in bulk.

Scott

BART
For what it's worth, I manage a fleet of pretty fast Duramaxes and a some fast Dodges with some strong Fords thrown in. Dex 3 won't cut it with these guys.

We are running Kenworth T800's and Mack Granites with the 4500 RDS trannys. The Granites are actually 4560's I believe these are the second generation and the 4500's are the third. I was told by Covington Diesel (our local Allison shop) that DEX III is fine. Just watch the color and smell of the fluid when you change it to make sure it isn't burnt. I will put whatever the manual calls for in my truck. You are required to run TranSynd in any remans to be kept under warranty. We run these trucks at 80,000# all day in Charlotte NC traffic with no issues, yet. We have around 150K on two of the trucks. Why don't you think the DEX III is ok? I just read the manual for the 3000/4000 series Allison RDS tranny's and it says DEX III or TranSynd.

Scott

I had a very strange discussion with my dealer when I set up the appointment for my Glow plug recall. I told them I had to put Dex III in my transmission because I found the fluid low and could not find Dex VI anywhere and all the GM dealers were closed being Saturday evening. He did not know about Dex VI and said he would check into it. He called back and told me there was not a GM dealer in Wisconsin that has Dex VI!!!?? :wtf1: Apparenty they have been putting in Dex III in its place. Just thought I would pass on the info. I asked him to put Transynd in then and he told me they do not carry that, I could get it myself and they would flush and change the fluid for $140. Sorry for being so long winded, but I am amazed!!!:confuzeld

Yesterday my dealers parts dept sold me a transmission filter and a quart of dexron lll. I asked if the six speed Allison took Dexron 3 or 6, he said 3 was the correct fluid. Last night I looked around this site and became 99% certain that 6 was the proper fluid. So today I got a quart of Dexron 6 at another dealer and used some of it to swap the filter. When I was finished installing the filter I pulled the dipstick and noticed it says "Use Dexron Vl". So now I'm 100% certain Dexron 6 is the correct Dexron fluid.

I would not hesitate to use Dex 3 in place of Dex 6.

I would not hesitate to use Dex 3 in place of Dex 6.

I understand your point. Allisons website even says 3 is OK. But my point is Dex 6 is said to be better than Dex 3 so I'll use 6.

I use the Dex 3 in the '06 .

Licenses for the prior service-fill fluid, Dexron III(H), are set to expire at the end of this year, after which only Dexron-VI products will be approved for licensing, GM has said. Dexron-VI has twice the friction stability of Dexron-III, as well as greater oxidative stability. GM has said it expects Dexron-VI to be a “fill-for-life” fluid, capable of going 100,000 to 150,000 miles in all applications.

Read the entire article here:

http://www.imakenews.com/lng/e_article000540122.cfm?x=b11,0,w

Dexron-VI has twice the friction stability of Dexron-III, as well as greater oxidative stability. GM has said it expects Dexron-VI to be a “fill-for-life” fluid, capable of going 100,000 to 150,000 miles in all applications.
So.... this could be good stuff, or could it be the ATF version of Dexcool and all of the issues with it's implementation?

Wonder why Allison dislikes Dex 6 so much? :confuzeld Don't put too much faith into the term " fill for life ". That just means they rate the fluid good till the trans takes a dump. They never tell you when that is unfortunately.:eek: I don't trust any trans fluid beyond 50K, and no engine oil past 5K. It's like being married to a hooker; you just know something bad is going on even if you cant prove it.
mike

BART
For what it's worth, I manage a fleet of pretty fast Duramaxes and a some fast Dodges with some strong Fords thrown in. Dex 3 won't cut it with these guys.

What do you fill your trannies with when they leave the shop? TranSynd?

I would not hesitate to use Dex 3 in place of Dex 6.Is it OK to mix Dex-III with Dex-VI :confused: ?

Is it OK to mix Dex-III with Dex-VI :confused: ?

No problem.

Covington Diesel told me the same thing about DEX III and TranSynd. That it was ok to mix them. I will change my fluid/filters every 25,000 (or what is reccommend in the manual) and my spin on every 12,500. It is not worth the hassle or money. I pull our trailer alot. Most of the 25,000 miles on my LLY were towing. Do you guys with the built trannys and chipped motors use TranSynd?

Scott

Is there any supporting vendors that carry TranSynd? If so how much would i need to buy?

Is it OK to mix Dex-III with Dex-VI :confused: ?

No problem.

Would that be Dex 4-1/2?;) :confused:

I started this entire topic because my new 06 GMC equipped with Duramax LBZ/Allison says right there in the owners manual "Dexron VI"

The reason I ask is I like to drain the transmission fluid and keep everything nice. Some people think I overdo it, but I believe the dipstick tells the story. When it doesn't look new; it's not. It doesn't matter what the time interval was.

And I haven't seen Dex VI anywhere.

I started this entire topic because my new 06 GMC equipped with Duramax LBZ/Allison says right there in the owners manual "Dexron VI"

The reason I ask is I like to drain the transmission fluid and keep everything nice. Some people think I overdo it, but I believe the dipstick tells the story. When it doesn't look new; it's not. It doesn't matter what the time interval was.

And I haven't seen Dex VI anywhere.

I called Mobil and was told that Dexron 6 is a dealer only fluid at this time. So figuring they may be right I didn't bother going to auto parts stores to look for Dex 6. I went to a local Chevy dealer who had it in gallon and quart size containers. I paid $4.82 for a quart. The stuff is out there. If your local dealer doesn't have it ask him to order some for you.

I'm approaching 4k miles on my truck and asked my local dealer if he had Dex VI because I wanted the spin on filter changed. He had no clue the new truck req'd Dex VI and argued with me until he looked it up himself. He doesnt have it in stock and can only get it by the quart. I told him to order me a quart (lol) and call me when it came in and then we could schedule my truck for its first service. These dealers better get on the ball or they will have some ornery customers when it comes time for service. Forums like DP educate the consumer better than GM educates their parts dept's.