Former Allison Transmission Fluids Engineer

[Chief6722]

Originally Posted by n2zon

Has it got Transynd in it? If so, it's probably just fine. Ours has 107K on it so far and tests OK. Cheaper by far to test it and see than to replace it, and the OP is the guy who signed off on the spec and then formed a testing company. Hard to find someone more qualified to test it.

N2zon… The answer is Yes..!

I just got off the phone with Allison Customer Service and the lady said they get this same call at least 5 times a day, each. She did say that there are approximately 20 brands that provide the ATF668 Spec and here are a few below:

Shell Spirax S6 ATF A668
Mobil Delvac 1 ATF668
Valvoline Syngard 668 Auto
Castrol TranSynd 668 Allison
I just happened to see this in a Google search for the Castrol… https://www.castrol.com/content/dam/...8-brochure.pdf

Like I said earlier…I’ll spend the money if there’s a distinct difference that the Allison TES668 has over the others, but I’m guessing it probably is equal. I was just leaving it up to the two Allison Experts to answer for us all since the AllisonTES668 has gone from $45 per gallon 6 months ago to now $78 per gallon and is also very hard to find. I called the Peterbilt shop across from where I store my Coach and they have been out for 3 weeks now.

[Chief6722]

Originally Posted by BonS

I recently bought Allison Castrol TranSynd TES 668 for $38/gallon at a Stewart & Stevenson Allison transmission shop. Look them up and/or keep shopping! you certainly haven't found the right source yet.

The problem is the local crooks that are selling it at $78/gal… I called them yesterday for a price to just do the trans-service to save time and the quote was $1119.00 but other shops were only $200ish cheaper. I don’t mind doing it myself and certainly will with this kind of BS going on still..!

Thanks for answering on the Castrol Transynd because I can find that for just $42/gal in several places around me.

[lonestarace]

He's a list of 21 different ATFs that all meet the Allison TES668 specification. Castrol Transynd is no better than the other 20.

https://allisontransmission.com/part...highway-fluids

[hzjcm8]

Originally Posted by Chief6722

Sorry if this has been asked in the previous 104 pages! LoL

I have a 2010 Phaeton with 50,200 miles with an Allison 3000MH and while the previous single owner kept great records on all maintenance, I don’t see anything for transmission service. I’m leaving in a couple weeks for a long haul from Louisiana to the Colorado Rockies and am just going to figure it’s never had it before and draw a line in the sand and change the fluid and filters.

After pricing Transynd 668 today at $78 per gallon I about sucked in my shorts! That’s just damned insane from just 6 months ago at $45, but if I have to, I will.

The question I have is about the “Channel Partner Brands” like Valvoline Syngard, Shell Spirax, Mobil and even Kendal versions of Transynd 668 since the cost is significant..? I’ve always tried to stick to OEM filters & parts with all vehicles and run quality motor oils, but I just wasn’t sure when it came to the 668.

Any help to clear this up is appreciated..!

You may use any of the TES-295 or TES-668 products listed on the Allison Transmission website at https://www.allisontransmission.com/...highway-fluids. They are all approved and licensed by Allison Transmission Engineering. Use fluid analysis to maintain your fluid by drawing a sample annually to check for contaminants. The fluid itself is good for many many miles and lots of years. If you want to sample your fluid, oils or coolants, visit us at www.jglubricantservices.com/rv.html.

PS: HERE'S A PODCAST THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE: https://www.beyondthewheelpodcast.co...nw=206-podcast

Have a blessed day !!!

[Chief6722]

Originally Posted by hzjcm8

You may use any of the TES-295 or TES-668 products listed on the Allison Transmission website at https://www.allisontransmission.com/...highway-fluids. They are all approved and licensed by Allison Transmission Engineering. Use fluid analysis to maintain your fluid by drawing a sample annually to check for contaminants. The fluid itself is good for many many miles and lots of years. If you want to sample your fluid, oils or coolants, visit us at www.jglubricantservices.com/rv.html.

PS: HERE'S A PODCAST THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE: https://www.beyondthewheelpodcast.co...nw=206-podcast

Have a blessed day !!!

hzjcm8 Thanks for the response and links to follow up with..!

The price of the Allison Transynd-668 has gotten just crazy and I’m glad it’s a long lasting fluid! I just broke-down and paid the $78/gallon this morning for the Allison-668. There’s been several people mention that they’re able to get it at Walmart and several other places but along the Gulf Coast it’s in a critical shortage for some reason and I was only allowed to purchase 6 gallons which is more than I will need but I’ll have some extra in case of need. Even NAPA is at a state of Not Taking Backorders so after spending about 5 hours total running down the stash I found, I just spent the money.

Something funny that I noticed on the ATF resovoir on my 2010 Tiffin Phaeton, it says “Mobil Delvac Synthetic ATF Only” but nothing about the specific oil.

Ill go check out the podcast and I plan to pull a sample from the old original fluid tomorrow morning and send it into “JGLube” for an evaluation for a baseline for the change.

[vtwinwilly]

I know this might be to little to late, but might help someone else.

Castrol TranSynd 668 ALLISON 2021 UPDATED SPEC CASE OF 3 BY DOXA WORLDWIDE https://a.co/d/2CjoFSm

$147 for 3 gallons. That’s $49 p/gal.

Can be had even cheaper if you buy it in a 5 gal bucket.

[Chief6722]

Originally Posted by vtwinwilly

I know this might be to little to late, but might help someone else.

Castrol TranSynd 668 ALLISON 2021 UPDATED SPEC CASE OF 3 BY DOXA WORLDWIDE https://a.co/d/2CjoFSm

$147 for 3 gallons. That’s $49 p/gal.

