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Old 06-19-2021, 01:44 AM   #1
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ATF turns purple?

How did I not know this?

In the midst of repairing my transmission and discovered the ATF turned purple in sunlight.
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Old 06-19-2021, 11:16 PM   #2
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Dexron 3? Didn’t know that. Why does that happen?

And there aren’t many things that I don’t have the balls to take apart, but heavy duty automatic transmissions are in that category.
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Old 06-19-2021, 11:29 PM   #3
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So, what mixed with red makes purple? Blue. Yet, to get different shades of purple, you can add different colors...like brown maybe?

Since purple is closer to red on the color spectrum, it means that something is mixing with the red to create purple...depending on the shade, maybe rusty brown?

Where would you get a rusty brown....rusty metal due to water in the ATF?

Here's a reply from a forum where a driver said his ATF was purple.

"was the vehicle sitting for extended period of time and not ran periodically. ATF, some can collect water(hygro) the rust particles could be just that, "rust like debris on my dipstick" as you said. High moisture level areas such as near the coastal beach regions(i live 2 blocks off the beach in NJ) can form water droplets that can bind at the molecular level with these chemicals and additives and also form suspensions....(water droplets) on the dipstick and now you see rust particles, especially if the vehicle is sitting for those long periods of time. My rav's are daily driven, my dodge dakota(18 yrs old) is only driven 1 day a week, sometimes it sits longer and i get those small rust parts up higher on dipstick, near the top pull cap. I use synthetic atf in the truck, so its a non-hygro type. Nothing to worry, drain the trans-pan 4.5 qts will pour out...drop pan and change filter and refill with WS atf fluid."

Interesting.

Oh, also, the amount and type (warm vs cool) of light, the background, etc., can also cause how our eye sees the color.
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Old 06-20-2021, 12:58 AM   #4
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Dexron 3? Didn’t know that. Why does that happen?
From searching around, I'm led to believe that sometimes the dye in ATF is light sensitive. I don't know what was in this machine, but I choose to assume it was Allison TranSynd.

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And there aren’t many things that I don’t have the balls to take apart, but heavy duty automatic transmissions are in that category.
This is new for me too.

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Originally Posted by Simplicity View Post
Here's a reply from a forum where a driver said his ATF was purple.
It turned purple in the sunlight. The same stuff sitting in the pan underneath the valves is still red, as was the rest of the fill.
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Old 06-20-2021, 06:29 AM   #5
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Send off a sample to Blackstone Labs and find out what, if anything, is wrong with it. They should also be able to tell you if its Transynd or if your assumption is wrong. They've got very good engineers at Blackstone and its cheap insurance.
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Old 06-20-2021, 08:58 AM   #6
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a simpler idea would be to pour some transynd in a pan and put it in the sun.. if it turns purple chances are you have transynd


id do it except I live in central ohio where it seems sunshine is a privilege we dont get
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Old 06-20-2021, 08:41 PM   #7
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Send off a sample to Blackstone Labs and find out what, if anything, is wrong with it. They should also be able to tell you if its Transynd or if your assumption is wrong. They've got very good engineers at Blackstone and its cheap insurance.
I have some pre-paid Blackstone sample bottles, but I neglected to fill one when draining both the engine and the transmission.

I'm not worried about it. The transmission looks beautiful inside. I'm more worried about all the gunk I got in it when taking it apart. Bad design for the control plug to go through an upward facing surface of the case.
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Old 06-20-2021, 08:45 PM   #8
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a simpler idea would be to pour some transynd in a pan and put it in the sun.. if it turns purple chances are you have transynd
Could be. From what I've read, some ATFs do it, some don't. The dye is not part of the lubricant package.

I've been around cars and lubricants my entire life. I've never seen this before.
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