Transmission Oil Review

[DeadlyZ33]

Originally Posted by racepar1

Mobil one is the WORST tranny fluid you can put in our trannies. I tried it once. The trans ground like shit once it got hot. I changed the shitty mobil one crap out with some cheap ass regular gear oil the SECOND I got home.

Mobil one makes you and your trans ghey, it's the troof!

LMAO troof. I remember after putting mobil1 in after changing the tranny oil for the first time in my cars life it felt like a downgrade. Needless to say I swapped to motul long before it was required.

Still hear motul is one of the best out there though. Made my tranny feel new again.

[Om1kron]

it has aids... I put it in my old civic and I couldn't even drive it until it warmed up and it just felt like I poured butter in my transmission and not butta!!! it made me cringe to change gears, i went right to the dealership and bent over for 3 quarts and changed it ASAP!

[slider2828]

Originally Posted by racepar1

Mobil one is the WORST tranny fluid you can put in our trannies. I tried it once. The trans ground like shit once it got hot. I changed the shitty mobil one crap out with some cheap ass regular gear oil the SECOND I got home.

Mobil one makes you and your trans ghey, it's the troof!

Well its right up to Amsoil which is 15 a quart for gear 75-90... Royal is ok, its like an on and off switch for oil. It protects, then just breaks down real quick... I really suggest Redline oil, usually a dollar more but a WHOLE lot better...

[KA240SX808]

So what would you guys recommend?

The AMSOIL Syncromesh 5w30 or there Synthetic 75w90 GL-4 Fluid?

[slider2828]

Amsoil is 75w90 GL-5 if you read the back of the package. Definitely Amsoil.... hence opening poster.... lol

[98s14inaz]

Redline MTL for mine. I used Redline MT90 for a while but it didn't care of the cold much.

[design240sx]

whats a good brand tranny fluid for daily driving sr? from a cold weather?

[blueshark123]

im surpised that no one mentioned gm syncromesh i havent had any problems in my car or my brothers k20 with 650whp

[Bubbles]

I use redline, doubt I'll ever use anything else.

[DJ_Sunrise]

Ive tried RP, Redline, Mobil 1, and some other shit. Mobil shifts like shit... it's horrible. Royal purple was ok. Can't remember any details.. so it wasn't shitty, or great. But I have tried Redline shockproof and MT90. Both were amazing. If you complain about how hard it is to shift, grow a set of balls. It's supposed to protect your tranny. By the time your engine warms up, the trans fluid should be warmed up too.

-Bart

[Om1kron]

lol i like that, grow a set of balls.... ram your stick into the gates when it's cold, whats a little grinding right?

[superJoy]

Just an FYI, you're not supposed to use GL-5 in our KA/SR/CA/whatever transmissions

FSMs all call for GL-4

Most people already know that, because they say they're running MT-90. Which is GL-4.

Mobil/Valvoline/Pennzoil that you get on the shelf is all GL-5, which is a different mix of additives than what we need, and (apparently) cause issues with the synchros. So don't use it. People have wasted a lot of time on the Internet arguing about whether it's safe to use GL-5 in our transmissions, so not really going to beat a dead horse. Just play it safe and stick w/ GL-4.

Reason I say all this is because I had a transmission leak and decided to fix it, so I had to drain out my old MT-90 and search all over town for a GL-4 fluid. Eventually found some at NAPA, plain old non-synthetic stuff, made by Sta Lube. It's 85W-90 which is a little thick but shouldn't be an issue in TX.

Redline MT-90 is ideal for our transmissions, I just couldn't find any locally and I gotta have a car to get to class tomorrow. Sucks living in BFE sometimes...

[design240sx]

well i just went to the store and bought some royal purple stuff. ill let you know how it feels!

[KA240SX808]

Originally Posted by superJoy

Just an FYI, you're not supposed to use GL-5 in our KA/SR/CA/whatever transmissions

FSMs all call for GL-4

Most people already know that, because they say they're running MT-90. Which is GL-4.

Mobil/Valvoline/Pennzoil that you get on the shelf is all GL-5, which is a different mix of additives than what we need, and (apparently) cause issues with the synchros. So don't use it. People have wasted a lot of time on the Internet arguing about whether it's safe to use GL-5 in our transmissions, so not really going to beat a dead horse. Just play it safe and stick w/ GL-4.

