Smoother and more accurate shifts, Motul 300 Gear Lube is a low cost easy mod and worth it:)

[neeqness]

Conversely, a lot of people tend to think that they know more than the engineers doing the designing. While I'm sure there are probably some instances where this is true, staying within a specification is pretty ingrained into me due to my experience in aviation. I have seen quite a few people swap away from the 300 due to shifting issues, much like people were swapping back from colder spark plugs once they started having issues with starting.

I would prefer the best 'feel' of lubricants meeting the specification, but I'm definitely not going to go outside of a specification simply based on subjective 'feel'. 90W gear oil will make an engine run smooth and quite, but not for long. A drastic but similar example.

I agree, that's why I chose to try dctf the first time. There are people who trust specs explicitly even when they begin having problems. I personally follow specs until I see an issue with it and my experience tells me that something may be wrong with it.

For me it would be a long story now if I explained all of my reasoning, but in my experience hearing grinding noise, even when not excessively pronounced = wear. Of all the previous cars ive driven I only heard gear noise when something was wrong, like maybe I didn't change it properly. But as long as I did what I was supposed to do right, I heard nothing. This car makes noise even when driving fairly conservative. Yes it is low and you may only hear it when it is quiet with no interior music or convos going on, but it is there and for me that's a problem.

Also if you research this, you will find that there are some issues with our tranny long term. It is common knowledge that Ford and other manufacturers here in NA have been marketing economy and finding more ways to improve it. This recommended spec oil is one of them. It is very thin. I personally don't like that but I tried the dctf anyway. Now that I know from experience though how it feels, I'm going to replace it asap.

My priority is longevity and comfort in this regard and if that costs me a few mpgs, I'm ok with that...but again this is a personal call and I totally respect anyone's decision to stick with specs. Afterall, everyone has their own comfort level to what they are willing to do and accept.

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[dyn085]

How many long-term issues have their been? I remember some early synchro issues, I just don't recall anything recent our excessive.

I don't have any gear whine/noise or grinding, so I'm not trying to resolve any problems. If I was then I wouldn't even change my fluid and let the transmission fail for replacement.

I'm not judging you for your decision, I've just seen enough people go back to OEM from 300 to not want to waste my time or money on it. I realize that economy is a driving factor in design but when Getrag designs and tests a transmission based on this fluid specification...well, I'll just follow their lead. Besides, I only go WOT a couple/few times a day so economy is basically at the forefront of my driving. Hell, I'm probably the only member with lean-burn cruise.

 

[neeqness]

How many long-term issues have their been? I remember some early synchro issues, I just don't recall anything recent our excessive.

I don't have any gear whine/noise or grinding, so I'm not trying to resolve any problems. If I was then I wouldn't even change my fluid and let the transmission fail for replacement.

I'm not judging you for your decision, I've just seen enough people go back to OEM from 300 to not want to waste my time or money on it. I realize that economy is a driving factor in design but when Getrag designs and tests a transmission based on this fluid specification...well, I'll just follow their lead. Besides, I only go WOT a couple/few times a day so economy is basically at the forefront of my driving. Hell, I'm probably the only member with lean-burn cruise.

I don't think the car has really been around long enough to be perhaps considered to have an extensive issue. But I've seen lots of posts about it on other FiST forums for the earlier model FiSTs. I've also seen it on Mustang forums and FoST forums which use same fluid and which has been around longer. I'm new to this one so I don't know if it is on here...

Bitog site talks a lot about it also. Guys there are very knowledgeable about fluids and spend a lot of time researching it to a science. Much more than I have the time to follow in its entirety or care to do myself, but I still pay attention and glean what info that I can. It's a very informative site. The 300 oil is one of the top 10 if not top 5 oils on the site. Several have even said it is the best and this conclusion is based more on specs and not just a "feel". There are always certain situations that you should not use a particular fluid such as a gl-5 fluid for a tranny that requires gl-4.

I'm not really trying to convince anyone else here and the OP posted about it because he likes it.

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[dyn085]

I don't think the car has really been around long enough to be perhaps considered to have an extensive issue. But I've seen lots of posts about it on other FiST forums for the earlier model FiSTs. I've also seen it on Mustang forums and FoST forums which use same fluid and which has been around longer. I'm new to this one so I don't know if it is on here...

Bitog site talks a lot about it also. Guys there are very knowledgeable about fluids and spend a lot of time researching it to a science. Much more than I have the time to follow in its entirety or care to do myself, but I still pay attention and glean what info that I can. It's a very informative site. The 300 oil is one of the top 10 if not top 5 oils on the site. Several have even said it is the best and this conclusion is based more on specs and not just a "feel". There are always certain situations that you should not use a particular fluid such as a gl-5 fluid for a tranny that requires gl-4.

I'm not really trying to convince anyone else here and the OP posted about it because he likes it.

