Gearbox Oil - Castrol Syntrax, Castrol VMX80 or Redline Lightweight Shockproof?

[GiJOr33]

I've searched the forums and saw many varying views on the different oils for the manual gearbox from a fair while ago. Just wondering what you guys think after a few km's on the gearbox oil you selected and why you think it's good or bad.

These are the 3 oils i'm looking at using:

Castrol Syntrax - 75w90

Castrol VMX80 - 75w80

Redline Lightweight - 75W140

I currently have Redline Lightweight in my gearbox. I don't think i've done enough km's for it to "wear in" as i've read in other threads that it does. I had the gearbox out and spilled some of the oil out so am not sure whether to get more redline and top it up or change it out for one of the castrol oils.

Post up your experiences!

And if anyone knows where i can get some Redline Lightweight Shockproof in Melbourne today (pref over the eastern side) that would be sweet as Oil World has sold out

Andrew

[Jay95R33]

About 12 months ago I drained the oil (looked like the factory stuff !!) and put in VMX80.

After about a month of driving the 1-2 crunch I got when cold almost disappeared.... But now it's back again, but not as bad.

Give it another few months and I plan on draining it and replacing it with Redline Lightweight shockproof, cause by then the weather would have gotten colder and the 1-2 crunch would have got worse...

J

[GiJOr33]

Yeah i think i'm just going to top up my Redline. The engine had to come out and they spilled some oil from the gearbox. I've hardly done any km's on that gearbox oil. Only problem is Oil World have sold out here in Melbourne so i can't get any till Tuesday!

I'm going to put Motul 4100 Turbolight in the engine too... see how that goes.

[xRHETTx]

How much is redline lightweight shockproof? Is it much more expensive than the other two?

I think its almost time for me to do my gearbox and diff oil, as i dont know if they were done for compliance or not.

Cheers,

Rhett

[GiJOr33]

well the lightweight was about $110 or so to fill the gearbox (around the 4lt mark).

VMX80 is $9/lt and Syntrax is $24/lt (close to redline pricing)

[Busky2k]

I bought Syntrax from a distro for $16/L. Try search around for one.

[GiJOr33]

yeah i should have mentioned the price for the two Castrol ones was from Autobarn.

[benm]

I put the Redline in my gearbox a while back and it made a massive difference after about 750km of driving. I'm not sure how long ago that was but i'm getting crunching again so it might be due for another change.

[JAY-R32]

Out of interest .... Why do you lot use the lightweight & not the heavyweight stuff????

Jay

[lwells]

Is anyone using these oils with a short-shifter kit?

LW.

[GiJOr33]

Yeah i have a short shifter kit, but i haven't driven the car for 6 months so can't really tell you anything about it!!! Once it's back on the road i'm gonna try and clock up 1000km's in the first week. Then i'll be able to tell you about it.

[Scooby]

Is anyone using these oils with a short-shifter kit?

LW.

Lucien;

I've got a short shifter in a 32 GTR and 1-2 shifts can be notchy sometimes, usually when shifting quickly and accelerating hard. Low speed or pausing slightly between shifts smooths it out but the latter defeats the purpose of a short shifter. Pushing the shifter firmly to the left when changing sometimes helps also. It's very smooth everywhere else which makes the 1-2 shift really annoying. Does yours do the same?

I was thinking about using some friction modifier - used to good effect in an RS Liberty for about 20k km now.

Mark

[Jimbo2000]

i dont think you'll get a diffinitive answer here,

they're all good.

i use redline personally

[Jimbo2000]

locations....

if you still need it

http://www.redlineoil.com.au/reseller-locations.asp

[lwells]

Lucien;

I've got a short shifter in a 32 GTR and 1-2 shifts can be notchy sometimes, usually when shifting quickly and accelerating hard.  Low speed or pausing slightly between shifts smooths it out but the latter defeats the purpose of a short shifter. Pushing the shifter firmly to the left when changing sometimes helps also. It's very smooth everywhere else which makes the 1-2 shift really annoying. Does yours do the same?  

I was thinking about using some friction modifier - used to good effect in an RS Liberty for about 20k km now.  

Mark

What g/box oil are you using?

LW.

[Scooby]

What g/box oil are you using?

LW.

Valvoline 75-85

[lwells]

Valvoline 75-85

Interesting. Reason I ask is that I was considering installing a short shifter for me R32 GT-R -- don't have one ATM -- but I want to know that using a better oil will compensate for any additional strain. With that in mind, you mentioning crunchy gears don't exactly convince me that a better g/box oil will be enough....

LW.

[GiJOr33]

Thanks for the link Jimbo2000... if only i'd checked the forums earlier today!!! Oh well I'll go to box hill first thing in the morning. Hopefully i'll get the car tuned tomorrow or wednesday

lwells... i had a little crunch from 1st to 2nd as well before i put in the short shifter. I then had redline installed and the crunch went away. I then put in the C's short shifter kit and there is still no crunch. I think it's just a slightly warn gearbox that will give some crunchies when cold.

[Lunatic Dancer]

when i first got my car...after i changed all fluids it started crunching REALLY bad 1st-2nd...i used the valvoline dura gear 75w85....

after a few thousand k's i changed to vmx80 and the difference was great....i still use vmx80 now and change every 10,000k's or so and its very smooth no crunching at all...esp with my C's

[calvintys]

Hey i am after Red line as well for my R.... why not we arrange a group buy... since everyone want it.