Pennzoil has a 80w-90 GL-4, and it's good stuff, better then RP IMO

[xs240]

Originally Posted by racepar1

I use neo 75w90HD or neo 75w90RHD. The HD is about $40/gallon or so and the RHD is about $80/gallon or so. I LOVED the RHD, I have the HD in it right now and I don't like it so much. I'm gunna switch back. The royal purple tranny oil is quite good as well. My buddy switched from the NEO to the royal purple in his trans on his XB and he said that it shifted a bit smoother. The royal purple synchromax fluid is dope if your trans calls for low weight fluid, like ATF.

As for motor oils the diesel oils are the best, especially for motor break-in. They have a LOT more detergents and suspend particles much better. For break-in I would run a 15w40 non-synthetic diesel oil and after that I would run a 10w30 synthetic oil. Synthetic oil stands up to high temps MUCH better than natural oil. Since I track my car regularly that is VERY important to me. I like royal purple, but I wanna try some different stuff. I run royal purple 20w50 generally because my motor is so old and has so many miles on it. Right now I am running some 10w30 castrol syntec that I got for free and I am not very impressed. The motor seems even louder and clunkier than it was with the royal purple. I may try some royal purple 5w20 racing oil that I also got for free for my next event this saturday. It should free up a bit of power.

I run 10w40 redline oil and my KA is still noisy lol. I removed the top and side chain guides though and i have an intake (well u do too) with peak perf race tranny mount and cusco engine mounts... maybe that makes it louder heh.

[xs240]

Originally Posted by superJoy

Just an FYI, you're not supposed to use GL-5 in our KA/SR/CA/whatever transmissions

FSMs all call for GL-4

Most people already know that, because they say they're running MT-90. Which is GL-4.

Mobil/Valvoline/Pennzoil that you get on the shelf is all GL-5, which is a different mix of additives than what we need, and (apparently) cause issues with the synchros. So don't use it. People have wasted a lot of time on the Internet arguing about whether it's safe to use GL-5 in our transmissions, so not really going to beat a dead horse. Just play it safe and stick w/ GL-4.

Reason I say all this is because I had a transmission leak and decided to fix it, so I had to drain out my old MT-90 and search all over town for a GL-4 fluid. Eventually found some at NAPA, plain old non-synthetic stuff, made by Sta Lube. It's 85W-90 which is a little thick but shouldn't be an issue in TX.

Redline MT-90 is ideal for our transmissions, I just couldn't find any locally and I gotta have a car to get to class tomorrow. Sucks living in BFE sometimes...

That is correct, GL-4 is what we need in the tranny and GL-5 is what should be run in the diff.

The GL-5 has additivites that are not good for yellow metals (eg; brass which our synchros are made of)

[slider2828]

AMSOIL - Synthetic Manual Transmission and Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90 (MTG) <---You guys can run this stuff,

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/svg.aspx <--- but I run this stuff. So if you really wanna bitch at labels, then go do research and not speculate. It supports GL-4 and Gl-5

But like I said, if you want run the MT and Transaxle Gear Lube....

[JRas]

Originally Posted by racepar1

Let's see some proof that GL-5 ruins brass. That's all a bunch of smoke and mirrors bullshit man. It is the additive package that makes the oil better or worse. I used GL-5 oil all year last year and it was a shift fork that broke in my trans, not a synchro. I use NEO 75w90 HD or RHD. I then replaced all the forks with some out of a donor tranny and sold the trans. It still shifts like butter to this day. GL-4 or GL-5 doesn't matter, it is all about the additive package. I personally like to use oils from smaller companies as their additive packages are better engineered.

Why would Nissan recommend the use of GL-4 rated fluid in their transmissions but recommend GL-5 for their differentials?

intresting read:
Gear Oil Selection

Oils are made from base stocks, refined and then mixed with additives to improve their performance. GL-5's incompatibility is due to the extreme pressure (EP) wear additives. To give the gear oil its EP rating, it's easiest to add a sulpher based additive like MoS2 (molybdenum disulphide) but the sulphur present in the oil (you can smell it) is responsible for eating the copper alloy used to make the synchros.

GL-4 differs from GL-5 by the amount these chemicals are mixed into the oil (1/2 to much less in GL-4). Since the same additives are present in GL-4, they will eat the synchros as well but at a point in time that is beyond the expected service life of the gear stack.


