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Oils - Engine, Gearbox, Which Ones And Where To Get?


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Hey guys, I know you probably already have your favourite brands of engine oils (generally Synthetic) but has anyone considered ULX-110 which has all the advantages of Synthetic without losing the advantages of Mineral based oils. A guy that I worked with at Adelaide Engine Service for many years is the National Distributor for the oil which is now used by many Top Fuelers around the world including my mate Marco Elbe who runs a 6 sec Keith Black '57 Chev that you may have seen at the Extreme Horsepower Show...if you knew what Marco has spent on that engine you know he wouldn't use a mineral based oil unless it was fully tested and proven....]

You got to remember most if not all the serious drag cars would use mineral/ semi-synthetics cos, they'd still be running the engine in. As you'd know most teams strip/inspect & maybe rebuild between passes or meets & unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. So for the more regular driven modern cars, full synthetics offers the advantages of lower viscosity, less wear, more stable higher temps & extended drain intervals than mineral based/ semi-syn oils.

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dont use redline in your gear box its not good for jap gear boxs ask michael at auto barn mile end and mark tillbrook as the components in the oil isnt good and can cause alot of damage!!

She's right. The redline shockproof doesnt lubricate the synchros as well as it should, and they end up wearing out. The viscosity/composition of the oil makes the gearbox feel like its smoother but its actually just losing the feel from the gearbox to the stick..

I took my GTR to Road & Track in Enfield (my mechanics) and when it came time to do the service, they pulled the plug out and the shockline stuff came out. Its an aquamarine sludge, and the mechanic who was looking at it just goes 'ahh shit not this stuff...'

Turns out my gearbox does need a minor rebuild (new synchros) but it'll last a bit longer with the oil they put in...

$0.02

-D

This is quoted directly from their website...

Redline Lightweight ShockProof®

A unique gear oil designed to lubricate racing transmissions and transaxles which see serious loads (not recommended for most syncro-type transmissions). It has excellent low-temperature flow which allows easier shifting when cold. May be used to obtain maximum power transfer in racing differentials which do not see high temperatures. Similar to a 75W140 gear oil, but with the lower internal friction of an SAE 30 motor oil.

Used in most road-racing differentials with moderate power and dogring racing transaxles.

I have herd the exact same things about syncro wear, hence why i do not use it in my car. IMO Castrol brands are the cheapest and the best form of lubrication for diffs and gearbox's but each to his own.

i use redline lightweight shockproof and that has been doing well in the car for over 8 months now with no foreseeable sideaffects as of yet. before then i was getting nasty clicking between gears etc i think it was because of shit that was put in there on a service but the shockproof stuff has fixed all that. i know it may be a short term fix for a rebuild that i will be needing but im not one for caring at the moment since the car still works fine.

as if said. only reason ppl choose the redline shockproof shit is because they have annoying problems and theyd rather see them gone because they know they are going to need a rebuild on it sooner or later.

Hey Kel, nice to meet you the other night...........do you know what these guys recommend for a GTR engine and driveline and if so, any chance of putting bit of a list together, I should be dropping all the oils cos who knows when they were done....I've only had the car for 4 weeks.

hi yeah nice to meet you to

in the motul 300v chrono but thats only good for 5k then you really have to dump it and i think thats alot of money also mainly used on track days as its great for high reving, so use the 8100x that lasts for a good 10k+ if you dont have the time or the money i would also use the engine clean with this service as well you just pour it in the top of the engine with your old oil let the car idol for 15min then dump the oil you must let it idol only as if you rev it it wont do its job.

then in your gear box use the 75w90 thats what i use as well really good stuff for the jap boxes smooth changes in to gear

the diff and hicas use dexron 3

the radiator use inigel (spelling) much the same as water wetter (redline) but much better

and now your good to go, loz at autobarn mile end has all this if you see loz tell him that your a friend of mine and he will help you out

i personaly know 2 ppl that their gear boxes have blown from using redline it damages the syincros (spelling) and mechanics i know only use redline in jap gear boxes when they need to shut them up if their is a little bit of a noise

This is quoted directly from their website...

