Defiant
DSM Wiseman
- 34,753
- 201
- Jan 13, 2003
-
glorious Galt,
California
After putting in a B&M shifter last week, and being very happy with it, I decided it was time to get some transaxle fluid. Reading the reviews everywhere I could find them, it seemed the choices came down to Redline, B&G, and GM Synchromesh..... and GM's apparent cheap twin, Pennzoil/Quaker State Synchromesh.
I got three quarts (manual says capy is 2.4 quarts) and put them in the car. Initially, I was a little concerned because the shifting didn't seem to change in the slightest, and during moderate cornering I could hear a muffled thudding. After two days of this, I decided to break down and take the bottles out of the hatch area and put the stuff in the gearbox.
Very little to the operation, filler plug and drain plug are both out in the open once the car's jacked up. The filler plug on my 2G says "OIL", which is a little suspicious as I use that stuff in the crankcase, too. Oh, the VFAQ for the 1G mentions removing the filler plug first, but he sounds a bit confused as to why- well, part of it is that it sucks to drain the transmission case and _then_ find out the filler plug is irretrievably seized or cross-threaded.
When I got the lube, I also got a filler spout that screws on the bottles. It has about a 2' hose on it; if I had a 4' hose I could have left the intake snorkle on and done it all past it (this is on a turbo). Because I like to stop and play "what's that thing, where's that go to?" while working on a car, the job managed to take an hour. I'd taken it for a five-mile drive before starting to warm the old oil up a bit. The Synchromesh isn't terribly thick, just slightly thinner than what came out (probably the original oil) and quite a bit thicker than engine oil. But nothing like Hypoid differential grease. I'd say half as thick as Hypoid, and three times as thick as engine oil.
Got the job done, buttoned everything up, and did a test-run. Right off the start, the "effort" to get the B&M at 35% into first gear was reduced. I've wasted my time double-clutching my downshifts, so 2nd gear grind has never been an issue with my cars, but even rolling through the neighborhood toward the freeway it _felt_ like there was less drag in the transmission: I suspect this is a manifestation of the "wax makes cars faster" phenomenon. I'll see if my gas mileage goes up any. Shifting _is_ smoother, and sliding into first at a stop is easier.
I got the Pennzoil Synchromesh off the shelf at the Autozone two blocks away, cost was $6.50 a quart. Good deal all the way around.
I got three quarts (manual says capy is 2.4 quarts) and put them in the car. Initially, I was a little concerned because the shifting didn't seem to change in the slightest, and during moderate cornering I could hear a muffled thudding. After two days of this, I decided to break down and take the bottles out of the hatch area and put the stuff in the gearbox.
Very little to the operation, filler plug and drain plug are both out in the open once the car's jacked up. The filler plug on my 2G says "OIL", which is a little suspicious as I use that stuff in the crankcase, too. Oh, the VFAQ for the 1G mentions removing the filler plug first, but he sounds a bit confused as to why- well, part of it is that it sucks to drain the transmission case and _then_ find out the filler plug is irretrievably seized or cross-threaded.
When I got the lube, I also got a filler spout that screws on the bottles. It has about a 2' hose on it; if I had a 4' hose I could have left the intake snorkle on and done it all past it (this is on a turbo). Because I like to stop and play "what's that thing, where's that go to?" while working on a car, the job managed to take an hour. I'd taken it for a five-mile drive before starting to warm the old oil up a bit. The Synchromesh isn't terribly thick, just slightly thinner than what came out (probably the original oil) and quite a bit thicker than engine oil. But nothing like Hypoid differential grease. I'd say half as thick as Hypoid, and three times as thick as engine oil.
Got the job done, buttoned everything up, and did a test-run. Right off the start, the "effort" to get the B&M at 35% into first gear was reduced. I've wasted my time double-clutching my downshifts, so 2nd gear grind has never been an issue with my cars, but even rolling through the neighborhood toward the freeway it _felt_ like there was less drag in the transmission: I suspect this is a manifestation of the "wax makes cars faster" phenomenon. I'll see if my gas mileage goes up any. Shifting _is_ smoother, and sliding into first at a stop is easier.
I got the Pennzoil Synchromesh off the shelf at the Autozone two blocks away, cost was $6.50 a quart. Good deal all the way around.