Autotrak II Sources

[KE7WOX]

I searched and didn't find anything recent. This is something from October/November and forgot to post about it, so I'm doing that now so others know there are other places to get Auto Trak II.

So last year I was changing my TCase fluid, and here is the Autotrak Saga.

First, I went to the local dealer, Chevrolet of Dublin, which was located conveniently close to my apartment (maybe 3-4 minutes driving), showed up on a Saturday morning, walked up to the parts counter and asked for 2 qts of Auto Trak II, the guy gave me a blank expression and said "Autotrak II... Autotrak II... Autotrak II?... transmission?" and I said no, transfer case, 04 Trailblazer, he went to the back, got me 2 bottles and was about to ring me up, I noticed that one of the bottles had a busted cap, so he went to the back and got me another one, then I noticed that the bottles were shaped differently, and saw that the 2nd bottle was Synchromesh fluid (^1), told him, and he went and got me a new bottle of Autotrak II, I verified that the quantities matched, bottles match, etc. Stated that some coworker had dropped some bottles from the shelf and maybe that's what had happened, not that I cared, the seal had been tampered with one way or another; the covenant by which the fluid manufacturer assures me that the fluid is as fresh and complete as it was when it left the manufacturing plant was nonexistent.

Remember what I said about 2 quarts? I forgot that buying a 3rd bottle for spills, fluid left inside the pump hoses and such was a good idea, I had this epiphany before leaving the dealership, but I didn't want to go through the same ordeal to buy another bottle of ATII (or whatever the hell they wanted to give me instead). Later on, started to change the fluid, and noticed that we were running low due to how much was in the pump, hoses and spilled, now, I was at a friend's house in Cincinnati, on a Sunday afternoon. Almost had him get me to a rental place so I can come back up to Columbus and then go back mid week and finish this job. I Googled, and found that O'Reilly sells this rare elixir called Auto Trak II. Called the nearest one and confirmed that they had a few bottles in stock, and asked to have them hold me 2 bottles, drove up, picked them up. When I got there, I asked one of the counter guys for it, had to spell the name for them, apparently he had never even heard of that particular fluid, and another one of the employees had some vague idea it was some sort of GM fluid. Low and behold, I walked out with 2 bottles of ice cold Auto Trak II and went back to changing the fluids.

Up until then, I had no idea there was a local non-dealer source for ATII, it's been long known that Amazon and GMPD sell it, but if you're in a hurry, the dealer is pretty much the way to go (good luck getting that after 12:00 on a Saturday, Sunday, or February 30th).
Specs
P/N: 10-417
Price: $8.99/bottle (as of 07 May 2015)
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0207

I paid $10.34/bottle (October 2014) at Chevrolet of Dublin (which later vanished overnight and moved to an existing Buick/GMC a few miles away).

^1. A former coworker has a 2006ish Colorado 4WD, had his TCase serviced at a different dealer and they told him that his took Synchromesh, and they had to verify by VIN number, as not all of them are like that. I thought it was odd (and I still do), completely irrelevant to this, but just something interesting I found out.

TL;DR: O'reilly sell Autotrak II... Oh! oh! oh! O'reilly! Auto parts...

[Eredin]

It's difficult to find people that know what you're talking about in a parts store these days. Most of them get paid a bit over minimum wage and don't know what they even drove to work in, nor are they ASE certified. That being said, my local Advance usually keeps some in stock, but they have to special order it, same $8.99 price. I grabbed the last 4 they had on my last venture there.

[KE7WOX]

I understand auto parts stores for not knowing the more obscure fluids (if they didn't know where they kept the Quaker State 10W-30, that would be worrisome), the employees seem to be hit and miss depending on the store, like they'll either employ someone who would buy blinker fluid, or someone who can do an engine rebuild in the parking lot, but nothing in between. That said, I expect that a dealer parts guy knows at least a little bit of the proprietary fluids they carry (or a name), or has a cheat sheet.

[Eredin]

Yea, that's a very accurate statement, and I agree. We have said problem with most local dealers, regardless of brand.

[HeavyChevy4200]

Good to know oriellys carries Autotrack II. My differentials and transfer case are due for a fluid change in the near future.