To get the GL-4 rating, the oil has to pass the ASTM D-130 test. This test determines how reactive the sulpher is against a polished copper strip. The strip is also subjected to heating to simulate the running conditions in the gear box.

To obtain GL-5 certification, the manufacturer does not have to pass the ASTM D-130 test. This is the main reason why you should avoid GL-5. So, if you put in a call to a manufacturer about their GL-5, that test result is what you want to verify.Some people will claim that using GL-5 in a GL-4 spec transmission doesn't apply when the GL-5 is synthetic. This depends on the oil and cannot be generalized. However, it should be noted that many GL-5 synthetic gear oils do not use sulpher in their EP additive package and can pass ASTM D-130.Even if the ven if the manuacturer states the gear lube is "non-corrosive", its viscosity index may be too slippery for the VW style synchros. This means that while the syncros won't corrode, the oil is not designed to grab the hub the way GL-4 does and the transmission will wear out another way.As a final caution, some GL-5 formulas have been known to permanently coat the synchros in a VW manual transmission reducing its life by 50%.

GL-5 MT-1:

In recent years a new gear lube rating has appeared: API GL-5/MT-1. MT-1 all by itself is just as non-suitable as GL-5 can be but in combination some manufacturers when asked are now stating that formula is ok to use in place of GL-4. It is hard to verify if these gear oils are suitable for the transmission. Certainly, they have not done as much research as VW has done but at the same time VW is no longer testing new transmission oils with their obsolete models.
What is clear is that the oil has to pass ASTM D-130 to get the MT-1 rating. This will determine if their EP additive package is non-reactive with copper. However, until you try shifting the gears you won't be able to confirm if it's got the proper viscosity.
For that reason, sticking with GL-4 is simply the best course of action for long transmission life unless you can verify mileage and shifting performance with another owner.

[slider2828]

Awesome thanks for the post.... I will probably switch to GL-4 later.... Probably by end of 3 months..... Blah.... Amsoil makes great GL-5 oil... I will test the GL-4 in a couple of months no biggy, unless someone wants to test it for me and let me know. I am sure its really good either or..

[Om1kron]

gl-4 it is.

[SoSideways]

That's the bottle I have 3 of. Same thing that went into my buddy's S2000. He said that shit is the bomb, and in the S2000 community they pretty much said it's the best for their tranny.

[shrug]

I'm gonna switch out my like, 2 or 3 year old Redline MT-90 or MTF (whichever one was slightly thicker) that's in my tranny now for the Amsoil stuff probably next time I'm under the car.

[slider2828]

That is right!....

Yah that is that crappy Heavy Duty Shockproof.... Junk!

[Shift_Dr1ft]

Where did you guys go to find these Amsoil oil? Kragen and Autozone don't seem to carry them.

[Touge Noob S13]

Originally Posted by Shift_Dr1ft

Where did you guys go to find these Amsoil oil? Kragen and Autozone don't seem to carry them.

You can get it from the website or one of their dealers that is local to you.

[dex]

Woo... i went to local part shop in Montreal... Everything stated in here is illegal in Canada... w00t... Going to order online

[kognition]

Don't forget the calcium twins!

Originally Posted by slider2828

In generally tranny oil doesn't get changed for a lot of miles. The FSM will tell you but I think like 20k miles or something if not longer. I dunno about Royal Purple, their gear oil felt just like any other oil except at a premium price. Their motor oil I would say is better than Mobil1, but has the same longevity as Mobil 1 which is liek 1500 miles on a 350HP SR.

I use Redline Egine oil which is 1 dollar more than RP and Amsoil is about 2 and Amsoil Signature is like $3.50 more than Redline. Personally Redline performs well as an ENGINE OIL. But Amsoil Tranny oil is LIQUID GOLD....

Just like this guy

[ro240sx]

I'm going to give Amsoil a try when I change my transmission oil

[umsports]

Here's my mix for my KA-T.

1qt Royal Purple 75-90
1qt Royal Purple 10-30
1/2qt Lucas Transmission Fix

Call me crazy but before this I used to replace the tranny every 6-8 months. My current one has lasted almost a year and isn't showing any signs of giving up.

[Geno750]

I'm definitely a fan of the Amsoil stuff, I'm running the 75w-90 gl4 in my transmission, and 20w-50 high zinc Amsoil in the engine, and everything is running great.

[HemiCharger]

I like BG synchroshift 2 and it is all yellow metal safe....