What type and weight lube does the transaxle take on my 1966 Toronado?,,,

 

Transmission fluid. The differential and transmission fluid are the same. Any fluid made today will be far better than the best fluid available when the car was new.

I use the Valvoline synthetic ATF in everything I own. It’s about 20 bucks a gallon at Walmart. Hard to beat at that price.

 

From 1966 CSM.

 

66 final drive is a one-year application. Be very careful what you put in there.



Not sure what the special lubricant is or what the modern equivalent is. You might pose the question to TOA final drive adviser John Biwersi on toronado.org.

I'm going to unlock my PM box and send you his contact info. Hope it helps.

 

I feel stupid. I thought the 425 all used transmissions fluid in the differential.

 

No need to. 66 is 56 years old this year and technology has come a long way.

The Toronado FWD was always overbuilt but especially so in the first few years. Contrary to how GM does things now, back then new features and options were tested to death and verified foolproof before they were ever released to the public.

I think the Olds Diesel program was the start of that decline, followed by Cadillac 8-6-4 and HT4100. If those engines had been properly vetted, things would have been different. But the financial people wouldn't have it.

OP, if you contact John B let us know what he recommends to lube the 66 final drive. The only description of the recommended lubricant I've ever seen is "special lubricant" and the part number. I've often wondered if it was the same as the Positraction lube, since that was always described the same way.

 

I still hear echos of leaks using synthetic oils and lubes, I would probably go with 90W with posi-traction additive but I will wait to see what others recommend, someone had to have changed the lube in their transaxle and would know what they used,,,

 

i have parted out 3 Toronado, one a 68, and the other 2 were both 71. It’s been a long time since then, I’m almost positive the final drive used ATF. I’m not arguing, I’ll take a printed book as fact over memory anytime.

What was the one year application? What was special with the one year? Just curious.

 

Seeing that there were a lot of similarities in the years 1966 and 1967, I checked in my 1967 CSM and it specifies the same lube for the Toronado final drive assembly as the 1966. You probably already searched the internet for an answer and found the same as I did, "superseded by 1050081" which also seems to be nonexistent today. Good luck!

 

The early Toronado final drive lubricant is NOT ATF. This is from the GM Engineering Journal issue that described the development of the Toronado.

 

yes, so very early on ATF was used in the final drive but wonder if that was in amy production cars or only in decelopment stages? It's too bad they don't go into more specifics as to what the "high lubricity lubricant",,,was!

 

This is from a paper about the development program. Production cars did not use ATF.

 

Waiting to hear back from TOA final drive advisor.

I swear I think that 1050081 p/n was the same as for the Positraction anti-chatter additive.

 

TOA final drive advisor recommended using AMSOIL 75W-140 Severe Gear oil in the 66-67 final drive units, and when using this, fill the unit to 1" lower than specified to reduce leakage. This is what he does successfully for GM Motorhomes with early Toronado drivetrains.

But, like us, John said he's never seen a can of the original "special lubricant".

Hope this helps and has demystified the 66-7 planetary final drive a bit. Thanks and credit to John Biwersi TOA #602 final drive advisor!

 

Thank you !!!!!

 

Great, thanks to all who offered suggestions and did research,,,