Gearbox - Redline Oil Vs Royal Purple

[PIOTREK]

look give it time to wear in, its not magic fluid lol when its warm in 500km decide if it works for u then. (i also adjusted my clutch while i had my car jacked up, so that could help too)

A rebuild is as long as a piece of string with sincros only 500-800bucks, depends on wat u wanna change.

Sluggish- i mean the box felt to full and the gears don't go as easy, but normally u can't tell i'm just anal lol

Royal purple is a very good fluid!! if your gears are crunchy use redline- but shock proof is only a cover up- doesn't fix the problem just makes the symtoms smoother.

Hope this helps

Edited May 14, 2009 by P1OTR

[Moodles2]

Lightweight Shockproof is recommended for gearboxes that are still alright, Heavyweight Shockproof for gearboxes that already have problems (ie. masking them up)

[PM-R33]

Ahh damn, I just got my gearbox oil changed into Royal Purple Synchromax. Car is a daily drive, mostly stock but I like performance..

How much am I missing out on by going Royal Purple?

Heck, is it even the right thing to use on my R33? (Done about 89000k, no synchro probs but clutch is a bit warn)

Is it a bad oil? The Royal Purple Synchromax that is, well I highly doubt it's bad but compared to Redline?

I also changed my engine oil to 5w30w Royal Purple oil from Motul 4100 Turbolite and it feels a hell of a lot better I wanted to try something thinner and a better grade, was tempted to try Mobil 1 0w30w but wasn't too sure on the quality of it.

The shifting still feels smoother than whatever was in there before, need a new clutch tho, a bit of crunching in all gears so I'm going easy on it.

Oh dear (Freaking out), should I take it out as soon as possible? What a waste of cash... >.<

Yet another victim to Autobarn.

You will be fine, don't freak out. Both are great gearbox oils, much better than most off the shelf. I hardly doubt you would notice any difference between the two.

The engine oil is also fine, coming up to winter now aswell, the lighter oil will be ok. To my customers up here i recommend a thicker oil if we are in summer and a thinner one when in winter. The 5W30 will be good, don't worry.

Edited May 14, 2009 by PM-R33

[some_cs_student]

Lightweight Shockproof is recommended for gearboxes that are still alright, Heavyweight Shockproof for gearboxes that already have problems (ie. masking them up)

Based on what information?

I've already quoted the Redline Australia website and a Redline book I saw, is this personal experience or something?

[chiksluvit]

I've been tracking this post for a while, since I'm also considering changing gearbox oil to see if it'll improve the R33 cold shift problem... the gears/gates felt rough and stiff when cold, but drives totally fine when warmed up.

I do remember sending Redline AU and US e-mails about using lightweight shockproof in a different car, so I thought i'd dig up their replies and copy n paste it here...

here are the two different responses i've received..

from redline AU:

The American web site say "not recommended for syncro boxs", which is to stop people putting this oil into cars that are still under warranty that require the warranty manufacturers specified SAE oil. Shockproof technology is invented "outside" of SAE specifications in that the SAE do not have any test parameters for this oil type because Shockproof chemisty is so advanced. In these warranty cases, you would need to put in the Red Line SAE oil (note they are four times better performers than other SAE oil brands). For Warranty SAE GL4 - use either Red Line MTL (70W90) or Red Line MT90 (75W90) or for Warranty SAE GL5 - use either Red Line 75W90 or Red Line 80W140 oils or Red Line 75W90NS.

Why would you use Shockproof if you can use Red Line SAE oils? Because Shockproof is designed to perform with capabilities that are out-of-reach for even the best SAE lubricants. One point alone is that Shockproof as the name says provides 'cushioning' again shock loading - such as supercars bouncing (re-aligning) of the curbs at racetracks. In addition, Shockproof can be used to fix problems that are well known lubrication difficulties. For example WRX's are well known to have a gear shift problem with using SAE GL5 as required by Subaru. Lightweight shockproof turns the box in to a 'dream shift'. Note here that Red Line's SAE GL5 would have still improved the shift but provided ultimate protection but the Shockproof fixes the problem. Shockproof is a high performance or racing oil for transmissions and transaxles, that upgrades the manufacturers' call for SAE GL4 or SAE GL5 oil in the transmssion (Shockproof covers both GL4 and 5).

