[VAL] Trans temps

[Stan Nicholson <stan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom -

Yeah, I'm a believer in synthetic everywhere - engine, diffs, trans, 
lube. Interestingly enough, when I bought our '96 Suburban 454 tow 
vehicle about 3 years ago, and put on a B&M aluminum trans pan (3 qts 
more fluid, & installed temp sender fitting), the mechanic doing the 
dirty work (who's a mechanic for a team of race boats as well as ASE 
certified and 20 years running his own shop) talked me out of putting 
synthetic in. Acknowledged that it does perform better in severe 
conditions, cold & hot, but said the consensus among rebuilders and 
fleet operators is that it doesn't increase the longevity of 
transmissions enough to pay for the increased cost. That is, because 
I'm so careful, I'll probably never have a problem anyway, and I'll 
never know whether spending the extra money for (lots of) synthetic 
trans fluid actually prevented any problem.

Shortly thereafter I decided that following his advice wasn't the 
smartest thing I've ever done. I _like_ having the extra margin of 
safety that goes along with using synthetics. So I've since done the 
replacement. I figure the extra cost is sort of a "hobby" expense, 
part of the way I want to do things just 'cause it's fun. (So it'll 
be no surprise to know that our Overlander also sports a Hensley).

In short, I like running synthetic to give my trans the best support 
possible when the inevitable mountain grades generate heat, but I 
still follow the "rules of thumb" obout replacement.

Stan