Need some advice guys.

I'm thinking about doing my own MTF change, instead of having the dealer do it.

I've searched the forums and there is nothing about this topic in the 380 forum and a few posts & theads in other forums.

Nothing wrong with the way my box shifts, just the occasional small graunch, but many 'in the know' suggest the MTF should be changed every 40,000k or so in 3rd gens, so I'm guessing the same would apply to the 380.

The 380 service manual shows scheduled changes every 75,000k.

I know how to do the change, did it three times on my old TE manual.

I chucked a tube of Nulon G70 in the box around the 20,000k mark and it improved the smoothness of the change quite a lot. I intend to chuck another tube in whenever the MTF is changed.

It's now done 60,6xxk.

So my questions are:

Worthwhile doing it now or just wait for the 75,000k service?

If I do it now, what MTF do you recommend? Standard Mitsu MTF? Mid-range stuff like Nulon Smooth Shift or Caltex VMX? Expensive gear like Castrol Syntrans or Redline? Is there any point in going for the expensive stuff (around $30 a litre compared to $45 for a 4 litre bottle of the mid-range Nulon or Caltex). Considering I don't track my car and I'm fairly gentle on the box (no flat changing!). The 380 manual box takes 2.8 litres.

Is GL5 OK or do I need to stick with GL4? I've read that the 3d gen manual trans doesn't like GL5 because of brass bushes. Is the 380 box the same? The Nulon stuff looks OK and value for money, the GL5 version looks a bit better than the GL4, but it doesn't mention Mitsu on the bottle.

KJ.

Read the manual. It should tell you what viscosity and GL rating it needs. My guess would be it'll say 75/85W GL4.

If that's the case, I can't recommend Redline MT90 enough. It's expensive, but it's very good.

Read the manual. It should tell you what viscosity and GL rating it needs. My guess would be it'll say 75/85W GL4.

If that's the case, I can't recommend Redline MT90 enough. It's expensive, but it's very good.

Sorry mate, I read the owners manual, the service manual and the workshop manual, and all any of them say is 'genuine Mitsubishi MTF'. No specs at all, pretty ordinary I reckon. So I'm still guessing about viscosity and whether or not GL5 is OK in the 380 manual trans.

KJ.

I used Castrol VMX80 Shockproof trans oil for my old car. Not hugely overpriced and did wonders for shift feel.

Sorry mate, I read the owners manual, the service manual and the workshop manual, and all any of them say is 'genuine Mitsubishi MTF'. No specs at all, pretty ordinary I reckon. So I'm still guessing about viscosity and whether or not GL5 is OK in the 380 manual trans.

KJ.

Well, in that case, I would say GL5 would be a no-no. Redline MT90 FTW.