From the factory, except for 1st gear the wear surfaces of all the synchronizers are molybdenum coated. During rebuilds only the economy syncros are not coated. I have yet to see any issues of corrosion except for trannies parked for a real long time in a real bad place. Or once enough corroision has formed on top of the box for there to be a hole! Syncro rings are cheap! Ring and pinion sets and some gears are not. I want the most extreme pressure protection I can get. GL-5 for me! The main reason for the GL-4 spec is that GL-5 may be too slippery for the Syncro rings to "grab" So who power speed shifts their Vanagon? Dennis -----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of OlRivrRat Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 12:27 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Gear box oil - Redline MT90 or Swepco ? Some interesting info here ~ scroll down to list of 22 http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2556 125 Nice image here that shows the CopperStripTest classifications http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/28958/ep-additives-effects
On 28 Aug , 2012, at 1:10 AM, Gene P wrote: > [clip clip, lots of folks wrote] > > Very confusing issue and discussion. Just a few brief points: > 1) The German mechanic that installed a rebuilt transaxle for me 9 > years ago said "use GL-4 oil only, NOT GL-4/GL-5, GL-4 ONLY. Wrote it > that way on the invoice. > 2) GoWesty is not everyone's reference of choice, but they still > recommend and sell MT-90. > 3) The Redline website has an application guide: plug in your vehicle > (for me an 87 2.1 hardhat) and the recommended transaxle oil is MT-90. > 4) Following a discussion like this about 6 months ago, I called > Redline and the person I talked to knew nothing about a formulation > change and could not imagine why one of their reps would say MT-90 is > not recommended for our vehicles. When I asked about the "not for > hypoid differentials" statement on the site, he said Hypoid > Differentials are not the same as our Hypoid Transaxles and went into > some stuff about shaft angles and pressures and whatever that was way > over my head. > 5) A clip from a dandy 2-page technical article on Redline's > website: > "GL-5 gears oils which are required in hypoid differentials are > not used in most synchromesh transmissions because the chemicals used > to provide the extreme pressure protection can be corrosive to > synchronizers, which are commonly made of brass or bronze. Typically, > the use of a GL-5 lubricant in a synchromesh transmission will shorten > the synchronizer life by one half." > > So ... I ain't an expert, but I did enough homework to be comfortable > continuing to use MT-90 and to throw out a caution about any GL-5. > > Your wives' tales may vary ... |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.