Jump to content
SAU Community

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

GiJOr33
 Share

Recommended Posts

GiJOr33 Experienced

GiJOr33

Posted
Posted

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 Grand Master

Jay95R33

Posted
Posted

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 Experienced

GiJOr33

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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 Mentor

xRHETTx

Posted
Posted

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

benm Grand Master

benm

Posted
Posted

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.

GiJOr33 Experienced

GiJOr33

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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 Veteran

Scooby

Posted
Posted
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

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted
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.

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted
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 Experienced

GiJOr33

Posted
  • Author
Posted

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 Collaborator

Lunatic Dancer

Posted
Posted

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 :)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Kinkstaah
      Quick Lifts? Anybody got one?

      By Kinkstaah · Posted

      Is this not the biggest deal of all? I was hoping the whole "will slide under cars with skirts etc and lift evenly quickly with minimal fuss" was the entire point of such a device? 
    • Duncan
      Quick Lifts? Anybody got one?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Here's Neil's car up on mine recently
    • Duncan
      Quick Lifts? Anybody got one?

      By Duncan · Posted

      Yeah I've got one of these, Quick Jack not Quick Lift, but your link looks like a good copy For me, it's better than no hoist, but it is definitely not as good as a hoist  It lifts the car about 60cm which is a nice working height compared to regular stands and it is only under the sills so it doesn't get in the way like regular chassis stands do.  No need to use regular stands, it has a safety lock on it. On the down side it is really heavy/unwieldy to drag into place, and you have to place it after the car is there (no option to drive the car to where the frames are. You need to try and line it up with the proper sill points which is hard as it swings up in an arc and there is surprisingly little adjustment in the distance between the rubber pads for different car lengths. Not a big deal, but in practice a jack + stands is probably quicker. Also there are hydraulic lines to each side and you need either a 240v or 12v source to power it depending on which option you have, I use 12v as I always seem to have a battery around.
    • CRSKmD
      R32 Sedan - Grip and Drift (have my cake and eat it too build)

      By CRSKmD · Posted

      Finally addressing my catch can and oil setup Plan is to do as much as practical without having to remove the motor or pull it apart. (no back of head to sump drain/breather or oil restrictors) First step is a set of full length baffle plates from Hypertune and a Tomei cam cap stud kit. I could probably have laser cut and bent up my own ones but this took any guess work out
    • PranK
      My BMW 335i

      By PranK · Posted

      I thought about ditching it but I was worried my bonnet would sound like a 90's Swift GTi sub-filled boot. 
×
×
  • Create New...