G56 Fluid recommendations

shelby27604

shelby27604

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Location
Efland NC
What are you successfully running in your G56?

The internet is a wash of Delvac 50, ATF+4, RP Synchromesh, Amaoil MTL, Redline M85....and mixes of them all.

What are you running, and are you happy with it?

At the moment this rig doesn't tow heavy, so I am tempted to buy a 5 gallon bucket of ATF and just do a fluid swap for the transmission and transfer at the same time....and see where the dust settles.
 
HotShots has a fluid they say is specifically for the G56, for what that's worth.
 
Bebop said:
What is recommended inside your owners manual ?

Put that in it.
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Jody Treadway said:
ATF+4 went in mine as it was recommended by the manufacturer. Same for the transfer case
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Yup. What @Jody Treadway said....the internet controversy is that Mercedes spec'd Delvac 50 in European vehicles using the same transmission.

Mopar also changed the NV4500 to ATF after they cycled the product out of production vehicles (another transmission that originally had a different grade spec). So I am double checking if anyone has different success stories.

My NV4500 got Amaoil MTL iirc and it was much happier.
 
shelby27604 said:
Yup. What @Jody Treadway said....the internet controversy is that Mercedes spec'd Delvac 50 in European vehicles using the same transmission.
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Just like in the 10 speed discussion, we have no idea if the internal parts were the exact same.

Synchro material or other bearing specs could have played a role in the choice of the fluid for the European vehicles.
 
I put Amsoil ATF in my 06 Dodge G56 and transfer case. I must have read a thousand different concoctions that people recommended on the internet but decided to just use what the book says. I swapped to the Amsoil around 70k miles and the truck has 91k on it now, mostly pulling our camper or a trailer around. The only reason I used Amsoil was it was easy to get at the time, a fellow who lived close by was a dealer. If I had to hunt for it I dont know that I would have used it. He did not have any gear oil at the time so I used Mobil1 for the axles.
 
thecj3man said:
I put Amsoil ATF in my 06 Dodge G56 and transfer case. I must have read a thousand different concoctions that people recommended on the internet but decided to just use what the book says. I swapped to the Amsoil around 70k miles and the truck has 91k on it now, mostly pulling our camper or a trailer around. The only reason I used Amsoil was it was easy to get at the time, a fellow who lived close by was a dealer. If I had to hunt for it I dont know that I would have used it. He did not have any gear oil at the time so I used Mobil1 for the axles.
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I feel like I remember reading that spending extra money on ATF is a waste....but maybe I am misremembering.

I think I will scoop up a couple of gallons of ATF+4 and just do a flush and fill. Worst case is it shifts the same and I get a good cleaning inside the transmission before I try one of the many mix and match options on Cummins forums. I know the truck got a new clutch 60k miles ago, but I didn't see any fluid changes in the records....so it can't hurt.

I am probably overthinking it because of my NV4500 experience. It seems like the G56 always (stateside) called for ATF, and that was the factory fill (which was not the case with the NV4500).
 
Bebop said:
Just like in the 10 speed discussion, we have no idea if the internal parts were the exact same.

Synchro material or other bearing specs could have played a role in the choice of the fluid for the European vehicles.
Click to expand...
I hadn't considered that as a possibility, but I suppose it is possible that they did change some internal hard parts for the US version.

In looking at the fill intervals for the transfer case, Mopar might just get away with it because of the 60k mile service intervals.

I see that the NSG273 transfer case is 60k in dodge vs 150k miles in the super duty.
 
Update, I snapped up some Valvoline ATF+4 and did the transmission and transfer case while I was in there. The transfer case definitely needed it, the transmission might have been due as it shifts a little easier (but the fluid that came out looked new compared to what came out of the transfer).
 
If the NV5600 was spec'd like my NV4500. The original fill was Castrol syntorq, that product is no longer made. Mopar changed fill recommendation to ATF+4, but I filled my last NV4500 with amsoil MTL with good results.
 
I too have used Amsoil in my NV4500. It's the GL-4 spec stuff. The NV5600 may be different. I know the 4500s were picky because of synchro clutch material and the synchro rings being brass. If they were some other material, basically any lube oil would work.
 
Same on my 4500. Fill it through the shifter hole. Gotta keep that input bearing lubed up.
 
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