IF your front diff was also LSD (VERY RARE), we would point out that yes you can still use Shockproof, but Shockproof causes LSDs to sometimes chatter or clunk (meaning the diff is working more) which is what you want in racing application, but just a note to consider if the car is a street/club car, as in normal driving the chatter can be annoying. It usually only occurs when you go around corners slowly, and in some vehicle they never chatter at all. This applies for front or rear lsd's using Shockproof.

Shockproof is totally safe in your box. We have many syncro boxes running it in Australia. I have it in my own vehicle - it's been there for 9 years.

Other upgrade recommendations for your vehicle -

Use WaterWetter pink in your radiator to double the cooling systems ability to transfer heat. It will strip temperature out of your cylinder heads, meaning knock sensors will do less 'fuel quench' & retarding (loss of power). Besides that it is a world class inhibitor. Also Red Line's Fuel System Cleaner - high quality with a price around $30 - that is safe for performance vehicles. It will bring your car back to virtually new car performance by removing gum & varnish buildup. Add one bottle to a full tank of fuel. You will notice the difference within a short time.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Tim Slako

Technical

For Redline in US:

Thomas,

Thank you for contacting Red Line Oil, in your manual transaxle I would recommend the MT-90. The current fluid may contain a friction modifier though that would affect the ability of the synchro to engage and shouldn't affect it's release. The problem could be the clutch isn't consistently releasing or possibly an internal issue. The ShockProof gear oils contain a friction modifier so can be too slippery for some synchros. The use of ShockProof in a manual synchro equipped application isn't our recommendation, it is a very unique product that performs extremely well in some applications though not necessarily perfectly suited for all. In a production application we use as a basis for our recommendation the fluid type originally called for by the manufacturer.

Regards, Dave

Red Line Oil

So in summary

Seems like the shockproof oil MAY be too slippery for SOME synchro boxes, due to friction modifier, so to stay on the safe side Redline in US dont recommend it. I guess this is suggesting that it may be ok for other synchro boxes?

Australian Redline says its ok, based on feedback they receive from forums/ customers, plus their response wasn't as technical and didn't say how the slipperier friction modifier won't affect the synchros...

Edited May 14, 2009 by chiksluvit

[reNEGaDe88]

100% spot on with SAE oils in US. But its been done in many many skylines. It makes most crunchy box's much more smooth, and is great for track cars.

He put royal purple synchromax in which is for manual box's that recomend autotrans or engine oil, instead of manual. thats y he is worried.

[PIOTREK]

look in aus there are different standard hence in aus it not even mentioned!! It's like the warning lable on everything odds of it happening are low, but exist. Don't over stress it as both r good oils!!

[Kinks]

I have a bottle of redline oil (light shockproof) which i used on my gear box. It says on the bottle that the oil is good for up to 400 000kms.

I wouldn't leave any car I cared about with the same fluid for even 100k, no matter how much fairy dust they claimed was in it.

[PIOTREK]

lol i would have to agree

[R31 POWER]

When you change from 1st to 2nd pause about halfway and then slot it into second. Might sound silly but I found it works in some cars.

[GTR ZLR-747]

look give it time to wear in, its not magic fluid lol when its warm in 500km decide if it works for u then. (i also adjusted my clutch while i had my car jacked up, so that could help too)

A rebuild is as long as a piece of string with sincros only 500-800bucks, depends on wat u wanna change.

Sluggish- i mean the box felt to full and the gears don't go as easy, but normally u can't tell i'm just anal lol

Royal purple is a very good fluid!! if your gears are crunchy use redline- but shock proof is only a cover up- doesn't fix the problem just makes the symtoms smoother.

