Manual Transmission Fluid

[Braden]

The oil should be similar just the amount of sulphur compounds is less in the GL-4. If it made that much difference maybe the p/o used something totally different... and totally wrong! Maybe it was low as well. My son's old Grand Am used engine oil in the tranny so you never know. Glad it's working.

 

i read something today (i beleive on the back of the redline syth gear oil i bought) about the gear oil breaking down just like regular engine oil and not letting the synchros engage as smoothly, maybe just bs but honestly i can tell a difference (now i just gotta get my 5 speed in!!!

[Grey_Matter]

i looked at a few parts stores in town, and could find a single bottle of GL-4

[datzenmike]

Slowly the sulphur breaks down and becomes I assume acidic? Smell gear oil sometime. It should be changed every 30K miles. This will get rid of the acid and replace with fresh.

[datsunaholic]

I bought every quart of GL4 that Williams Oil Filter Service had in stock. They only had 4 quarts. My Deuce and a half takes 4 GALLONS. Of course the manual states it needs GL1, but that's unobtainium nowadays. Same bronze syncho issue.

 

Sta-Lube brand GL4 is marked "Safe for Bronze, Brass, and Copper" right on the bottle. The GL5 they carry does NOT state that. None of the NAPA stores near me have it; they do stock Sta-Lube brand, but all the gear oil they have is either NAPA-brand (Valvoline according to my NAPA rep) or very expensive Synthetics, and ALL are marked GL5. But they CAN get it if you order it.

 

GL5 is meant for rear axles, it's marked as good for LSD and Locker diffs. Modern manual transmissions mostly use ATF- I know my Mom's Ranger does, calls for Dexron III for the 5-speed. That's why decent transmission Gear Oils are getting hard to find.

[Creepy Cruiser]

I haven't been able to find any (in stock) local here either yet.

[mklotz70]

Not really off topic. Minimum GL-5 is recommended for Nissan rears. There is no copper or brass in the diff so more anti scuff additives can be used.

 

I just happened across this thread. Great info...I had no clue!!! This post caught my eye....in all the datsun diffs I've been into, there is bronze cup bushings behind the spider gears. I'm not sure on the 720 diff I have here, but all of the 521, wgn, 320 diffs all have the same cups. From what I've read, I really need to make sure I'm running GL-4? I think I've been putting synthetic in everything, but I'll double check now! Sure wish I had time to follow everything on here...I keep missing stuff like this :(

[Braden]

I bought every quart of GL4 that Williams Oil Filter Service had in stock. They only had 4 quarts. My Deuce and a half takes 4 GALLONS. Of course the manual states it needs GL1, but that's unobtainium nowadays. Same bronze syncho issue.

 

Sta-Lube brand GL4 is marked "Safe for Bronze, Brass, and Copper" right on the bottle. The GL5 they carry does NOT state that. None of the NAPA stores near me have it; they do stock Sta-Lube brand, but all the gear oil they have is either NAPA-brand (Valvoline according to my NAPA rep) or very expensive Synthetics, and ALL are marked GL5. But they CAN get it if you order it.

 

GL5 is meant for rear axles, it's marked as good for LSD and Locker diffs. Modern manual transmissions mostly use ATF- I know my Mom's Ranger does, calls for Dexron III for the 5-speed. That's why decent transmission Gear Oils are getting hard to find.

wow man you have an m35a2???? dude we need pics!!!! also for all of you who cant find it look at napa, here is what you are looking for, its about 30 bucks a gallon, http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/content/prod_detail.aspx?PN=SL24239&S=C , i know it sounds pricey but why spend 3 bucks a quart on gl-5 to ruin your tranny or spend 7.50 a quart on something thats better for it, hell you only change it ever 30k or so, also i bought some redline mt90 for my 5 speed swap and i will use it and let you guys know how i like it, here is a link for the redline, you can get the redline through oreillys and you should be able to get the crc as well, http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/product/1810/Gear_Oil_And_Transmission_Oil

[ppeters914]

I just happened across this thread. Great info...I had no clue!!! This post caught my eye....in all the datsun diffs I've been into, there is bronze cup bushings behind the spider gears. I'm not sure on the 720 diff I have here, but all of the 521, wgn, 320 diffs all have the same cups. From what I've read, I really need to make sure I'm running GL-4? I think I've been putting synthetic in everything, but I'll double check now! Sure wish I had time to follow everything on here...I keep missing stuff like this :(

Which synthetic? Redline is GL4-friendly.

