MT82 fluid change

[ShadowCoyote]

Anyone here change the transmission fluid on their MT82? If so what fluid did you go with and how noticeable of a change was it? Did you upgrade anything else to help make shifts more smooth? I'm going for my 1k oil change next week and may go ahead and change (upgrade) the trans fluid.

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[Crew4991]

Changing it at 1k miles??
Seems a bit early. You could wait until like 20-30k miles since the fluid is still new. Don't waste your money if your transmission is shifting just fine. It's still a new car.

 

[BrianJ77]

I think his thought is like changing break in oil. Can't say I think it's a bad idea. I would stick with factory recommended oil though.

 

[ShadowCoyote]

Changing it at 1k miles??
Seems a bit early. You could wait until like 20-30k miles since the fluid is still new. Don't waste your money if your transmission is shifting just fine. It's still a new car.

It shifts fine. I don't have any complaints so far. Makes a small noise at low speed stuff shifting from 1-2/2-3 occasionally but that might because the car is still cold sometimes. I'm just new to the MT82 so not entirely sure how they behave and what's normal/not normal. Wasn't sure if it's common to change the fluid to something else on these early on. I'll likely wait until its actually time to replace the fluid in that case. I drove the car according to the recommended break-in procedure and it's running great.

 

[ShadowCoyote]

I think his thought is like changing break in oil. Can't say I think it's a bad idea. I would stick with factory recommended oil though.

It's more so a wonder if its worth it to upgrade the fluid to something that will make shifts more smooth and such and if so I would just kill two birds with one stone. But if it's nothing worth taking care of so early on I'll just wait until I hit the right mileage.

 

[BrianJ77]

I've been happy with the shifts of my MT-82D4. Is yours giving you problems?

 

[Crew4991]

The manuals are slightly slightly jerky until they warm up.
The clunky 1-2 and 2-3 shifts are consistent with my experiences.

 

[ShadowCoyote]

I've been happy with the shifts of my MT-82D4. Is yours giving you problems?

Nah, I wouldn't say its a problem. Just me being new to the transmission and learning how they are. I haven't had any lockout, missed shifts or anything of the sort.

 

[ShadowCoyote]

The manuals are slightly slightly jerky until they warm up.
The clunky 1-2 and 2-3 shifts are consistent with my experiences.

I appreciate your feedback. I'm excited to see how it feels once I put more miles on it. I plan on keeping it forever.

 

[Instant Action]

I had an E92 M3 6 speed and at about 5,000 miles I switched out the transmission oil to one made by Redline and it made a big difference in the feel of gear to gear shifts.. I haven’t checked Redlines website lately, but the last time I did I didn’t see an oil comaptible with the MT82.

 

[Coosawjack]

In my both 2014 GT and 2019 GT I got improved shifting with RedLine DCTF.......I'm also going to change to Redline DCTF in my 2022 GT next oil change!!

More importantly I replace the OEM Drain and Fill plugs with Magnetic plugs to catch any ferrous material that might be floating around in there!!

 

[highvoltage]

I know it did wonders on the S550 MT82 was switching out to the BG oils variant for the transmission. Obviously an actual transmission mounted shifter does the best things.

 

[Coosawjack]

I changed my Trans Fluid Saturday and went with Red Line DCTF since I found it to be a little better than the BG Syncroshift II in my 2014 car!!

My 2022 GT Vert shifts well and I really didn't need to change the fluid at 8200 miles but I wanted to install a magnetic drain plug and already had a magnetic fill plug I put in at the first oil change!! WHAT GORILLA INSTALLED THE DAMN DRAIN PLUG?? I HAD TO USE A 2 FOOT PULL HANDLE TO BREAK IT LOOSE!!

The Red Line fluid works GREAT and the light notchy-ness I felt with OEM fluid seems to be
better....time will tell??

Note: the magnetic fill plug had a very small amount of Graphite-like debris after about 4000 miles........perfectly normal!!

I will probably not change the trans fluid ever again........with 4000 miles a year at my age the car will probably outlast me!!

 

[jsven008]

+1 for Motul Multi DCTF. Better than stock, the shifts are sooo buttery smooth with it in warm weather. For cold weather though, I would stick to Ford's recommended fluid XT-11-QDC. I noticed a few rough shifts with the Motul Multi-DCTF below 40F, probably because my transmission has some wear.

