M35A3 Engine and Transmission oil

[jpinst]

Seems there is not a lot of information abotu the A3 except one small supplemental manual. its about 175 pages long.

I have been reading the TM for the A3. It says I need 15W40. Is there any brand that is better for this type of CAT engine?

It also talks about the levels, but does not say how much I need to buy to do a complete change.

The allison transmission can apparently take the save 15W40 engine oil, or ATF fluid. Whatever it has in it now, is what I guess I am supposed to replace it with. What is a god ATF for bug trucks, if there is one? In anybody's experience, what is normally put in the tranny?

If engine oil is in there now, can I open it and let it drain for a few hours and then put ATF in it? or vise-versa?

As far as coolant goes, can I just use automotive antifreeze?

How about all the grease points? Can I just use normal automotive grease to inject into those point?

advice and opinions appreciated.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

June 21st, 2008.

JPINST:

15W40 Rotella seems to be what the engines are set for on the deuce, but the Auto tranny's????
As to antifreeze, there seems to be a general feeling here that the usual yellow green automotive antifreeze is not good for the multifuels, that they need diesel engine antifreeze.... I guess the theory is that the wet sleeves on the multifuels run hotter the car engine block cavities, and that steam bubbles will form against the sleeve and not cool the liners correctly.... How about it guys???? Permit me to tip my hat to you on your recent acquisition of the M35A3, and I passed the word to Will Wagner that you were in the area and that he'd be hearing from you soon. For what it's worth, I'd pretty much goe with whatever Will advises, as he is pretty well versed on these animals.... and a great guy to boot (wish I could get him to relocate to North East Texas..... the truck mechanics here are dangerous to deuces..... the last guy overfilled the engine oil by about a gallon when he was just to change the fuel filter gaskets!!!!!) DANGEROUS!!!!
Good luck with your new truck, and if you happen to be tooling by Paris, TX, stop and give me a ride.... I'd love to ride in a truck younger then you are.....

Cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan

1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/w "Saddam's Nightmare" Desert Storm and Vietnam Veteran Deuce
1968 Johnson Corp M105A2
1967 Hercules MEP023A gas gen-set APU
1963 Swiss Army Cargo Unimog S.404.114 MB

 

[jpinst]

Thanks. Yeah I talked to will a few days ago. He is going to have a look at it and help me out. He needs to see what I have as I don't think he has worked on A3's before. But that should not be a problem for him. Actually, I am not too far from him, but he agreed to come out my way. Seems like a really nice and knowledgeable guy. I am looking forward to meeting him.

cheers

Dean

 

[bottleworks]

If you have the money, I would put Allison's TransSend synthetic ATF in the trans. You can get it at an Allison dealer.

I would not put 15W40 in the trans. 15w40 used to be fine and it kept it simple to have one fluid for both the trans and engine. But today's 15w40 will eat away at things. Sensors will fail prematurely. I would do several drain and fills with bring the trans up to temp each change to get the old stuff out.

 

[Rattlehead]

If the manual calls for Allison C-4 approved fluids, Valvoline brand Dextron ATF does qualify. Now I would guess that other brands of ATF have the same qualities, but they don't carry the C-4 approval because they didn't pay the licensing fees, but who knows. I am running Valvoline ATF in my M932's Allison. At least I know for sure it meets Allison's requirements.

 

[emr]

Climate dictates more about oil than almost anything else, any climate Most of us live in 15/40 is just as good as it gets, it offers maximum lubrication at different temps most of us live in, straight 30 is also fine,Its the most universal single weight oil, Heavier oils a good for worn motors, I have had motors that I ran straight 50 in and they slowed or stoped leaking, quieted down and lasted a few more years. a detergent oil is always used when there is a filter and a non detergent is always recomended by all manufacturers when there is no filter, det. cleans and breaks things up for the filter to catch, do not want that in a non filter engine, lower weight oils are better in tighter designed and built motors also colder climates where they wont get so thick, heavier oils just wont lubricate tight tolerences when cold and maybe never good enuogh.oil is pretty simple dont make it more than it is, any oil is better than no oil, and deisel rated oil ,well is for diesels,but again any oil is better than no oil, there are some oil manufacturers that long time truckers know will stay in the engine longer than some others, this is a trial by fire thing. BUT ALL oil today is good, there is NO engine that will only run on one super special oil. thats a just not true.as for transes, the specs are there, U can always upgrade, but the Military specs are more than fine, Hardly any of us are going to run these trucks so hard they require more then the basic recamondations....just changed the trans fluid and filter in the 925 yesterday, 10 weight, will burn the old oil in the deuce...

