Is Motorcraft Mercon V a good substitute for plain Mercon, can;t fine just Mercon for transmission?

[Josh B]

Thanks I thought I recognized that name, Crescent City. I worked in Ocala circa 1975, 76, was a traveling picture show (family pictures fellas!) had a gf in Gainesville, spent a few weekends in St Pete, loved it down there man

 

[4x4junkie]

Mercon V is full synthetic Mercon and is backwards compatible with Mercon, and the old Ford type CJ. When full synthetic Mercon came out it was labeled as such, at some point Ford started labeling it as MerconV. Ford type F and Mercon LV and SP are different.

That is what Ford wants you to believe. While it appears to be true for automatics, it has very often not been the case with manuals.

 

[sgtsandman]

While anecdotal and and sample size of one, the fluid used in my 2011 transmission makes a difference. The aftermarket version of Mercon V doesn’t shift as well or last as long as the actual Mercon V. Granted, I’ve only used one or two products. Castrol is one and shifting got stiff, especially going into reverse, after a few months. Something that hasn’t been an issue with Motorcraft Mercon V.

 

[bcschief]

I personally don't like synthetics I prefer Dino oils as I am not a fan of extended service intervals. In manual gear boxes the difference is synchronizer material. The Toyo Koyo and the Mitsubishi boxes have brass syncro's and the Mazda's have lining material in them which is why the spec Mercon or Mercon V and why the older transmissions spec 80w90 oil. Not sure what any of the newer transmission use because I don't work as a mechanic anymore.

 

[bcschief]

Thanks I thought I recognized that name, Crescent City. I worked in Ocala circa 1975, 76, was a traveling picture show (family pictures fellas!) had a gf in Gainesville, spent a few weekends in St Pete, loved it down there man

Born and raised in Orlando and I would not care to live there now, moved out here in 07. Florida has a much larger population now.

 

[Shran]

I personally don't like synthetics I prefer Dino oils as I am not a fan of extended service intervals. In manual gear boxes the difference is synchronizer material. The Toyo Koyo and the Mitsubishi boxes have brass syncro's and the Mazda's have lining material in them which is why the spec Mercon or Mercon V and why the older transmissions spec 80w90 oil. Not sure what any of the newer transmission use because I don't work as a mechanic anymore.

No... the syncro rings in all of the Ranger manual transmissions are brass (or bronze, not sure, yellow metal either way.) Mazda M5ODs do not have any lining materials, they are literally the same design as the others - a bronze ring that rides on a iron cone. 80w90 gear oil is not appropriate for any of them at least in the common GL5 formula. GL4 is safe for Mitsubishi transmissions but good luck finding it in multi viscosity. I have only found straight 80w and it is AWFUL in cold weather.

Valvoline or Pennzoil Syncromesh MTF, Royal Purple Syncromax, Redline MTF are good in all temperatures in all of the Ranger manual transmissions. I really like it in the Mitsubishi ones. I would not use anything else in those except maybe heavier weight engine oil in a pinch. IMO a heavier oil in these is not a bad thing because it can stay in the ball bearings longer & lube them better (as opposed to roller bearings in the M5OD) but there is a point where the oil is too heavy and can make shifting really stiff/notchy.

Dex/Merc II/III or 5w-30 synthetic engine oil for M5ODs. I have also run 10w40 conventional oil in M5ODs before to help with worn syncros in hot weather and it helped but had the opposite in cold weather.

Just my experience messing with a lot of different fluids over a lot of miles in various trucks - I am not an engineer nor a professional mechanic but I have rebuilt a bunch of manual transmissions and have a good idea what they prefer for oil.