"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
12/21/2016 at 14:26 • Filed to: None
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"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
12/21/2016 at 14:26 • Filed to: None | 1
| 6 |
About 2-3 weeks ago I drained out my trans fluid, and put in what the counter guy assured me was a good substitute for what I had entered the store searching for. Derp. It turned out to be a bad choice. Although everything felt smoother overall, it was like the 1-2 gear syncro had practically disappeared compared to before I changed fluid. Apparently GL-5 fluid with GL-4 compatibility is not the same as GL-4. I ordered new fluid early last week after researching what fluid seems to be a good match more thoroughly. (Bonus is that apparently the Royal Purple the counter guy recommended may be corrosive to brass syncros.)
I leave for a vacation this evening, and it will drive me crazy not knowing if the new fluid helps the 1-2 gear feel more like it used to.
My only hope is getting the fluid before I get home for my lunch break. So come on FedEx, you can do it. You already pushed back the scheduled delivery one day.
Frank Grimes
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
12/21/2016 at 16:32 |
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Isnt gear oil fun! all these stupid specifications and you cant really tell if one brand is what you are looking for some say GL4 and GL5.
Miatas also need this rare GL4 stuff. If your transmission is anything like a Miata trans only use GL4 if it says GL5 on it anywhere stay away! Also don’t use it if it has LS or limited slip additive. Trying to find a GL4 only and preferably a synthetic is a challenge.
Most will tell you to get Motorcraft synthetic for miatas. They are right I put in redline and mobil 1 mixture in mine when due to not having a tailshaft plug all my precious motorcraft leaked out and it shifts like crap. Well I really only notice it on the downshift to first at a stop. It won’t go into gear until a good while. Like 5 seconds but it is still annoying.
I think manual transmissions need less slippery oil to slow the synchros down faster. Which makes sense.
What sucks is the good motorcraft stuff is hard to find and costs like $22 a quart.
I don’t know what people in other cold parts of the world put in their transmissions.
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Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
> Frank Grimes
12/21/2016 at 16:45 |
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Well, I ended up ordering redline mt90, which to my understanding is GL-4 only synthetic without additives. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there at my lunch break, so I’ll spend the next 10 days wondering if it’ll get better with the right oil.
And I think you’re right, it’s about having protection without too much viscosity for some gear boxes to allow the synchros to do their job.
The amount of different versions and types is dumbfounding. As an example, I ordered one type of redline (gl-4) but there is also redline that is a gl-5/gl-4 oil, and they have another go-5/go-4 NS oil, which has the no slip additives and they are all 75w-90. I don’t think I got a motorcraft recommendation over at Rennlist but I’ll keep it in mind if I continued to have issues.
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Frank Grimes
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
12/21/2016 at 16:57 |
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You might try finding the motorcraft stuff at a ford dealer if you can’t wait for fedex. BTW I am the same way I want to fix things and know the problem is fixed and done.
I freaking hate trying to sort different versions and stuff and I hate the companies that manufacture this oil stuff and obfuscate or just don’t even list what their oil is.
What do the porsche guys recommend? I found some Ravenol on amazon that is a semi synth GL4 for like $12.
My transmission also uses a 75w90.
There is a really big miata parts and modification and service/repair company called flyin miata that has been in business for a really long time. Like when the first miatas where new. So basically I trust them. Here is what they use and what they say in regards to REDLINE LIGHTWEIGHT SHOCKPROOF GEAR OIL
“For maximum gearbox protection. This is some odd stuff that adheres really well to gear teeth and cushions them against high pressures. This reduces the odds of stripped teeth. It has a film thickness like a 75W140, but the viscosity of an 80W.
For best results, we recommend mixing it 50-50 with Redline MTL or MT-90. Do not use if you have a transmission cooler.”
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Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
> Frank Grimes
12/21/2016 at 17:38 |
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The trusted Porsche resources guys tend to recommend Redline MT-90. But it’s all over the place online, in a 20 post thread, there were probably 8 different recommendations! The redline seemed to me the most consistently recommended(especially by people using the GL-4 type) and swepco 201 was probably second(but a few outliers saying they had issues). Mobil1 makes a 75w90 gl-4 synthetic that people seem happy with as well, not as many users but very consistently content users.
My oil was dropped off at 1:30, so I may sneak home 20 minutes early to pump it in and get a quick drive in.
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Frank Grimes
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
12/21/2016 at 19:52 |
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sweet. getting things done feels like victory.
I didnt know mobil makes one. Is it an LS oil?
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Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
> Frank Grimes
12/22/2016 at 00:45 |
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Im not sure about mobil1.
I got the redline in, and it seemed like an improvement pretty much off the bat and did get better over 10 minutes of driving around the neighborhood. I’m not sure if it was because it was warming up or if it was because the more appropriate oil was Working its way in, in place of the Royal purple. RP was equally not good whether cold or warm; so this would be an improvement either way.
After I put the RP in, I could only shift into first(even when warm) once I was more or less stopped; at the end of the drive with redline, I was able to shift into first earlier as I approached stops but before actually stopping.