Redline Lightweight ShockProof®

A unique gear oil designed to lubricate racing transmissions and transaxles which see serious loads (not recommended for most syncro-type transmissions). It has excellent low-temperature flow which allows easier shifting when cold. May be used to obtain maximum power transfer in racing differentials which do not see high temperatures. Similar to a 75W140 gear oil, but with the lower internal friction of an SAE 30 motor oil.

Used in most road-racing differentials with moderate power and dogring racing transaxles.

I have herd the exact same things about syncro wear, hence why i do not use it in my car. IMO Castrol brands are the cheapest and the best form of lubrication for diffs and gearbox's but each to his own.

Exactly, made for Race Cars that get used at the track and experience quick, hard usage!! Its that think because people straight shift while racing and track time compared to a daily driven car or street car is waaaaay less, but put under hard load!!

You got to remember most if not all the serious drag cars would use mineral/ semi-synthetics cos, they'd still be running the engine in. As you'd know most teams strip/inspect & maybe rebuild between passes or meets & unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. So for the more regular driven modern cars, full synthetics offers the advantages of lower viscosity, less wear, more stable higher temps & extended drain intervals than mineral based/ semi-syn oils.

Sorry pkblade but nearly everything you've stated here has been proven incorrect.

I just got off the phone to Marco of Elb's Racing and Pedro of ULX-110 who have confirmed everything I said in my previous post.

Top Fuelers do pull engines down for inspection only every few runs because of the pounding they get.......it's got nothing to do with the oil they use but everything to do with the fuel they use (alcohol & nitro). If methanol is left to sit for any period of time it turns to jelly and everthing has to be stripped and cleaned as well.

Synthetic oil has a lower viscosity than most mineral oils at the cold setting only but we live in Australia not Sweden so it doesn't apply to us.

Synthetic oil used to be known for the couple of extra horsepower it could give you on the dyno but at the expense of your engines internals....it will not protect against piston skirt and bore scuffing and generally leaves your plugs too wet not to mention poor oil pressure and excessive oil consumption.

ULX-110 will always have better cling factor than Synthetic which is what we mainly need....an easy test is to half fill 2 glasses with each oil and stir then see which one clings on the side of the glass the longest......Synthetic oils have always been known to be bad for cold starts anyway.

As far as change between intervals, Mack Trucks in the USA have approved ULX-110 for 40,000 miles before change.

RB engines already have enough issues with their oil galleries and passages being too large so why would exaggerate the problem by using synthetics?

in the motul 300v chrono but thats only good for 5k then you really have to dump it and i think thats alot of money also mainly used on track days as its great for high reving, so use the 8100x that lasts for a good 10k+ if you dont have the time or the money i would also use the engine clean with this service as well you just pour it in the top of the

Here's another bit of logic that you may all want to consider.....Bunny33 has obviously done her homework and got this info from people that sell the stuff and know their product.....

ULX-110 is good for 10k in the Skylines and retails in Outlaw Speed Shop for $60 x 5 litres 10w 40 + filter, so why would you want to spend $290 + filters every 10k.

If you wanted to, you could drop the ULX-110 every 5k and still be saving heaps not to mention having very fresh oil in your sump always which offers more protection than synthetic to start with.

Like I said in the earlier post, I'm going to buy this stuff directly from my mate and if I get enough interest I'll start a new thread for a group buy.

i always use a semi synthetic oil in my r33 kind of like best of both worlds and not over the top in price .

i always change oil at 5000ks or 6 months what ever comes first . oil always comes out just as clean as it goes in .gauge always shows good oil pressure . at the end of the day there just a motor with a turbo and if just used for street use a think a lot of people get carried away with brand names ect ect and caught up in the marketing hype of some products

i always use a semi synthetic oil in my r33 kind of like best of both worlds and not over the top in price .

