Will this gear oil hurt my drivetrain?

[obsidian]

I did a search and the only thing I found was to use the Redline Heavy weight shock proof in the transfer case and rear diff and that Redline MT90 or MTL was gold in the trans.

Well.... I hate redline. I used them before and was burned badly. I also will not use Royal Purple.

So now to what I did use.

I'm a big fan of stock and the manual and other places I looked told me 75w-90 in everything. Makes sense to me so I bought what I could.

I found Valvoline Dura Blend synthetic blend in 80w-90 and bought the last 2qts there was in stock. That went into the transfer case and rear diff.

Then I bought Pennzoil Synchromesh for the transaxle. Bought that out also.

So the question is what was stated earlier. Will this hurt any part of the vehicle's drivetrain? I had to put some oil in as I didn't trust the previous owners word for all the other loads of junk he spoon fed me.

Glad I didn't either. Super fine metal particles out of the transaxle and transfer case and super nasty looking oil from the diff.

So now I'm better off than before, what would be the suggested route? If this stuff will work then it will stay. If it will kill anything then I'll change it at the next available time.

Thanks for the info.

-Brandon

 

[PieEyedPiper]

The suggested route would be to to ensure clean and fresh fluid. Check.

Nothing wrong with factory recommended fluids. But there is something wrong with using synchromesh. People all over say they love it. I maintain that those individuals aren't paying close enough attention.
The fluid is too thin and doesn't offer enough protection, in my opinion.

What's wrong with redline products? I'd never suggest royal purple anything and I have 4.3qt. of royal purple in the crankcase right now.

 

[H4G64T]

So you won't use two of the best products on the market...interesting.

 

[DSM1G90]

..something must have happened for the dislike.... I love MT-90, but don't have a transfer case..

Ever tried AMSOIL products? They make a great GL-5 gear oil.

 

[obsidian]

The redlined I used in another vehicle in the proper amount. It was all gravy at first, then after just 1k miles of driving, I was grinding 3rd, 4th, and 5th on easy shift and completely murdering it on hard shifts.

Changed the oil out with some simple castrol and the car was never happier. Everything went smooth and after 30k miles on the castrol, I changed it again and it came out nice.

BTW, when I pulled that redlined out of my trans, well, it looked like someone took a burnt biscuit, threw it in a blender on pulverize for 30 minutes, added a splash of milk and put it in my trans. I will never touch the stuff again.

Castrol has ALWAYS done me good but they don't make the gear oil in this viscosity needed.

I've used BG Synchroshift II before and that stuff was godlike but I didn't have time to wait for it to be shipped to my house. Next fluid change I will be ready.

Now how about some useful responses instead of one liners directed at insulting my choice in fluids.

I prefer products that are easily available in the event of an emergency but Amsoil it too expensive for my taste.

 

[Pestilence]

I've used RP for years in Camaro's, Mustang's and Corvette's and it has never let me down. Its one of the best product's on the market abit alittle pricey but you get what you pay for.

 

[LiquidX]

The redlined I used in another vehicle in the proper amount. It was all gravy at first, then after just 1k miles of driving, I was grinding 3rd, 4th, and 5th on easy shift and completely murdering it on hard shifts.

Changed the oil out with some simple castrol and the car was never happier. Everything went smooth and after 30k miles on the castrol, I changed it again and it came out nice.

BTW, when I pulled that redlined out of my trans, well, it looked like someone took a burnt biscuit, threw it in a blender on pulverize for 30 minutes, added a splash of milk and put it in my trans. I will never touch the stuff again.

Castrol has ALWAYS done me good but they don't make the gear oil in this viscosity needed.

I've used BG Synchroshift II before and that stuff was godlike but I didn't have time to wait for it to be shipped to my house. Next fluid change I will be ready.

Now how about some useful responses instead of one liners directed at insulting my choice in fluids.

I prefer products that are easily available in the event of an emergency but Amsoil it too expensive for my taste.

Just curious, did you check to make sure that your vehicle (assuming it's not a DSM) was fine to run a GL-4 fluid? Sounds like there was another problem if you got those results as 2:1 MT90 and MTL is one of the best combinations you can use. Syncroshift/mesh didn't touch the Redline concoction.

You can pretty much run any gear oil you want to run as long as it meets the requirements of the transmission. If you get a built transmission, you will most likely be told to run Redline or Royal Purple for a reason.


As for easy to get to, have you checked with your local Autozone, Advanced Auto, Napa, etc to see what they carry and what they can get in?

 

[Boostinsideways]

Royal Purple is snake oil. You pay 2-2.5x what its worth just because it has purple dye in it.

Redline is okay, I swear buy it but would never run it in a transaxle.

I use only Penzoil or B&M Syncromesh. You need to change it ever 3-5k though. Its thinner, and prodvides superior protection for the synchros, but it breaks down quicker and once it starts to break down it doesn't do shit, your going to shred the sychros and gearsets rather quickly.

