I am going to pick up a car tomorrow, 95 T/A with a 6 speed. The guys said that he put a new centerforce clutch in it, put new GEAR OIL in the trans. From what I have been reading on here, gear oil in the trans is a bad idea, and should have went with synthetic ATF fluid? He said that he "thought" that he put syncromesh in it. Would this hurt anything? It has been in there for about 3 or 4 thousand miles.

 

Are you looking for a definitive answer to determine whether you will purchase the car? If you are going to buy the car regardless and as long as it is shifting fine, I would just drain it and put the right fluids in it when you pick it up.

 

The T56 is supposed to be filled with automatic transmission fluid.

I'm not sure what problems this might cause, but I would get it serviced immediately, before anything goes wrong.

 

Right now the car is shifting fine and there doesn't seem to be any issues. Would there be a problem if I got it, and put the ATF fluid in it, mixing with the gm syncromesh? There seem to be a few people on here that run syncromesh? For peace of mind basically, I just wanted to make sure this gear oil wasn't going to tear something up before I can drive it home and change it. (about 50 miles or so)

 

T56 transmissions use a combination of brass, carbon fiber and paper-lined synchronizers. An ATF fluid such as Dexron III will provide the best results. Drain whatever concoction the previous owner put in it completely and fill it with the manufacturers suggested fluid. The oil in it now probably has a higher sulfer content and is tough on the brass blocker rings. Could there be any damage.....perhaps. Is this going to be a deterrent from purchasing the vehicle? If no, just drive it home (50 miles won't be detrimental) and change it as soon as you can.

 

I test drove the car, and went through all 6 easy, then went through them real hard, and everything seemed fine, no grinding at all, the only time it did grink a little was on a downshift into 3rd. From everything I have read so far, any Dex III would be good?

 

and I saw that it takes about 3.75 quarts to fill it up?

 

Most T56 builders recommend Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. That's what I used when I got mine back after the rebuild.

 

I thought I read on here that synthetic fluid was bad in the T56? Sometimes I don't know if it is better to search or not. There is a lot on contradictory info. it seems....

 

for a 97 or newer, yes. He has a an older T56 and the synthetics will cause problems with the paper on the blocker rings. Use Dex III like the manufacturer recommends.

 

ok, so just use dex III, but make sure it isn't synthetic. Any recommendations? I use the Syncromesh in my Dodge Stealth, but I have never put ATF in a manual trans.

 

Any Dex III or equivalent will do. The last time I changed mine, I used the cheap oreilly's brand.