The Transmission Fluid That GM Stopped Making (And What Replaces It)

If you own an older GM truck — a Silverado, Tahoe, or Suburban from the late 1990s through mid-2000s — there's a good chance you've stood at the parts counter asking for Dexron III and gotten a blank stare, or found something labeled "Dexron III/Mercon" that you weren't sure about. Here's what actually happened and what you should be using. GM discontinued Dexron II in 1998 and formally discontinued Dexron III licensing in 2006. That means no manufacturer can legally produce or sell a fluid labeled "GM Dexron III" anymore. The fluid didn't disappear because it was bad — GM replaced it with Dexron VI, which is a full synthetic formulation that GM specifically designed to be backward-compatible with all previous Dexron specs including Dexron II and Dexron III. You can use Dexron VI in any GM transmission that originally called for Dexron III or Dexron II. No flush required, no special procedure — just use it at the next drain-and-fill service.

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