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Yeah, I think Getrag slid in a change sometime during or after the first year because the synchro issues almost completely died off afterwards. Maybe they just had a bad batch, idk.

You're right that Bitog rates the 300 very highly, but they also never recommend it as a replacement to this particular specification, which I found pretty interesting given their extensive cumulative knowledge about fluids. I think they've even convinced me to swap out to running Magnatec. Anyways, our OEM spec DCTF fluid is even a TSB for earlier Mustangs that were having gear issues, and iirc it was to resolve gear whine issues. The FoST community really isn't using 300 much at all, but that trans actually does have issues (I have a friend on his fourth already) and a lot have received new units due to lots of synchro failures. Kinda reminds me of my MTX75 back in '01, lol.

 

[neeqness]

Yeah, I think Getrag slid in a change sometime during or after the first year because the synchro issues almost completely died off afterwards. Maybe they just had a bad batch, idk.

You're right that Bitog rates the 300 very highly, but they also never recommend it as a replacement to this particular specification, which I found pretty interesting given their extensive cumulative knowledge about fluids. I think they've even convinced me to swap out to running Magnatec. Anyways, our OEM spec DCTF fluid is even a TSB for earlier Mustangs that were having gear issues, and iirc it was to resolve gear whine issues. The FoST community really isn't using 300 much at all, but that trans actually does have issues (I have a friend on his fourth already) and a lot have received new units due to lots of synchro failures. Kinda reminds me of my MTX75 back in '01, lol.

True bitog doesn't specifically recommend 300 for the ST but they don't say not to use it either. I think it's more just an issue of what the members happen to be driving at the time and perhaps few to none were driving the st at post time. I chose the 300 for the ST based on recommendations I've seen on FiST forum topics (like this one). The bitog was primarily to verify the quality of the oil (which seems to me that it passed with flying colors) as I have seen other oils recommended on other forums that were not recommended at bitog, or were not as highly recommended. I like bitog because they usually give a detailed explanation for why they recommend or do not recommend a particular type of fluid.

I mentioned the FoST and mustang communities because they mention tranny issues and they use or used the same oem fluid, not because they recommended 300. I believe that this fluid could be a reason why there were issues and the issue came up about this fluid being too thin on both forums. Similar issues have also come up on other forums from other manufacturers and bitog has at the very least hinted that a big part of the problem overall could very well be the oem fluid.

One more thing...yes, you could let the tranny fail if there is a problem and have it replaced but if you look into past tranny issues you will find that some dealers may place the blame on operator error. You will have to prove that the error is the manufacturer which works best only when it is fairly obvious. If you plan to keep the car long term it's a bigger problem because your warranty is limited, once it ends you will be responsible for the damage. Secondly, it is likely that the wear/damage will become apparent after the warranty has expired, not before unless you are a more aggressive driver. Third, I don't like spending my time getting repairs that could have been so easily avoided...besides, the way it shifts is enough reason to change the fluid to me. The excessive wear issue just makes it more imperative for me.

Knowing that the 300 fluid will not cause any more damage and actually protect the gearbox better than the stock fluid is the main reason that I am changing it now...if it is as smooth as they say, that will be icing on the cake!

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[M-Sport fan]

Hell, I'm probably the only member with lean-burn cruise.

Is this actually an available option on the Accessport, and other tuning devices/systems??

 

[dyn085]

Is this actually an available option on the Accessport, and other tuning devices/systems??

Not a direct option but something you can do with ATR.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Note: I may of already said this here but it may of been on a different thread, whatever the case the story is as it is, I have a remarkably good shifter for a FWD car, part of that is the Motul 300 of course.


If more members could drive my car and see how well it shifts they would do the changes or at least most that I have done, all diy.
Short shifter at the trans, cable angle change, welded in base bushings, shifter base bushings and base raised 2.25" in a 2 step method that I worked out can be done in one step for very low cost. My trans shifts better than just about any car I have ever driven no matter the manf and layout, AWD, FWD, RWD.

 

[dyn085]

I've been chatting with a bunch of FoST owners and that community doesn't seem to think that swapping away from the specification (same fluid/spec for the FoST) is a good idea either. I found it odd that we have a significantly smaller community yet seem to have significantly more people using 300. Combining what I've read on Bitog and other Ford communities, I'll definitely be staying with the OEM spec. I'm also definitely going to keep following to see how many others end up swapping back due to shifting effort and, for those that don't, to see if anyone ever collects oil-analysis samples for legitimate comparison data.

 

[boombots]

Swapping to the motul dctf definitely quieted my gear whine, no longer very loud at 65+. Dealer is checking the whine out now to see if they think its an issue.

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[Rhinopolis]

Note: I may of already said this here but it may of been on a different thread, whatever the case the story is as it is, I have a remarkably good shifter for a FWD car, part of that is the Motul 300 of course.


