Date:         Mon, 06 May 1996 10:01:53 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Ed Mellinger <meed@mbari.org>
Subject:      Re: [All] trans 'rinse'

DHaynes57@aol.com wrote:
>
> The synchronizer hubs are hard costed
> with MOLY anyway so I do not think moly aditives will hurt although I
> question the need or benifit.  If you believe in the GL 4 issue, than
> anything that changes the friction characteristics must be considered. 
>

Um, I suspect the coating on the synchros is molybdenum METAL, said to 
have excellent high temperature anti-wear qualities (see also "blades, 
turbine, jet engine").  The stuff in the the oil additive is molybdenum 
disulfide, an excellent high pressure solid lubricant.  I don't know if 
they're compatible or incompatible, but they're two pretty different 
beasts.

I've used moly additives in Porsche trannys with good results, where the 
main problem is gear friction (heat) and the synchros the the Porsche 
type and have plenty of grab.  I've also tried them in BMW trannys and 
had the synchros (Borg-Warner type) go to hell.  Nowadays I pretty much 
stick to whatever GL number the manual calls out.

-Ed
meed@mbari.org