 

[jasonjc]

The A3's have there own set of TM's. Look for TM 9-2320-386-** And L.O.9-2320-386-10

 

[WillWagner]

The Transynd is great fluid, but it has it's set backs, namely, you can use no other fluid but that and it is VERY expensive. I'd stick with the Dextron. As for the EO, just a good 15w40..Valvoline is my flavor, but there are others as stated above. Grease, just a good moly is what I use. Coolant, make sure it is a diesel coolant with SCA..Supplimental Coolant Additives..designed for wet linered engines. It stops cavitation. Be aware, too much of a good thing is bad. If you have too much SCA. the drop out will cause the W/P seal to leak. Test it..the coolant. If it is good, don't change it.

 

[gringeltaube]

Re: RE: M35A3 Engine and Transmission oil

... I guess the theory is that the wet sleeves on the multifuels run hotter the car engine block cavities, and that steam bubbles will form against the sleeve and not cool the liners correctly.... How about it guys????

Don't know about the A3s CAT engine, but Multifuels are dry sleeves...!

G.

 

[saddamsnightmare]

RE: Re: RE: M35A3 Engine and Transmission oil

June 22nd., 2008.

Thanks Gringletaube!

I haven't had cause to pull my cylinder liners yet, but I have heard pretty extensive discussion about the ill effects the yellow antifreezes have on the diesels operation..... As a footnote, the older EMD 567 & 645 locomotive diesels were wet sleeved, and they could not handle any antifreeze whatsoever in the coolant, or all the gaskets would collapse....!
With Regards,

Kyle F. McGrogan

 

[jpinst]

RE: Re: RE: M35A3 Engine and Transmission oil

The highest level product I have found is DEXRON®-VI ATF, and it says its backward computable III, II, and I. IS this the best one for me?

Is this rated for trucks like mine, or just cars? It says all GM transmissions.

 

[Andydieselpower]

I'd have to agree with Bottleworks on the Transynd. It's expensive there is no question about that but Allison will only give you an extended warranty if your transmission has Transynd from the factory or has a documented change to the synthetic if it wasn't factory filled on new trucks. What does that tell you? I work with waste fleets such as Waste Management, Allied, etc. and all of them use Transynd in ALL of their Allisons. When you have severe stop to stop cycles and overload your truck often (5-10 tons over GVW daily in most cases) you only go with the best with lubricants. For an average Joe who might put 1,000 miles a year at best on your hobby M35a3 though the reglular Allison fluid would most likely do. But if you want the best I would go Transynd.

The only thing I have heard on 3116 Cat's or any engine such as a 7.3 Powerstroke with HEUI injection is to NOT use Lucas oil stabilizer as it causes havoc on the HEUI injection system as the Lucas foams. Lucas even states this on their stabilzer bottle for the Powerstroke.

Your truck looks good by the way!

Andy

 

[steelsoldiers]

I ran Dexron III in my 923A2's Allison auto. That was one of the fluids listed in the LO. Bruce Kubu spoke with an Allison service technician when he started acquiring 939 trucks and he said the Dexron III would be just fine. It's a bunch cheaper in the 5 gallon pail from NAPA.

 

[Trango]

You can add AntiCav additives to cheap antifreeze and bring it up to spec. Also get test strips - they will allow the testing, as mentioned earlier.

By the way, I just got my power steering pump working tonight, and the box is mounted (and hooked to the steering shaft with the part I was missing first go-around, the new yokes, one 7/8" and one 1" 37 spline, joined with a 1000 series ujoint) . Now, I just need to modify the draglink and maybe do a little forming of the pitman, and then I'll have power steering, hopefully by (mental scheduling....) Friday night!

 

[EXITNOONE]

Transynd vs torque drive

new to the board and just bought an m35a3.

while looking for info on flushing the automatic trans on the a3, i found this thread and decided to do some extra research.

this is not a plug post, but amsoil's website claims it was the only other oil tested with transynd by allison. they also say their oil does not void allison's warranty rules, and in the case amsoil's torque-drive oil is found to be guilty, amsoil will replace your 545 transmission.

supposedly it costs far less than transynd.

as i get more familiar with the board and my new a3, i should be on here much more. if there's not a dedicated a3 thread section already... there should be for us guys.

EXITNOONE

 

[lawnmowerman]

thanks guys for all the help is my fisrst deuce and I see the fever but thank you all

 

[Alfredo Vega]

I'm new to these trucks and have a M35A3 with an Allison AT1545 and cannot find the dip stick for the trans anywhere in the engine bay? Where the beck is it?

 

[lawnmowerman]

I'm new to these trucks and have a M35A3 with an Allison AT1545 and cannot find the dip stick for the trans anywhere in the engine bay? Where the beck is it?

Its on passenger side in cab. Pull back mat .There it is on floor.

 

[Alfredo Vega]

I'm new to these trucks and have a M35A3 with an Allison AT1545 and cannot find the dip stick for the trans anywhere in the engine bay? Where the heck is it?

 

[Scar59]

Find a copy of the operators manual, wealth of information contained in it.