[mklotz70]

I was looking at my gear lube today...yep....I got GL-5 in several of the diffs and probably in the NL's tranny. I guess I'll get to swapping that out. I've got some redline and noticed it said GL-4, so I'll probably see about putting that in after I drain the 5.

[KELMO]

Hey, guess what I'm gonna be lookin for this weekend. I drank the "GL5 is just fine" koolaide too.

[Creepy Cruiser]

I went to the local Nissan dealer a few days ago, and asked them about it and what they put in the cars that come in for service (like s13/s14 240sx's and such) and they said they put GL-5 in everything. (even though the manual says GL-4).

 

Very interesting I thought.

 

I think I'll be doing the redline in mine.

[KELMO]

Creepy, you're not alone. Had an oldschool Nissan Master Tech tell me GL5 was fine. I went yesterday and got STA-Lube from Napa API/GL4, ran about 32.00 for a gallon. Says on the bottle that it works with brass and other "yellow metals".

[Braden]

Creepy, you're not alone. Had an oldschool Nissan Master Tech tell me GL5 was fine. I went yesterday and got STA-Lube from Napa API/GL4, ran about 32.00 for a gallon. Says on the bottle that it works with brass and other "yellow metals".

rest assured you have the right stuff, use it and report back on how you like it, i bought it and i liked it seemed to help smooth and soften shifting through all gears.

[inline4]

i looked at a few parts stores in town, and could find a single bottle of GL-4

pann auto carries redline gl4

[Logical1]

UPDATE: I recently purchased a re-built dogleg from 78kingkab :) It is still under warranty and I was stoked to put a fresh tranny in my dime. I read through this thread and decided to go with redline gl4 as I really wanted to treat this baby right! I got it at napa for around $8 a bottle. The redline was REALLY thin... more like Dot3 in consistency. Frank and I put that bad boy in (After Painting it BRIGHT cherry red cause it makes it faster!) It went in real quick and easy after all the other trannys I have swapped out... Took the dime off the lift and drove her around nice and easy... I could tell right away that something was weird, but also considered I have never driven a tranny as fresh as this. Decided to keep it in a try it out for a couple days. Here was some things I noticed:

 

1. First gear seemed 'sloppy'

2. Shift lever was REALLY loose and jiggly

3. It grinds whenever I tried to put it in reverse unless I held the clutch down for some time and let the gears slow down/stop

4. It whined when I drove it even at low speeds

5. It Just didn't feel 'right'

 

First thing I checked was my slave and master cylinder, bled & adjusted push-rod. No real change.... I had full play in pedal and the slave was not leaking and it was pushing the clutch arm fully. Frank and I Talked about it and decided to drain the redline out and try some high performance 80w90 gear oil. Well when I pulled the drain plug the oil looked like metallic infused paint! And the magnetic drain plug was COVERED in metal flakes! After seeing this, my heart sank :( I have gone through so many damn trannys and was really hoping this was going to be my long time companion. However we decided to pump the standard gear oil in. Dropped my dime off the lift and took her out. 100% different immediately! Gears felt 'seated', reverse has stopped grinding, & no more whine! (This was @ 1am Friday night before Canby!) I then drove down to Canby and back. It felt great the whole way :) I'm going to drain the fluid again soon to see how it looks and make sure that I have cleaned out all the redline. I cant 100% blame the redline however I know I wont be using it in my older trannys anymore, even re-built ones! Hope some of this info helps other people out :)

[mklotz70]

Just to be clear....it was the Redline MT90 trans lube? I'm pretty sure that's what I put in my wife's 521 and it was just the opposite....worked much better after I put it in. The rest of the redlines I've found say gl-5. the MT90 specifically says that it's designed to have enough drag for the syncros to work right. It also says NOT to put it in the differential. I'm getting ready to put the MT90 in my NL...but if it's questionable, I'll take it back and get something else.

