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Hello all,

I own a 1950 Custom Eight and a 1956 400, both of which are equipped with Ultramatic. Does anyone have information about which transmission fluid(s) should be used in these vehicles?

Thanks in advance,

Rich

G'day Rich(asapacker),
to PackardInfo.

There's this FAQ, ULTRAMATIC: What Fluid to Use, which should assist you.

And, I invite you to include your '50 Custom Eight and '56 Four Hundred in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo!

Most ultramatic owners use Type F.My car sat in a garage for 10 years (56 Patrician) so I am using B&M trickshift.B&M is a variant of type F but with more friction properties.

Dear asa:

Type F has no friction modifiers and is fine for the 23rd series car.

For the 56, Packard recommended the friction modifier - read Dexron - in a TSB. Given that D range utilizes a synchronous shift the modifier will help reduce direct clutch wear. However, if you only use High range it doesn't matter.

Quote:
Not exactly. We've been down this road before:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=8045&forum=4&post_id=86686#forumpost86686

Dexron is backwardly-compatible to what Packard recommended in their service newsletter. However, while subsequent formulations MAY also be backwardly-compatible, up through Dexron III, they do not have the same friction modifiers as the original Dexron fluid.

The fruits of that discussion were incorporated into a revision of the FAQ cited above.