Thread: L322 td6 GM transmission oil & filter

Huh? I googled Castrol Australia, then went to lubricants.
Selected VE Commodore, then 3.6 High output auto.
And the product came up, which I copied to my reply.

There , I have done it again for you.

Castrol Australia - NetLube

I wonder if the right hand does not know about the left hand, as there are PLENTY of VE Commodores around.
This is from a forum so may be incorrect but suggests that castrol Dexron VI is available, but maybe only from Holden dealers

The factory oil that is supplied in the VZ SV6 and Calais 5sp Autos is Castrol Dexron VI.

Penrite conforms to dexron VI
Penrite ATF Flyer

Yep - I can do that same search too - but the resultant product Castrol TQ devron VI is only marketed in USA - na in Australia.

I don't have any Penrite retailers in my area, but I suspect that their products may well be more expensive than the $300/20 litres that Valvoline costs.

I knew that Penrite ATF SYN was devron VI specs but according to the Penrite brochure that you found, Penrite devron VI semi syn is OK as well - wonder what the prices are for those products in the "big smoke"?

Daniel,I'm driving to Cessnock at the end of next week,we could go halves in a 20ltr drum. Pat

pat303, can you tell me where in perth you had your transmission serviced??
Magicbob

Originally Posted by magic bob

pat303, can you tell me where in perth you had your transmission serviced??
Magicbob

Hi Magicbob

Based on what Pat has told us his tranny servicer was totally ignorant and cannot be trusted to do a proper service.
Anyone that refills a RR tranny with inferior (and icorrect) spec ATF and doesn't even realise what he has done should not be trusted - and that is typical of most workshops (unfortunately).

One either has to do the job one self or find someone that knows what they are doing.

I spent the best part of 2 weeks researching all over the world, trolling through various European and USA GM service bulletins before reaching the conclusions that the RRtd6 tranny requires GM spec ATF and anything else will be a potential disaster for the tranny.
I spoke to all lubrication oil manufacturers and most just were'nt willing to discuss the issues due to "liability issues". Finally I found a GM document that set out the issues regarding the valve body wear charcteristics and how GM have spec'd the ATF to cope with that factor.

Research with large km RRtd6 L322 in Europe has proved that only correct spec ATF will help prevent major early tranny failures. So called 'fully synthetic' ATF provides no assistance in this unless it fully complies with GM specs. Even the L322td6 manufacturer for LandRover stuffed this up with various BMW branded ATFs and finally they started colour coding their $900 20 litre drums of ATF in an attempt to get their service personnel to use the correct spec ATF. Frustratingly even that colour coding has become confused and cannot be trusted anymore.

regards, Daniel.

a total loss home flush and filter change takes between 20+25l to do + 5 more to refill it.

the short version is...

grab the rave (it tells you where all the parts are)

1. check the TX oil level before you start
2. remove one of the connectors on the oil cooler and fit clear drain lines to the cooler and line then place them into a graduated 5l drain container
3. run the engine at idle untill 2l of oil is pumped into the drain container
4. shut down the engine empty the 2l container into your waste oil drum
5. add 2l of oil to the auto
   (you may be able to get away with fitting a gravity feed line into the fill plug direct from your 20l drum if you are going to try this fit it all up before you drain the first 2l out of the cooler)
6. repeat 3-5 untill one or both drain lines are flowing clean oil.
   (one of the lines MAY start flowing clean oil before the other. IF that happens you can save this oil into a clean container and place it back into the auto. Once both lines are flowing clean oil pump out the last of that 2l from the sump.)
7. drain the last of the autos fluid out of the sump
8. change the autos filter and sump gasket
9. check oil level when you're done.

this method works for all of the cooler equipped autos and changes the oil in the converter.

the 4hp22 takes about 23l for the whole process with the last 3-4l being for the top up.

the GM behind the td6 takes between 20+30 depending on how contaminated the oil is to start with the last 5l or so is for the final fill.

Thanks Dave

I understand where you're heading with this BUT given that the original ATF is meant to be sealed for life and given that the replacment filter etc is quite cheap it is simpler to just drop the sump and replace the ATF and filter every 50k km - 100k km.

This is especially so given that running a tranny with low ATF for even a few seconds can lead to total destuction of some components.

regards, Daniel.

Has anyone actually gone to a GM dealer and asked for the ATF for a 3.6 high output with 5 speed auto?
If so what was the answer. If obtainable that would seem to ally any fears of the wrong fluid.
Regards Philip A