attex t-20?

[nate52]

i have a 1973 attex chief 400 with the t20 borg warner transmission in it and have been searching through the forums and haven't been able to find the information needed. i don't know if i'm just over looking it or if it's just not there.

my questions are:

1. what type of fluid does it take? (in other posts i've seen where they say to put type f ford fluid in it, but when i drained mine it looked to be motor oil)

2. do i have the right drain plugs and if so are they in the right holes? (don't want to blow out any seals and don't know if the previous owner switched them around or replaced them with the wrong plugs)

3. and i've read where people mention to also add an additive to the fluid and was wondering what it's called, and if i need it?

Thanks
Nate

[Don]

It always seems to be up for debate on what type ATF to use, but in the lighter machines like Attex and Max II, Dexron III seems to work as well as any. I never have a problem with them slipping or chattering and they handle & shift very smoothly. In a heavier machine you may have a chatter problem and need to use type F with the limited slip additive. Those look like the right plugs- fill it only until it runs out the bottom plug.

You may have a problem if someone has filled the T20 with motor oil. Petro lubes have a tendency of making the lining fall off the bands. I hope that's not your case!

[thebuggyman1]

FYI ford type "F" fluid is a very poor quality fluid. DextronIII, IV, V, and the newer VI are far superior. I doubt the fluid marked type F in the store is really type F it is probably dextron III in the bottle. Oil technology has come a long way in the past 40-50 years.

[6X6]

Nate, since it's out anyways, I personally would open up the T-20 and check the bands, there's a nice how to under "how to articles" from the Home page, and it's not hard at all. If any are flaking off you'll need to replace them. If that's the case and you just fill er up and go, you'll need not only bands but also drums, which are a bit more money than the bands. Hopefully it was just dirty ATF in there.

[wfo]

if the fluid was runny its probably just burned trans fluid..but if its thick then its oil..

[nate52]

everything turned out to be OK!!

well it turned out that it wasn't oil and i did take it apart and the bands looked good. everything went smooth taking it apart just like the how to article said it would be, but it failed to mention it would be a pain in the butt to get it back together lol. it did go back together, the only problem we were having was getting both the bands on the rod. after getting my uncle to help me and my dad and having six hands to hold things in place and set the left half on the right half it went back together smoothly. when we drained it yesterday it looked to be motor oil, but after we opened it up and felt how thin the oil was we determined that it was not motor oil and must have been some dirty transmission fluid. thanks for the help guys and all the advice and hopefully i'm now one step closer in my attex rebuild to a complete machine.

Thanks
Nate

[6X6]

Nice. It's always good to know that the tranny is in good shape. Everything else on these machines is both simple and at least relatively inexpensive. Good luck, hope to see some photos up soon.