 

[H4G64T]

Royal Purple is snake oil huh?

Funny, I can provide a real life picture of cam lobes after using Royal Purple that are actually micro-polished. Just because you need an excuse to be cheap, does not mean the product does not do what it advertises.

 

[DSM1G90]

It could be that RP is a rather new product compared to other synth oils and "proven" results may not be as long .. and AMSOIL has been around since the early 70's with a lot of long haulers and freeway runners love the stuff for the massive protection that AMSOIL provides. Heard stories where motors running AMSOIL have been torn down with over 200K miles on them only to be put them right back together-no work is needed.

It could be that the OP had a tranny that only requires a certain grade and make of fluid due to the syncros (420A trannies are a good case of proprietory fluids needed to be used that can only be used being a Chrysler tranny-throw anything else in this tranny and kiss it goodbye) makeup and thus, Redline would destroy the syncros real quick.

 

[Pestilence]

Royal Purple is snake oil. You pay 2-2.5x what its worth just because it has purple dye in it.

Redline is okay, I swear buy it but would never run it in a transaxle.

I use only Penzoil or B&M Syncromesh. You need to change it ever 3-5k though. Its thinner, and prodvides superior protection for the synchros, but it breaks down quicker and once it starts to break down it doesn't do shit, your going to shred the sychros and gearsets rather quickly.

Snake Oil is something it's definitely not.

 

[jrohner]

Redline is okay, I swear buy it but would never run it in a transaxle.

I use only Penzoil or B&M Syncromesh. You need to change it ever 3-5k though. Its thinner, and prodvides superior protection for the synchros, but it breaks down quicker and once it starts to break down it doesn't do shit, your going to shred the sychros and gearsets rather quickly.

And NO protection for the gears. You will shred gearsets quickly anyways with that thin crap if you have a decent amount of torque.

 

[synthetek]

All three of the top DSM transmission builders recommend Redline. In your original post you said your a big fan of stock so you could also try the Mitsubishi 6-speed manual transmission gear oil from the 2005 EVO MR which also comes recommended.

 

[obsidian]

Thanks for all of the replies.

The car that I had the redline in was a 94 Honda Accord with a manual trans. Honda calls for 10w-30 oil in the trans (No, not a typo) and I didn't want to have to mess with it for awhile. Since I only needed about 2 qts, I used 2 and topped off with a third.

Then everything went to hell with my shifting.

Changed the oil to Castrol GTX 10w-30 and it was good for a long time.

Synchroshift II was awesome stuff when I used it in my Nissan trans. Plus i've read a few times that it's recommended for most DSM/Mitsu trans.

And again, I understand a lot of you have had great success with redline, but I won't touch it with a 10ft pole. Royal purple neither.

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[LiquidX]

Thanks for all of the replies.

The car that I had the redline in was a 94 Honda Accord with a manual trans. Honda calls for 10w-30 oil in the trans (No, not a typo) and I didn't want to have to mess with it for awhile. Since I only needed about 2 qts, I used 2 and topped off with a third.

Then everything went to hell with my shifting.

Changed the oil to Castrol GTX 10w-30 and it was good for a long time.

Synchroshift II was awesome stuff when I used it in my Nissan trans. Plus i've read a few times that it's recommended for most DSM/Mitsu trans.

And again, I understand a lot of you have had great success with redline, but I won't touch it with a 10ft pole. Royal purple neither.

Thanks again for all the replies.

The thing is from what I just read online, those trannies are VERY finiky with the oil that is introduced into their cases. Basically it was you either run OEM transmission fluid or Syncromesh as any other fluid would mess up the transmission as you saw. This is where the GL# comes into play, viscosity, additives, etc. Not all fluids are equal and you cannot always run 1 fluid in 2 separate applications due to different compounds found in the internals. In 1 transmission, that fluid could be the best there there is, while in another it will destroy the gear set within days causing the transmission to explode (exaggerated).

Seriously, Redline MT90 or MTL is what you want to run. If you choose not to run it, well it's your transmission. Some people have had luck else where but I wouldn't use anything other than those 2 I mentioned since I switched to it. Notchy shifting went away going from Syncroshift to MT90.

 

[DSM1G90]

Wow, Hondas STILL requiring motor oil for the trannies - quite surprised on that one!

(I can see why he had probs with Redline and RP since that tranny needed a lot lighter oil )

I had a 1976 Honda civic that required, non detergent straight weight 30 motor oil in it's 4sp tranny when I got that car in the early 80's (oh-oh, dating myself again..).

The tranny got so stiff to shift when it would get warm, thus I figured that using regular dino oil in a tranny, that everything was coated in varnish from the old oil that was in there since the vehicle had high mileage on it.

