Hello, andDexron again

[BillH]

Hi Everyone

New member here having just bought a '73 MkII Stag.

The previous owner was a club member and seemed to know what he was talking about and had owned the car for some 35 years. That said, when I started reading about auto gearbox oil - notably Dexron here and on Rover sites I was a bit concerned,

As it happened, he'd given me a can of Dexron II to top up the BW35. I checked back with him and he was clear that he'd been using it for ages.... Digging further I saw this below on Rimmers "Triumph Gear Oil Application Chart" they seem to recommend it?

Stag	1970-78	Castrol Classic	RX1792 or RX1945	-	EP90 gear oil
Stag	1970-78	Comma	-	GUL805	EP90 gear oil
Stag (Auto)	1970-78	Carlube	RX1939	-	ATF-Q Dexron IID
Stag (Auto)	1970-78	Comma	-	XPATF5L	AQF Auto fluid

I then wrote to Opie Oils tech people and explained my position. They said "The Dexron II oils aren't ideal for that box, although as long as it's a Dexron II, rather than a Dexron III etc, then it shouldn't have caused much of an issue."

I'm not trying to be contentious, it's just that I've found some info and thought it worth while sharing to help anyone else in future. I've personally already made the decision to get it changed to TQF but will wait till it goes in for it's next service rather than panicking now.

Cheers

[richardthestag]

Hello BillH and welcome to the forum

I thought that the BW needed TQF. I ran mine in the early years on Dexron II and at about 105k Miles the front pump started to get noisy. Rebuild of the BW35 was twice the cost of converting to a Manual o/d setup which I still have. A shame as I love the exhaust note from a BW35 Stag

TQF is not as widely available as it used to be and some folk say DII is fine, I don't buy into that and get TQF from classic oils

https://www.classic-oils.net/Castrol-TQF

https://www.classic-oils.net/Penrite-ATF33

BW 35 suits the stag so well though

[BillH]

Thanks for the welcome Richard - yes, I’m very happy with the BW 35 when pootling about the local towns (addicted to the sound) - less so on motorways but then there’s a setting to avoid them on g-maps

I intend to ask a Stag expert if it’s possible to drain the BW 35 without removing it, or if two or three drain and refills will do the trick - not sure if driving it with a Dexron / TQF mix would be a good thing, but if that’s OK then I’ll just have the box drained and refilled with TQF every annual service for a few years and eventually it’ll be running on TQF anyway. Happy days…..

[SteveD]

I use Comma AQM in my BW35 - no problems so far.

Steve.

[Philip Wardle]

My 2500S is sadly long gone, but once in a while, the 2000-2500 parts book and repair operations manual come in handy – my ROM is version AKM 3974. There’s very good section on the BW35 under “GROUP 2”. Page 2-504 says:-

RECOMMENDED FLUIDS

Esso: Esso Glide

Castrol: Castrol T.Q.F.

Shell: Shell Donax T.7

Mobil: Mobil A.T.F. 210

B.P: B.P. Autran B

Duckhams: ‘Q’ Matic

Regent-Texaco: Texamatic Type F

Petrofina: Fina Purifimatic 33F

Underneath this list the ROM says “DO NOT USE ANTI-FRICTION OR ANY OTHER ADDITIVES”.

From what I understand, we should be looking for fluid that conforms to Ford specifications ESW-M2C-33F or ESW-M2C-33G.

I reckon the suggestions above are right, also I found Westway Type F Ford ATF M2C33F https://www.westwayoils.co.uk/collec...-oils/donax-tf which appears to be a legacy product of Shell Donax T.7.

The 2000-2500 ROM then helpfully gives the capacities: -

CONVERTER 5.25 pts. Imperial 3.0 ltrs. Metric 6.3 pts. U.S.
GEARBOX 6.0 pts. Imperial 3.4 ltrs. Metric 7.2 pts. U.S
OIL COOLER 1.25 pts. Imperial 0.7 ltrs Metric 1.5 pts. U.S.

There’s another interesting snippet on page 2-510 where it says:

N, or neutral: No drive is transmitted in this position. The car may be towed for recovery, providing that the selector lever is in “N”, the transmission is operating correctly, and the fluid level is correct.

Although the ROM doesn’t say so, I seem to remember anecdotal advice at the time not to exceed 25 mph. I wonder why the ROM doesn’t mention it.

[wilf]

https://www.classic-oils.net/Castrol-TQF