Escort van gearbox and fluid. HELP!!

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Wed 15 Jun 2005 00:29
Escort van gearbox and fluid. HELP!! - Japanese Elvis
Hi.

I've just acquired an Escort 1.8D van.

It was registered in 1996 but seems to have been manufactured late 1994, according to the VIN number.

I lost a bit of transmission fluid when removing the driveshafts yesterday and I'm now somewhat confused as to what the correct fluid to use in the box.

The transmission code on the VIN plate is 'W', which translates to "manual (5 speed)". Not helpful, but it's not the code for the MT or MTX box.

The Ford TIS manual doesn't really help, and the CARDATA cd says use 80w gear oil.

The owners manual suggests it's a "type B" box and to use Ford spec ESD-M2C-186-A, but the shift pattern earlier in the owners book suggests it's a "type A" box - and that uses Ford WSD-M2C200-B

Can you see why I'm confused??

The stuff that dropped out smelled more like gear oil than ATF, but thats not the best yardstick.

How about just using a good 75w90 synthetic or semi-synth??

Anybody got any clues?

Thanks

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Wed 15 Jun 2005 10:18
Escort van gearbox and fluid. HELP!! - mfarrow
I'm sure a mineral SAE 80 oil will be fine, you can always change it for a semi-synth at a later date if changes are a bit stiff when cold. I think fully-synth would be a bit overkill on these boxes.

Your best bet would be your Ford dealer, they'll be able to tell you which oil to use, I should think, from the registration number.

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Mike Farrow
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Wed 15 Jun 2005 11:08
Escort van gearbox and fluid. HELP!! - Japanese Elvis
Thanks Mike.

I agree that fully synth may be overkill in this case, but I'd really like to understand what the correct grade of oil should be.

I may well go in to the local dealer and see if there is a spark of enlightenment there, but previous visits have prejudiced me somewhat in that department...
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