If more members could drive my car and see how well it shifts they would do the changes or at least most that I have done, all diy.
Short shifter at the trans, cable angle change, welded in base bushings, shifter base bushings and base raised 2.25" in a 2 step method that I worked out can be done in one step for very low cost. My trans shifts better than just about any car I have ever driven no matter the manf and layout, AWD, FWD, RWD.

You have more mechanical ability and mechanical confidence than I do, and if you lived closer by and were willing then I would attempt to pay you to modify mine!

I changed out to Multi DCTF this past Friday and put nearly 100 miles on the car over the weekend with aggressive driving after properly warmed up, and more than a few higher speed runs. Only putting 100 miles on the new fluid is much too soon to form a definitive opinion, and so far I can't tell a difference between the OEM Motorcraft fluid and Motul Multi DCTF.

I expected as much, and once the fluid is ran at least 1000 miles (part of which will be with nearly 300 whp from my new X37 setup on order), I should have a better idea if there are any characteristics related to the Multi DCTF that I don't like.

 

[Rhinopolis]

Note: I may of already said this here but it may of been on a different thread, whatever the case the story is as it is, I have a remarkably good shifter for a FWD car, part of that is the Motul 300 of course.


If more members could drive my car and see how well it shifts they would do the changes or at least most that I have done, all diy.
Short shifter at the trans, cable angle change, welded in base bushings, shifter base bushings and base raised 2.25" in a 2 step method that I worked out can be done in one step for very low cost. My trans shifts better than just about any car I have ever driven no matter the manf and layout, AWD, FWD, RWD.

You have more mechanical ability and mechanical confidence than I do, and if you lived closer by and were willing then I would attempt to pay you to modify mine!

I changed out to Multi DCTF this past Friday and put nearly 100 miles on the car over the weekend with aggressive driving after properly warmed up, and more than a few higher speed runs. Only putting 100 miles on the new fluid is much too soon to form a definitive opinion, and so far I can't tell a difference between the OEM Motorcraft fluid and Motul Multi DCTF.

I expected as much, and once the fluid is ran at least 1000 miles (part of which will be with nearly 300 whp from my new X37 setup on order), I should have a better idea if there are any characteristics related to the Multi DCTF that I don't like.

 

[neeqness]

I changed to dctf about a week and a half ago and I think I like the dctf slightly better than oem but really not much of a noticeable difference between the two.

I've had the 300 in now for only about 50 miles so it's still too early but I like it so far.

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[Izzy]

I changed to dctf about a week and a half ago and I think I like the dctf slightly better than oem but really not much of a noticeable difference between the two.

I've had the 300 in now for only about 50 miles so it's still too early but I like it so far.

Sent

It will get better after about a month of heat cycles...that's my 2 cents.

 

[neeqness]

It will get better after about a month of heat cycles...that's my 2 cents.

Which one? Dctf or 300?

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[Rhinopolis]

As an update and after driving around (mostly with the X37 upgrade) for 1k miles with MOTUL Multi DCTF, I can tell no positive or negative difference over the stock MTF fluid.

Now that I am running the X37 and am putting more power through the tranny, I might stick with MOTUL Multi DCTF just because if it's good enough for Nissan GTR's then it should damn well be able to handle whatever I throw at it

 

[M-Sport fan]

As an update and after driving around (mostly with the X37 upgrade) for 1k miles with MOTUL Multi DCTF, I can tell no positive or negative difference over the stock MTF fluid.

Now that I am running the X37 and am putting more power through the tranny, I might stick with MOTUL Multi DCTF just because if it's good enough for Nissan GTR's then it should damn well be able to handle whatever I throw at it

Yes, Motul's fluids have a rep for NOT shearing under heat and stress.

I don't know WHO actually manufactures the factory installed Motorcraft fluid for Ford, but I do have doubts it is as stout as the group 4/5 based Motul brews.

I would like to try the Red Line DCTF as well, once I have the car, and it is past break-in.

 

[M-Sport fan]

You have more mechanical ability and mechanical confidence than I do, and if you lived closer by and were willing then I would attempt to pay you to modify mine!

SAME HERE, and NOT just for the shifter!

But, according to Rick, the boomba COMPLETE short shifter kit I will have waiting for the car is most of the way there to the extensive work he did on his own.

 

[neeqness]

It will get better after about a month of heat cycles...that's my 2 cents.

You are right. It's a lot better now. Took me awhile to notice because I was mainly using it for just freeway and commuting on my bike but the other day I took it to work and as I'm shifting through the gears on the streets I notice how smooth it is.

300 will be going in on the next tranny fluid change...

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[Manta Ray]

anyone running 300 long run in north east climate long term?

I am about to do my fluids, and feel like going with something heavier, but not sure how it will be have in this 4 season area...

I've heard of some people switching back to dctf????