Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 16:24:46 -0700
Reply-To: Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Shawn Wright <swright@SLS.BC.CA>
Organization: Shawnigan Lake School
Subject: Re: filler plug not drain
In-Reply-To: <3ADB72C1.1D470447@earthlink.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
On 16 Apr 2001, at 15:31, radish150 wrote:
> > Yesterday I drained the tranny oil from our '88 Westy in preparation for
> > our first outing of the year. Having done this several times before, I
> > decided not to bother checking to ensure the filler plug could be
> > removed first...
> >
> >
> > mark wrote:
> >
> > Well, before you do that you might consider a different oil. I have heard from a couple people that Amsoil is not good synthetic. For one
> > thing it is supposed to be "ester" and not top notch stuff. As possible evidence, I had a perfectly running engine that went bad after one
> > year of amsoil use. I think there is better oil out there than this stuff. Redline is supposed to be one of the best.
> >
> > If the plug simply won't budge, as a last resort you can pump out the old with a little hand pump. Not the best solution, but it beats
> > permanent fluid.
> >
> Shawn and list, my apologies for not paying better
> attention.
>
> mark...
No sweat, Mark. And thanks to all who've offered some useful tips so
far. I picked up a used plug from Ole's VW today, and I'll have another
go at it tonight with a torch and chisel.
I'm curious about the Amsoil comment - I've used Redline for about 5
year in my Jetta and Vanagon, but when my Ring & Pinion failed last
year in the van, I wasn't so certain about Redline anymore. Russell at
Autospiel (who rebuilt the trans) had some doubts about it also, as he
commented that Redline does not state "Hypoid" on the specs, which is
a requirement for the Vanagon trans. On the other hand, Autospiel also
uses Pennzoil GL5 (non synthetic), which is clearly *not* what VW
specs either, but he claims it works fine. I found the cold shifting with
Pennzoil awful, so I researched Amsoil and found it to be the only gear
oil which claims to meet GL4 and GL5 specs and not cause corrosion
problems with synchros.
Does anyone else have experience with Amsoil gear oils? Once I
finally get this blasted stuff *in* the trans, I don't plan on changing it for
a *long* time! (I only drive about 10k per year on the Westy).
========================
Shawn Wright
Computer Systems Manager
Shawnigan Lake School
http://www.sls.bc.ca
swright@sls.bc.ca
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