ATF fluid in manual gearbox?

Hi guys, my name is Frédéric', I'm from Belgium and I own a 1998 Freelander 1.8 wagon with a 5-speed manual. I am planning to change all fluids on the hippo and had researched the necessary parts. This morning I sent my dad out to the local car parts store where I always went for parts for my Nissan 200SX because I didn't have the time to go myself. I gave him a piece of paper with the necessary stuff and clearly marked that it needed the Texaco MTF94 transmission oil but said that an equivalent was also good if they didn't have that. When he came back I was looking at what he had brought with him and noticed something strange. They gave him Valvoline Maxlife ATF. Now I know I might sound stupid, but could I use this automatic transmission fluid in my manual transmission? I read that the Texaco MTF94 is some weird spec fluid that is not really compareable with other trans fluids (yet it's nowhere to be found anymore ). Do you guys have any advice for me? (and no, I'm not going to burn it )
Cheers guys

Yup Earthling Fred. . . . . .keep to the same spec [dont go for a substitute] your lucky its not an Auto gear box as that is complex oil [liquid gold]

So you're saying I can use the valvoline atf?

another question, I will also be changing the fuel filter on the hippo. Now I was wondering if it is possible and useful to upgrade the normal pump by a higher flow replacement? My freelander has only done 130k km but it might be useful to put a better pump in, in case the old one decides to pack up

and another thing. They gave my father semi synth engine oil (valvoline durablend mxl 5w40). I'd rather have fully synth 5w40 or 5w50, but do you guys think semi syn th is better? (reason that I'd rather go fully synth is that I think fluids made in labs are better than those pumped from the earth, even if they are mixed with lab-made ones)

fredericb said:

So you're saying I can use the valvoline atf?

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no. . . . .keep to LR'S standard, also changing fuel pump is a can of worms as ,if you increase [psi] then your high flow/low flow detectors might need to be altered . . . .not worth the hassle

Thank you Ming! Will leave the pump alone then. What do you think is the best option for engine oil? The semi synth they sold to my father or fully synth and what grade?

fredericb said:

Thank you Ming! Will leave the pump alone then. What do you think is the best option for engine oil? The semi synth they sold to my father or fully synth and what grade?

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0w-40 or 5w-40 fully synthetic would be the best you could put in there Fred

10w-40 is the standard recommendation though

there are many different types and brands

Valvoline Dura Blend is a good quality 10w-40 semi synthetic oil

Thanks guys. Went to the shop yesterday and traded the atf and semi synth oil in and got some fully synth 5w40 engine oil. havent had the time yet to go there today and see if the filter etc have arrived yet