im thinking about changing my trannying fluid and replaceing it with synthetic trannying fluid. what do you guys like to use or recommend? i have used amzoil in the past.

Unless you have done regular changes in the past since it was new, I would not recommend an entire fluid change, just a filter change and refil of OEM fluid.

ummm, afik, dexron III is already a synthetic. How many miles on the tranny? if you're anywahere over 75k, I would suggest highly against a flush. There's enough anecdotal evidence saying that a flush caused or exacerbated tranny problems to make it somethin you just dont wanna do.

I use Valvoline MaxLife Dexron III.

well i have only owned the car for a couple months, so i dont know if the previous owner changed it regulary or not. i just thought it wouldnt hurt to change it. it seems to shift ok, it just shifts hard when you first put it in gear, in either drive or reverse, it only has 72,000 on the car.

If you feel you need to do something, just drop the pan, change the filter, optionally install a shift kit from ZZP (will increase the life of the tranny), and replace the 8 quarts you lost with the new GM Dexron-VI. All Dexron's are synthetic or partially synthetic. Richard is right about the flushing.

I agree with all the above ,but would add one thing add a drain plug while U have the pan off U will thank med the next time U change fluid ,there are kits around to add a plug not to difficult.Chico(pops)

ok thanks guys, i will do that. i was goin to change the filter when i changed the fluid, not sure if i will use gm or another good synthetic. im workin with a budget right now. but yea i thought about puttin in a shift kit too. and thanks pops, a drain plug would be alot easier. thanks for the help guys, its appreciated.

I saw Dextron VI at Walmart pretty cheap when I bought Mobil 1 0W-30 in November.
They have the best prices hands down on oils and other fluids unless another store is running a sale.

hey, ChevMan, describe the benefits and hazards of running Dexron VI in a system intended for Dexron III.

none, it is backwards compatible and GM recommends systems that were dex iii use dex vi.

ok. so I change fluid in the GP before I roll out for the year. got it.

wonder what the changes were? More stable formula? better cold handling? eh, whatever.

Thanks Zal!

During early 2005 General Motors released a newly developed automatic transmission fluid (ATF) for the factory fill of all GM Powertrain stepped gear automatic transmissions. The new fluid provides significantly improved performance in terms of friction durability, viscosity stability, aeration and foam control and oxidation resistance. In addition, the fluid has the potential to enable improved fuel economy and extended drain intervals. Since the performance of the new fluid far exceeded that of the DEXRON®-III service-fill fluids available at the time it became necessary to upgrade the DEXRON® service-fill specification in order to ensure that similar fluids were available in the market for service situations. This latest upgrade to the service- fill specification is designated DEXRON®-VI.
Since General Motors introduced the first ATF service-fill specification in 1949 it has been periodically necessary to upgrade the specification. This upgrading process ensures that available service fill fluids are of an appropriate quality for use in transmissions that have been designed around the factory fill fluid performance. It should be noted that, as with previous upgrades, DEXRON®-VI fluids are designed to be backward compatible with earlier transmission hardware. More importantly, earlier type fluids are not forward compatible with transmission hardware that was designed to use DEXRON®-VI fluid, i.e. DEXRON®-III is not compatible with the most recently designed transmissions, and the use of these earlier type fluids could result in transmission damage. All current calibrations and certification tests are now conducted with DEXRON®-VI ATF. DEXRON®-III fluids should not be used for these applications where the owners manual recommends the use of DEXRON®-VI. GM does not license or support obsolete ATF specifications or the use of fluids that are being marketed against cancelled specifications.
All DEXRON®-III licenses expire at the end of 2006 and will not be renewed. Beyond that date GM will only support the use of DEXRON®-VI fluids for use in Hydra-Matic transmissions. Fluids sold in the market after that date bearing claims such as “suitable for use in DEXRON®-III applications” or similar wording should be avoided. DEXRON®-VI licensed fluids are fully backward compatible and can be used in all applications covered by earlier GM ATF specifications.

Copied from below GM link:

http://www.gm.com/experience/technology/...ease_30NO07.doc

I only mentioned Dexron VI because someone else mentioned synthetic.

so i should be good if i decide to use dexron VI in my 98 gtp?

Yes, see above.

ok thanks for the info.