Well, last fall, DC did promise to start allowing the release of the additive pack and began allowing licensing of the ATF+4 fluid upon many complaints.

So, I'm not surprised if Valvoline has their ATF+4 only product out on the shelf.

Care to show us a picture of the bottle?

I don't see anything about it on the Valvoline website though.

 

 

Here is a TSB from DC about the use of ATF+4
I knew that they recently released the rights to allow other oil companies to make it, but the Valvoline stuff above is the first I've seen. I recently had my tranny flushed, and I made the tranny shop go to a dealer to get ATF+4 to put in it. I've heard too many times guys get a shudder problem after using some other fluid where ATF+4 is spec'd cuz they were too cheap to buy ATF+4. Not saying it's right, but I want my tranny to work right, and ATF+4 is synthetic, all the better for towing/bombing.

 

One question I have is:

What is so special about the internals of this 48RE that it requires a special blend? It's friction surfaces, and lubed metal gears. Am I missing something? It seems to me that this is just a "special" way of wanting synthetic blends to make the tranny last longer. I mean seriously, my 30 year old power glide stands up to 1000 hp brake torques / launches for years on regular old tranny fluid -- with a trans brake.

 

ATF+4 is a unique fluid carrying different frictional properties than Dexron-III(H) or Dexron-VI fluids. It contains special VHVI Group III base oils that are produced only by Petro-Canada or SK Group, and both the additive package and the special shear-stable viscosity index improver were developed by Lubrizol. In other words, DC has very tight control over the formulation process of ATF+4 approved fluids to ensure uniformity and quality control. Thus, when purchasing licensed ATF+4, the fluid will be the same regardless of which brand you purchased, provided that the fluid was approved by Chrysler. You do not enjoy this luxury with Dexron or Mercon fluids, as the OEMs of those fluids do not control the type of base oil or maker of additive package in those fluids, they approve the fluid if it passes the test.

The end result is the development of a fluid having a VI of > 200, extremely low pour points, good high-temp performance, and exceptional shear-stability- ASTM testing has shown the % viscosity loss of licensed ATF+4 after a standardlized shearing test to be 1/4 of Dexron-III's. In addition, ATF+4's dynamic friction properties are vastly improved over ATF+3; ATF+4 is now capable of retaining its dynamic friction properties and shudder protection for > 100,000 miles, whereas, with ATF+3, the dynamic friction properties would be depleted to a point after 30,000 miles where shuddering my occur.

This makes it essential to use licensed ATF+4 or a very high quality equivalent in the applications that call for it, especially if the fluid is run for 30,000 miles or more. This rules out the usage of Dexron-III(H) and Lubegard HFM supplement combinations, as this combination would not have the dynamic friction retention properties nor the shear-stability and high/low temp performance of licensed ATF+4 products.

If you do not plan to use licensed ATF+4 for whatever reason, at the minimum, use a high quality substitute such as Mobil 1 Multi-Vehicle Synthetic ATF or Amsoil ATF. Though neither one of these products are approved by Chrysler, Mobil is an OEM blender for Mopar ATF+4, and given the large size of the company and their R&D facilities, I'm personally assured that their product will work fine in ATF+4 applications even though it does not contain the unique base oil and additive package. Amsoil uses Lubrizol as their additive supplier and Lubrizol does their bench and field testing for all of Amsoil's products, and Lubrizol did develop the unique additive package for Chrysler's ATF+4.

 

Okay, Pig, if you wrote and know all of that, you know more than one man should about automatic transmission fluid.

You're the Man!

 

Thanks, and yes I did write that.

 

An ounce of lube guard per quart of dexron/mercon III changes it to ATF + 4. Thats all I have ever used. Still on original tranny after 175,000 miles.

 

Castrol has a ATF+4 transmission fluid as well ($7.00 a liter). That is what I used on my last tranny change vs. $14.00 a liter the dealership wanted.