Hey what's up everyone! I have a 4 cylinder 2000 Saturn LS with a manual transmission. I'm I'm in the midst of servicing all the fluids in the car when I got to the transmission fluid. The manual says to put Dexron III, but when I went to purchase some from the local dealership & they told me Dexron III is replaced by Dexron VI. Is that safe to use in my manual transmission in my Saturn LS?

 

Do you think the dealer is lying to you?

 

I believe those Dexron fluids are backwards compatible. Google it to verify. Dealer is correct.

 

Yes DexronVI supercedes DexronIII

 

I don't think the dealership is lying, but I have been misled by the dealership in the past. The reason why I'm questioning if its ok to put my tranny is it says its for automatic transmission. Plus on the back of the bottle it says not to put it in manual transmission or transfer case. I pointed that part out to the guys in the parts department & they said that doesn't pertain to my car. Its only talking about cars 2005-up.. Just worried about messing up the seals & then I will really have a problem. I goggled this issue & haven't found a def anwser..

 

You already have the answer.

 

There have been standard transmissions that have been designed to use automatic transmission fluids rather than 60 or 90 weight gear oil that was used in the past. Certain if not all BW T5 5 speeds among many others. For those transmissions if you tried to use the heavy gear lube used in the past, you would starve the bearings due to the oil passages are too small in the transmissions to allow the gear oil to flow and lubricate. Where as if you used automatic transmission fluid in early standard transmission designed to use gear lube, the transmission fluid would cause the bearing to burn out too because it is too light.
Dexron III has been superceded by Dexron VI, while crossing back and forth through the years gets confusing, don't worry about it, use it.
The Ford World Class T5 I have installed in my American Motors Javelin is designed for Automatic Transmission fluid. The BorgWarner 4 speed I removed was designed for 90 weight gear lube. I use instead, Mobil 1 engine oil, 25W50 for added heavy duty oiling capability with recomendation from a performance Mustang Group as an improvement for lubrication. So far after some where around 15 years of use or so, I still have not had a problem.