i always change oil at 5000ks or 6 months what ever comes first . oil always comes out just as clean as it goes in .gauge always shows good oil pressure . at the end of the day there just a motor with a turbo and if just used for street use a think a lot of people get carried away with brand names ect ect and caught up in the marketing hype of some products

I agree, I just use Shell Synthetic, buy it from Supa Crap, cheap as and has done the job for 3 years, no need to change for me, ends up like a $50 service with filter, go see Shaun to chuck it on the dyno for a check up and away we go, this happens every 5-10k!!

i always use a semi synthetic oil in my r33 kind of like best of both worlds and not over the top in price .

i always change oil at 5000ks or 6 months what ever comes first . oil always comes out just as clean as it goes in .gauge always shows good oil pressure . at the end of the day there just a motor with a turbo and if just used for street use a think a lot of people get carried away with brand names ect ect and caught up in the marketing hype of some products

Problem with most semi synthetics is that are they are built at a 'price break' in order to give consumers another option if they are worried about running straight synthetics for whatever reason.

The way to test your cheaper semis is to determine what the 'VI' rating is (viscosity index) which is generally pretty low on the cheaper semis.

One of the most popular brands names for semis out there (name witheld) for the last 40 or so years has a 'VI' rating of only around 105 which may vary slightly across their range. The high end oils (including ULX-110) has a 'VI' rating of approx 160. At the end of the day, if your happy using what your using, don't change, I'm just offering the information for anyone who's interested.

By the way, you don't really believe it's just a motor with a turbo do you? A GTR that can be revved to over 9000 rpm with standard internals is not your average street car.

ive used a lot of oils over the yrs and i base my experince on 23 yrs racing experince using diffrent types of fuels altho mainly methanol . just cause its a brand name does not make it the best or suitable for the job your doing with it . there are many oils that dont like methanol for instance and turn into a milkshake after one heat race yet there are less expensive oils that ive done 3 meetings on that are still clear and the motors dont drop oil presure after a 20 lap feature race .

the fact skylines are turboed is not the fact why a gtr engine will rev too 9000 revs it would still rev to 9000 without the turbo . the turbo pruduces power not revs . that said you do need a oil that will withstand heat better than others

like i said over the yrs racing speedway and some of those cars did run turbo engines i have found that just cause a oil has a expensive price and a so called brand name with lots of advertising hype does mot mean its the best to do the job at hand .

it's not just oils either some people seem to think unless the parts you buy have hks or trust or what ever that they are superior to other less known brands on the market .

cheers dean

ive used a lot of oils over the yrs and i base my experince on 23 yrs racing experince ..................over the yrs racing speedway....................

On a slightly different note Dean, I don't know how far back you go but you may remember some of the old fellas from Speedway Park and even further back, Rowley Park Speedway, like Dean Hogarth and old Dud lambert. I worked for Adelaide Engine Service for almost 20 years where we used to do alot of the machining for the speedway boys........we even had a push car down there, the old orange Adelaide Engine Service XW Falcon Ute.

Ahhhhh they were the days.

On a slightly different note Dean, I don't know how far back you go but you may remember some of the old fellas from Speedway Park and even further back, Rowley Park Speedway, like Dean Hogarth and old Dud lambert. I worked for Adelaide Engine Service for almost 20 years where we used to do alot of the machining for the speedway boys........we even had a push car down there, the old orange Adelaide Engine Service XW Falcon Ute.

Ahhhhh they were the days.

lol yeah i know dud and dean altho we raced diffrent class cars my first season was the last one at rowley and my last season was about 5 yrs ago with only missing 2 or 3 seasons in that time have raced at most tracks around the country at some stage or another

cheers dean

Hi SLED , thought I would just say that if your car was a new import, they would of had to put new oil in the car for compliance reasons .

The question is what type of oil . If the car was complied by a reputable workshop , they should of put in a good quality oil anyway.

But even then , I must admit , that I changed every oil in my car in the first month .

Mark Tilbrook recomended me to do this ,and I did ,so I wouldn't get any nasty surprises.

Just my 2c for you . Michael

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