In different forums I see a lot of recommendations for Motul Multi-DCTF with the MT82 manual. I also see a good number for Red Line DCTF and BG Syncroshift II. Whichever fluid you pick though, I would stick to these two rules:
A) Use a DCTF or similar transmission fluid - Ford recommends DCTF fluid for the MT82, and it's best to stick with that recommendation for normal driving rather than second-guessing Ford's engineers. On the forums you might see all sorts of odd concoctions or mixes. Avoid those home-brews if you want to be safe. The MT-82 is finicky when it comes to fluids which work well and the stock XT-11-QDC fluid works well in a wide variety of temperatures.
B) Use a similar fluid weight/viscosity. - Be careful about using thicker fluids. Thicker fluids can inadvertently cause more wear in cold temperatures (without even realizing it). Likewise, you wouldn't use 20w50 motor oil in your new mustang would you? Unless you want to gamble at the limits, stick close to stock viscosity for normal driving. It's also best to use fluid which meets the Ford spec. Ford changed to a thin fluid, XT-11-QDC, to minimize cold-weather wear due to all the early 2011-2012 MT-82 failures. If you track the car, then consider a slightly thicker fluid such as BG Syncro Shift II

One note, while some of the newer mustangs list a 150k service interval for manual transmission fluid, it's best to change it more often. The 150k interval is more like 150k miles max, under ideal circumstances. If you do track days, live in a hot/humid/dusty environment, or tow anything you should change it more frequently. Motul recommends 30-60k miles, which is a good range for standard use. You can change the fluid easily and inexpensively yourself if you want to save a couple hundred dollars. But, I wouldn't wait until 150k if you value your transmission.

 

[jsven008]

A few notes on changing the manual transmission fluid since I didn't see this info in any forums. The standard way is to jack the car up on 4 jackstands so it is level and you can easily check fluid levels. But there is an alternative method using 1 jack stand.

A few notes on changing the manual transmission fluid since I didn't see this info in any forums. The standard way is to jack the car up on 4 jackstands so it is level and you can easily check fluid levels. But there is an alternative method using 1 jack stand.

1) You don't need to warm the car up to drain fluid. The fluid will drain quickly and perfectly fine in reasonable temperatures. Unless you are draining it in Alaska when it is 0 degrees outside, don't bother warming it up. You'll only end up potentially burning yourself on a hot exhaust or with hot fluid.
2) Putting the car in sixth gear can help refill transmission. If you are having difficulty inserting the fill line into the fill hole, putting the car in sixth gear can help. If you do decide to jack the car up in sixth gear make sure to use wheel chocks. You don't want your car rolling. The parking brake can also help.
3) You don't have to jack the entire car up with 4 jack stands. The standard way is to use 4 jack stands to check the fluid level. But, you can simply jack up the front passenger side and you will be able to reach the drain and fill plugs. The car does not need to be perfectly level. Get the car as level as possible (typically lowest jack stand height). The manual transmission should also fully drain if you start from a level surface and use the lowest jack stand height. To be certain, simply lower the car to ensure it is fully drained. Be sure to put the correct amount back in per the manual (ex. 2.7 quarts or 2.5 quarts for 2024). Do not overfill. Lower the car to perfectly level to verify this. Do not underfill.
4) Use wheel chocks. Whenever jacking the car up, engage the parking brake and use wheel chocks. While this seems like common knowledge, not all new car owners may realize this. This is especially true if you put the car in sixth gear to refill it.
5) Never rely on the car jack alone, use jack stands. While it might be tempting to skip jack stands and just rely on the floor jack, this can be very dangerous. Given all the low quality car jacks out there, instead rely on quality jack stands. You could use the car/floor jack as a backup with jack stands.
6) The correct size for the drain and fill plugs is 8mm. There was a post in a thread which mentioned 5/16" (7.95mm), which is close, but the correct size of the plugs is 8mm. If you don't have 8mm, 5/16" will suffice. As someone mentioned, you will also need an allen wrench since a socket won't fit in the tight space for the fill plug.
7) Torque to 25ft/lbs. Use a bit of blue Lotite.
Make sure you torque the fill and drain plugs to the correct value of 25ft-lb. I'd also clean the threads and add a bit of blue Loctite. Check for leaks afterwards. DO NOT STRIP THE BOLTS.
8) After changing fluid, warm up car before driving. After changing the fluid, fully warm up the car before driving it. This will allow the new transmission fluid to become less viscous (thinner) and work it's way into all the crevices. It's also good to shift through the gears 1-6 before driving. If you do not complete this step, you may notice the first few shifts are rough.

Last but not least, it's a good idea to use safety glasses and gloves.

One important note, be sure to put the correct amount of fluid back in. It is hard to check if it is underfilled if you only use 1 jack stand.

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