I drained the oil (which was coal black as sin from the get-go), jacked up the front end to get the wheels off the ground, poured in a quart of oil and 2quarts of kerosene, started the motor up, put it into 4th gear and let the oil/kerosene mix roll around inside that little tranny for a good 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes, I would row through the gears so that mix would really get into the syncro sets.

I didn't want to put any weight on the tranny with such a thin mix of lubricant in the tranny that any weight on the gears would bust up things in a quick-why I raised it up off the wheels so the tranny would freewheel with no load.

Did the drain and more black came out of the tranny-including the varnish. Put the 30w back in and the thing shifted so smoothly and never started to seize up again. The following year, I sold it to a fellow worker who complimented on how that little Civic shifted so well and was easy to row through the gears.

Ain't that a hoot - "Dang! Hondas STILL using motor oil for their trannies ... can't get over that!" - DSM

 

[obsidian]

The Honda trans used MOTOR OIL. There is no GL type for it. It called for the same oil I put into the engine. It's what I used.

I can only attribute the failure to the fact that those racing oils have no detergents (or something) that helps prolong the life of the oil. So it failed quickly because it had no life.

Anyway... I'm still thinking about the redline. I used redline 10w-30 oil in the trans of that honda and then swapped it out with castrol 10w-30.

Maybe varnish being removed is a possibility but I'm not sure.

 

[H4G64T]

A little research in the Honda world has led me to find out that you should never use a synthetic motor oil in a Honda transmission as it is not good for the synchros. It says to use a petroleum based 10w-30 in 94s only because MTL/MTFs were not invented until the mid-90s, as such you will see in 97 Accord owner manuals that you should use Genuine Honda MTF or Syncromesh only and they are backwards compatible on older Honda Accords because they utilize the same transmissions and synchros.

Further research lead me to find out that you can and should use MTL from redline for those transmissions, 94 included and NOT Redline 10w-30.

So, your issues, as much as it sounds like a dick thing to say, stemmed from improper to non-existent research.

 

[DSM1G90]

Some buzz on this Redline info

http://www.redlineoil.com/content/files/tech/MTL%20and%20MT-90%20Tech%20Info.pdf

-DSM

 

[obsidian]

A little research in the Honda world has led me to find out that you should never use a synthetic motor oil in a Honda transmission as it is not good for the synchros. It says to use a petroleum based 10w-30 in 94s only because MTL/MTFs were not invented until the mid-90s, as such you will see in 97 Accord owner manuals that you should use Genuine Honda MTF or Syncromesh only and they are backwards compatible on older Honda Accords because they utilize the same transmissions and synchros.

Further research lead me to find out that you can and should use MTL from redline for those transmissions, 94 included and NOT Redline 10w-30.

So, your issues, as much as it sounds like a dick thing to say, stemmed from improper to non-existent research.

I like it when things are put bluntly, but honestly, if a manual says that 10w-30 is the preferred oil, then why would I do further research on a stock vehicle?

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I like it when things are put bluntly, but honestly, if a manual says that 10w-30 is the preferred oil, then why would I do further research on a stock vehicle?

'Cause you're mixing and matching "gear" oils, synthetic/conventional/redline's own special mix in an old Honda trans. After all, you DID go out and buy the flashiest bottle you could and hoped it would do something for you. Problem is, it did.

You need not fear Redline products because of your past experience.

 

[Boostinsideways]

Royal Purple is snake oil huh?

Funny, I can provide a real life picture of cam lobes after using Royal Purple that are actually micro-polished. Just because you need an excuse to be cheap, does not mean the product does not do what it advertises.

Just because it does what it says it doesn't mean you can get a similar or better quality product minus the purple dye for cheaper. I never said it didn't work. I said you over pay for it because it has purple dye in it.

You can get redline for at least 4-5$ cheaper a quart for gear oil. Valvoline VR-1 or Brad Penn for literally half the price when it comes to engine oil. Both of which are going to offer superior protection to the RP. Its good oil no doubt, but your still paying a lot of extra money for purple dye.

 

[DSM1G90]

extra money for purple dye

.. Just like in the '70's when Atlantic Richfield Pertoleums came out with "ARCO Graphite oil" - dino oil loaded with graphite.

Thus, black going in and smelly black coming out.

API gave it a good rating and such, but the graphite would not hold in suspension. Thus, it died a quiet death after a couple of years.

 

[vr4scott]

Honda only recommends the 10w-30 as a temporary replacement for the Honda specific trans fluid. It has additional detergents in it. As far as DSM trans fluid I have run 1.5 QT's of Lucas synthetic 80w-90 and 1 QT of Pennzoil Synchromesh on 4 different occasions with over 400 FT LBs of torque and never had a problem with it.

 

[obsidian]

This is another good thread with tons of info. When I get the chance, I guess I'll bite the bullet and get the MT90 oil and the shock proof.

Any local stores around you guys carry it? Reason I like local is if the fit hits the shan then I can get some quickly.