Been using Valvoline MaxLife FullSyn MerconLV in this 1354 TransferCase several years now.
My understanding is there was much confusion & many damaged 1354s
when Ford discontinued original Mercon & switched to MerconV for 4r\5r Transmissions.
Prefer MerconV FullSyn AmsOil\RedLine in this 5r55e & PowerSteering.
Actually I don't know any other brands they have the but I was only looking at the Walmart store supertech brand
I wasn't sure what type but when I got it at the last minute before I dropped the transmission all they had was two gts of the derxon -VI / Mercon LV , @ $10 QT, going in a m50D (I think a one/ 1 )
I was frantically putting that thing together and running out of time, After installing the tranny and TC and was up top I poured 2 qts in and continued underneath, I had the Y pipe torqued and the tailpipes hung to the final piece, grabbed the drive shaft and couldn't get it to aline .
Went up top and tried to get neutral but it wouldn't go anywhere.
At that point I presumed it was bound in the clutch, PP, pilot bearing area because it been tough getting it in there, but after I dropped it again I could see nothing wrong in there (expected loose pilot bearings but none were loose)
I wanted to save the fluid but didn't have a clean bucket around and used a gallon zip bag, that didn't want to seal so I put a double zipper on it but most of it still went in the dirty bucket
Sooo, the NEXT time I get Tranny fluid, at this point I'm almost afraid to ask