Hope this helps

you say shock proof is only a cover up- doesn't fix the problem just makes the symtoms smoother.

what will fix the problem other then a rebuild

[045HOW]

So alright. i need to put Gbox oil in this week.

Royal Purple Synchromax or Redline lightweight shockproof.

Box seems fine but i havent taken it for the full strap as it had a slipping clutch and bad tune when i test drove it. but yeah seems fine(have taken it high through the smaller gears so yeah). has a short shifter also.

because the box seems fine should i be using Royal Purple over using Shockproof, or should i use shockproof as im told a short shifter can be a nasty thing to put a gearbox through?

How many Kms is recommended before changing oils again with both products?

Cheers

[045HOW]

Nothing?

[Moodles2]

Both are fully synthetic, so they will last awhile.. 100,000-200,000km, maybe more.

[AzN]

Sorry for the old thread bump. I'm going to change my gearbox and diff fluids on my R33 GTR soon and the gearbox is fine but I've owned the car for 3 years now and I don't know if the previous owner ever did it.

I'm going to use Redline lightweight shockproof for my gearbox, and according to the redline site http://www.redlineoil.com.au/oil-finder-detail.asp?CategoryID=3642&ProductID=7592

The lightweight shockproof is suitable for the diffs?

I searched the forums and I haven't found anyone using it for their diffs...

[MrStabby]

Some dude in a store (so take the info with a grain of salt) told me that light shock will make the LSD plates grip more, so it will sort of be like running a tighter diff. Sounds credible to me given the way light shock behaves with synchos. No idea if its true, or how significant the effect may be.

EDIT: IIRC front diff is open, so no effect there.

[AzN]

What oil would you recommend for both diffs instead of light shockproof?

[MrStabby]

I used Redline 75W-90 in my rear diff, and the leftover shockproof light in the front diff. 75W-90 would also be fine in the front diff. Really any full synth, LSD compatible oil of the right viscosity will be fine. For gear oils, the improvement of synth over mineral is even more pronounced than in engine oils. Synth gear oil should be good for 300,000 kms, but if you use shockproof in the gearbox, check the level every 20,000ks. Some people have found it foams up and they loose a bit out the breather.

[Carbon 34]

Some dude in a store (so take the info with a grain of salt) told me that light shock will make the LSD plates grip more, so it will sort of be like running a tighter diff. Sounds credible to me given the way light shock behaves with synchos. No idea if its true, or how significant the effect may be.

EDIT: IIRC front diff is open, so no effect there.

I use redline exclusive , tried nearly all brands over 35 years and only a few even compare

Engine failures ( not rb) with mobil 1 , castrol , syntec , valvoline synthetic

Redline shock proof 140w in nismo diff , lock up is instant now and will chatter on corners just a tiny bit not enough to hear or wear tires much

The 5 spd redline MTL , shock proof is too slick for synchros to mesh right

Engine 20-50w summer street blend (not racing its corrosive if left in too long its designed to be changed every race or so and not able to hold dirt is suspension as well )

10-40w winter

Australia isnt cold enough to sweat the oil weights much unless you live in ski area

Water wetter in coolant huge difference even with 52 mm alloy rad.

Synthetic greases as well in joints

never a fuss

And my old rx ran up 500,000 miles !! Not km on factory diff and trans with it , including racing every weekend at speeds up to 250kph never missed a beat 10,000 rpm + engine !!

Royal is ok just found the engine oil not as smooth feeling and slightly slower spool feel

wasnt worth trying again went back to redline

Redline is only one certified for F18 engines which spin just like a turbo speed wise , good enough for anyone for sure

Edited February 10, 2013 by Carbon 34

[AzN]

Sounds good, 75w-90 for both diffs it is then!

Is the Redline High Temp ATF good for the transfer case?