Can be had even cheaper if you buy it in a 5 gal bucket.

Vtwinwilly… I had already tried ordering from them via Amazon and ended up in an ugly conversation with them on the phone. If you dig in the right place on the Amazon site, you’ll see my bad review. What’s going on is there are multiple “Amazon Sellers” all tapping the Castrol warehouse and some initially were lucky enough to tap the warehouse allocation, but what that is doing is taking another vendor’s allocated supply and delays their shipment because of their minimums.

While some customers are getting their orders in the delivery time posted, others like me waited 3+ weeks and got nothing but empty promises until I opened enough back-doors to get the National warehouse manager’s desk. He was fairly rude at first but was because of getting is A$$ chewed out by his management and vendors. The other lovely nugget was the price they were selling for on Amazon was what the vendor’s cost was and you can imagine the disturbance that caused. It was a bad deal all around but it looks like it’s not being handled…
Pretty much all shipments to the Gulf Coast region are on hold and I was not told “Why”…

If you need some now or will in the near future, give it a shot and if you actually receive product Don’t Tell Me about it!!! LoL

While I paid out the arse for the Castrol668, the local dealer sold the Allison OEM filter kit for $5 above cost because they had over 300 on hand. I got a little greedy and asked if I could buy two and they had no problem with that. I’m about to head out to get started on mine while it’s only 82f since it’s going to get to 98F with 88% humidity and that really sucks the energy out of me!

I absolutely Can’t Wait for WINTER! LoL

[vtwinwilly]

Originally Posted by Chief6722

If you need some now or will in the near future, give it a shot and if you actually receive product Don’t Tell Me about it!!! LoL

OK . . . I won’t tell you about it! LOL

(It already happened)

[bpu699]

https://www.amazon.com/Castrol-TranS...ps%2C51&sr=8-4

I bought the above 2-3 months ago, was $190 at the time. Still cheap at $230 for 5 gallons...

Got free delivery in 1 day from amazon...

[vtwinwilly]

Allisonman,

I searched for an answer and couldn't find it, so here I am.

My last motorhome had a 3000 series transmission, and when I went to do a fluid change I found magnets stuck to the bottom of each filter. At the time I did a quick google search and someone said "Don't forget to transfer your magnets" so I did.

Fast forward several years. I now have a motorhome with a 4000 series transmission. It has no such magnets on the filters. My question is. . . should it?

Just looking for a little guidance.

[hzjcm8]

Originally Posted by vtwinwilly

Allisonman,

I searched for an answer and couldn't find it, so here I am.

My last motorhome had a 3000 series transmission, and when I went to do a fluid change I found magnets stuck to the bottom of each filter. At the time I did a quick google search and someone said "Don't forget to transfer your magnets" so I did.

Fast forward several years. I now have a motorhome with a 4000 series transmission. It has no such magnets on the filters. My question is. . . should it?

Just looking for a little guidance.

I don't believe the 3000/4000 Series ever had magnets. My bet is that someone added them. The "Don't forget to transfer your magnets" statement would be associated with the 1000/2000 Series because those models use a spin-on filter that includes a magnet. The 1000/2000 Series filter is there to protect the CONTROL MAIN circuit that feeds the solenoid valves. The 1000/2000 Series filter is rated at 35 microns, where as the 3000/4000 Series (main and lube filters) are rated at 50 microns. There's a lot more to these filter ratings but this should be sufficient to show the differences.

Unlike the 1000/2000 Series, there are (2) filters on the 3000/4000 Series transmissions. One filters the main circuit and the other filters the lube circuit. I'm not really sure the magnet is needed in the 1000/2000 Series but I'd say that it should be reinstalled when changing filters.

Here's the rationale: the primary debris found in Allison filters is "clutch dust" which is non-magnetic. Fluid analysis shows that iron is typically very fine in nature and not a real concern. Primarily the only wear metals would be "soft metals" from the bushings (copper, lead and tin). Allison transmissons are pretty robust and should never produce anything but superficial wear metals in very small quantities over many years. Annual fluid analysis will show this to be true !!

Hope this helps !!!!!

[vtwinwilly]

Allison man,

Thanks for the very detailed explanation.

Based on your comments, it would appear that someone before me added those magnets to the 3000 series trans in my old coach. I was the 3rd owner so anything’s possible.

That leads me to a question of curiosity. I cleaned those magnets off - they had a thin, grey, silty coating - and transferred them to the new filters. They were still in there when I sold the coach.

Can I assume, that while the magnets may not do any good, they certainly don’t hurt anything?

Again, just curious.

[Purple Frog]

OK, I'm not trying to appear super frugal... but...

1,800 miles ago i changed my fluid with the proper stuff.
Now, I have an internal harness failure, and I'm changing out the harness. The seals around the harness fitting were leaking.
When i drained and removed the pan it looked like a brand new pan, not one spec of anything on the bottom of the pan.

What does the IRV2 hive think about reusing that 13 quarts of oil?

[Unplanned Tourist]

Originally Posted by Purple Frog

OK, I'm not trying to appear super frugal... but...

1,800 miles ago i changed my fluid with the proper stuff.
Now, I have an internal harness failure, and I'm changing out the harness. The seals around the harness fitting were leaking.
When i drained and removed the pan it looked like a brand new pan, not one spec of anything on the bottom of the pan.

What does the IRV2 hive think about reusing that 13 quarts of oil?

Filter it, and re-use it would be my thought. You can use a coffee filter to filter it if you don't have anything else.