[Logical1]

Yes, It was the MT90 I made sure to get that because as you said it was 'designed' for older tranny's. Once again though I cant say for 100% certainty that It was the redline. I can only describe what I experienced. I don't want to place blame on a product that possibly works great for other people. After Draining my fluid again and checking it out. I plan on calling up the shop where it was re-built (Cottman's in the Portland area) and asking them what they recommend and possibly driving down there for them to take a look at it before my warranty runs out ;) Btw Bummed I missed you in Canby Mike! Wanted to give you props in person!

[mklotz70]

Thanks :)

 

I know they don't recommend synthetics for brand new engines because it slows the break in process.....maybe same thing in the tranny? Make sure to let us know what they say.

[KELMO]

drivin mine in to work tomorrow....I'll check back in with an update

[KELMO]

Been driving the coupe to work for a couple days now with the GL4 oil in the trans and it does seem to shift easier and no double clutching or grinding going into reverse.

[LenRobertson]

So does anyone know for sure that the NAPA Premium Performance Gear Oil, 80W-85-90, GL-3/GL-4/GL-5 part# 75-210 mentioned in the VW link is "yellow metal safe"? I went to their website, and they don't give much info. I don't want to drive 50 miles to the main NAPA in Spokane just to find out it doesn't say on the bottle and no one at the store really knows. The VW article indicates it is "yellow safe", but the copyright on that page is 2005-2007, and I'm wondering if the current NAPA product is the same. Has anyone following this thread had a bottle of the NAPA juice in their hand recently?

 

Confused as usual -

 

Len

[KELMO]

Len,

 

The bottle I bought at NAPA is STALUBE brand 85w90 Api/GL4 Part # SL24239. Says on the bottle good for copper, bronze and other ferrous metals.

 

I have either helped or added to the confusion ;)

[LenRobertson]

Len,

 

The bottle I bought at NAPA is STALUBE brand 85w90 Api/GL4 Part # SL24239. Says on the bottle good for copper, bronze and other ferrous metals.

 

I have either helped or added to the confusion ;)

 

KELMO - Thanks for the answer. Exactly what I wanted to know, and even with a part number! Is the bottle you have a quart or gallon? Some people on this thread implied they could only get Stalube in gallons, but maybe that is the only size their store had in stock. It looks like a dogleg holds about 2 quarts. I suppose I need to change the oil in my beloved 200SX too, so maybe should get a gallon. This AM, I checked the oil level in the dogleg I've put in my 510. I was thinking maybe there was enough oil to test drive it. Stuck my finger in there and felt nothing. Then I remembered - it is a Pull n Save tranny, and they always drain fluids. Felt Stupid (but not confused. At least I understood the problem). Thanks again for unconfusing me, at least for a little while.

 

Len

[KELMO]

Len,

it is a gallon bottle, and be prepared.....its about $30.00 per gallon. even the guy behind the counter chocked a bit when he saw the price.

[Paul G.]

I've been running Redline MTL in the 411's 4-speed. It seems to work well though now there is a little weeping around the speedo cable (about 1 drop per week hitting the garage floor.) That tranny will quietly shift into 1st gear at 25 mph now. It's a good box though, it would happily do it 15 mph before.

 

And yes... that is the thinner GL-4 with a 70W80 rating instead of the 75W90 rating of MT-90. Don't think I need more in western WA and I do a lot of short trips.