I hate to make threads on topics that have beaten to death but I just have a quick question for all you Canadian guys,

I went to my local GM (Wilson-Niblett) & bought some GM fluid for my TL-S 6MT. I asked the parts person for Syncromesh Friction Modified fluid & as I was walking out I realized it only said Syncromesh on the bottle. When I told him that it only said Syncromesh, he assured me that it's the correct fluid & I told him that it's for an Acura not a GM. He told me he's sold it to guys with S2000's, NSX's & Civic Si's as he said the FM formula isn't "labelled" in Canada.

Just wanna know if Canadian guys have faced the same thing or if the guy screwed up or doesn't know what he's talking about?

 

Go by the part number. Google the part number on the bottle and see if it comes up for the friction modified version.

 

Yeah, I called them again & gave the FM part number that I found online & said I have no idea what I'm talking about it.

Long story short I didn't have a good feeling about the fluid I bought and returned the fluid anyways and bought the Friction Modified specified fluid on amazon even though its more expensive.

 

 

It's sad but often the people working at the dealership / parts department are about as dump as a rock not sure how they even get the job.

 

They said synchromesh contains friction modifiers but I told tried to explain that there is a version that is labelled Friction Modified. I don't know if they were too lazy to check for the friction modified version or if they don't actually carry friction modified which is hard to believe...

I was not ready to put $70 of fluid just to drain it bc I put the wrong one...

Super jealous of you guys in the states, $11 for a quart vs. $22 in Canada

 

honestly, they prob had no idea, nor did they care and were too stoned lol

 

As I was paying they did buy a couple of large pizzas.... hmmm lol

 

You only need 3 quarts for the flush. The fluid is well worth the money.

 

Lol yeah I got 3 quarts, if I remember correctly the tranny holds approx. 2.3qts. Came out to like $80 after tax & all that jazz

I've been hearing a lot of things about this fluid, I still can't wrap my head around if it's gonna make a noticeable/good difference. Regardless can't wait

 

It really depends on what symptoms you are seeing. If it's just a slightly notchy 3rd gear then you should see a pretty big difference. If you've got bigger issues with multiple gears then probably not. The "big deal" back in the day (04-06) was how smooth it made 3rd gear.


It is but I think expecting them to be experts or product specialists is a bit unreasonable. They aren't mechanics, their job is to manage parts inventories for the repair work in the dealership as well as the over the counter stuff to folks like us. They probably provide parts for at least a dozen different current vehicles plus many more older models. I don't think it's reasonable for them know much more than if they have, or can get, a particular part number. Yes, there are plenty that know their parts in and out but that's icing to me when they do. Same goes for service advisers. That's a sales job. My hunch is most dealerships try and keep the real product specialists out of the public's reach. IMO specialists with deep technical knowledge usually tell it like it is rather than in which direction they want cash to flow. Not who you want blabbing to customers...most of which have no clue anyway.

 

Try a Chevy dealer

 

The dealer I went to was a Chevrolet dealer lol, fluid should be coming in today

Getting my Acura dealer to pop in the fluid on Boxing Day

 

You'll be really happy with the GM stuff. PM me if you have any questions, its fairly straightforward.

 

Thanks Q! I can't wait till Saturday. I sure will if I have any

 

That's correct. It takes 2.3 quarts (U.S.) for a drain and fill, which works out to 2 quarts 10 ounces. This is provided the car is level when the transaxle is drained.

 

Okay good, just making sure I don't come up empty handed at the dealer.

Btw, how often have you guys changed this specific MTF? Same intervals of Honda/Acura fluid? Not too sure of how quickly this stuff breaks down

 

So I had the GM fluid just popped into today & all I have to say is wow

Didn't notice an improvement in 3rd gear, very tiny if any but I never had any problems with it other than it being a little notchy when it's really cold & the car's just been fired up. However I have noticed a huge improvement in 1st gear & a slight improvement in 2nd. Overall the 6MT feels really nice & smooth overall throughout the range & was definitely worth it.