Synthetic gear oil.

[Kev80]

Does anyone use a synthetic gear oil ?

If so what brand is recomended ?

I have a V- drive gearbox in my inboard boat that i just rebuilt & am told synthetic is the go.

[Bush65]

Yes, Castrol Syntrans 75W-85. GL4 fully synthetic manual transmission fluid.

[Kev80]

The v drive usually runs on a SAE 80/ 90 oil.

Is it important to stick to these numbers ? (i dont know much about oils)

[80UTE]

Synthetic oils are great were you have hi-temps ( endurance racing )were normal mineral oils breakdown, oxidise, loose viscosity and dont protect from metal to metal contact. From memory "V" drive gear boxes are water cooled so i would not think temperatures would be a problem. Synthetic oils on average would be about 4 times the price of mineral oils so for the same $$$$ you can do 4 oil changes. Simple gearboxes with counter gears usually have problems with particilate comtamination ( pieces of gear and bearing suspended in the oil ) that do the damage and wear the thing out. Synthetic oils dont help this condition so thats why regularly changing the oil is the best preventative . Ive had a lot of experiance heavy equipment and we had a type of equipment that reulary had diff failures . I trialled synthetic oil to help with the problem but it made no differance due to the particulate contamination. I researched the problem with the manufacturer of the equipment and the Engineer's of a major oil company and there recomendation was to more regularly change the oil and flush the housing. This gave the best results to were we were getting 4 times the life from the diff assembly ( ~$40,000 per rebuild) This proved to be a huge saving so the extra $$ spent on oil and labour was well worth it. After having discussions with the engineer about my 4B i have applied this practice with all my 4B's and have never had problems with parts wearing out.

Wally

[80UTE]

Synthetic oils are great were you have hi-temps ( endurance racing )were normal mineral oils breakdown, oxidise, loose viscosity and dont protect from metal to metal contact. From memory "V" drive gear boxes are water cooled so i would not think temperatures would be a problem. Synthetic oils on average would be about 4 times the price of mineral oils so for the same $$$$ you can do 4 oil changes. Simple gearboxes with counter gears usually have problems with particilate comtamination ( pieces of gear and bearing suspended in the oil ) that do the damage and wear the thing out. Synthetic oils dont help this condition so thats why regularly changing the oil is the best preventative . Ive had a lot of experiance heavy equipment and we had a type of equipment that reulary had diff failures . I trialled synthetic oil to help with the problem but it made no differance due to the particulate contamination. I researched the problem with the manufacturer of the equipment and the Engineer's of a major oil company and there recomendation was to more regularly change the oil and flush the housing. This gave the best results to were we were getting 4 times the life from the diff assembly ( ~$40,000 per rebuild) This proved to be a huge saving so the extra $$ spent on oil and labour was well worth it. After having discussions with the engineer about my 4B i have applied this practice with all my 4B's and have never had problems with parts wearing out.

Wally

[Kev80]

Great info there 80.

From memory "V" drive gear boxes are water cooled so i would not think temperatures would be a problem.

Correct.

Synthetic oils on average would be about 4 times the price of mineral oils so for the same $$$$ you can do 4 oil changes.

Have you done an oil change on a v-drive ?
Not real easy as the drive is about 10mm of the bottom of the hull.

Simple gearboxes with counter gears usually have problems with particilate comtamination ( pieces of gear and bearing suspended in the oil ) that do the damage and wear the thing out. there recomendation was to more regularly change the oil and flush the housing.

Im not sure what "counter gears" are but i think i will take that info on board and replace it more often than i do.

Thanks !

[Eddy]

I've been using AMSOIL synthetics for 26 years now, and luv'em!
They give a significant reduction in friction, resulting in at least 10% improvement in fuel consumption. (40% in my old G60)

[Kev80]

I thought Amsol was American, is it available here ?

I dont recal seeing it anywhere.

[Kev80]

Yes, Castrol Syntrans 75W-85. GL4 fully synthetic manual transmission fluid.

I had a look at the local Castrol lube shop & the smallest quantity they sell in this oil is 20L. (dont ask how much ! )
They checked the books & thats what they come up with.

I only need 2L, any other oil out there ???

Will check out Mobil tomorrow i think !

[spazbot]

why not goto a suopercheap or autoone / repco etc they will have what you want

[Kev80]

Tried Repco & they dont carry any synthetic gear oil,if they dont have it im sure Supercheap wouldn't.

Supercheap is only good for car wash stuff & smelly things you hang from your mirror.

Piss weak as a real auto shop !

[Bush65]

Yes, Castrol Syntrans 75W-85. GL4 fully synthetic manual transmission fluid.

I had a look at the local Castrol lube shop & the smallest quantity they sell in this oil is 20L. (dont ask how much ! )
They checked the books & thats what they come up with.

I only need 2L, any other oil out there ???

Will check out Mobil tomorrow i think !

Strange, because I can buy it in 1L containers.

Mobil didn't have a synthetic gear oil when I checked.

[Kev80]

Well what i said to them was it didn't sound right, how could it not be available under 20L & they said its mainly for commercial/ mining use etc.

I will try again somewere else tomorrow.

[Eddy]

From Yellow pages


South Aust
Amsoil Synthetic Lubricant Dealers
Silver Lake Rd
Mylor S A 5153
(08) 8388 5294


AMSOIL
Synthetic Oil
(I J Bishop)
Yorketown S A 5576
(08) 8852 1777

Victoria
Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants
127a Lonsdale St
Dandenong Vic 3175
(03) 9794 0700


Made in America since !973 (or thereabouts)

was very popular, with many people selling quite a bit, (myself included) until the Aussie dollar was "floated" and prices went through the roof due to exchange rate.
Not so bad now with the dollar getting to around 70cents US.......

[Kev80]

I did come across the Amsoil or Amzoil as it is on the .au site.

Sent them a email to find out where to buy & how much.

[murcod]

I've been using AMSOIL synthetics for 26 years now, and luv'em!
They give a significant reduction in friction, resulting in at least 10% improvement in fuel consumption. (40% in my old G60)

Are you saying your fuel economy improved by 40% from changing to synthetic oils in your driveline?!

[murcod]

multiple post!!!

[murcod]

multiple post!!!

[Kev80]

Got a reply from the Amsoil site & "Amsoil 75w 90 fully synthetic gear oil"
is available at $19 a litre + $20 delivery to north QLD.

Not cheap but may use as a last resort.

Anyone know why they are also called Amzoil ?

[Eddy]

murcod, yes
murcod, yes
murcod, yes



I got the old G60 up to 25-26 mpg after filling both diffs, transmission, and transfer case with Amsoil.
got about 10mpg when I first got it, tune up, extractors and Unifilter took it to 18 mpg, Amsoil did the rest.

Amsoil is a yank company started by a retired air force pilot named "Al Amatusio"

[FireTruck]

I use Valvoline Synthetics (link to the web site in my sig).

At least in terms of engine wear, I have read a few studies that showed that when using good quality full sythetics, with scheduled oil changes, engine wear was reduced to almost nothing... that is, there was no discernable wear when using synthetics. Regular old 'dino' oil on the other hand showed wear even when changed regularly.

I'll try to dig up some links.

S.

[murcod]

murcod, yes
murcod, yes
murcod, yes



I got the old G60 up to 25-26 mpg after filling both diffs, transmission, and transfer case with Amsoil.
got about 10mpg when I first got it, tune up, extractors and Unifilter took it to 18 mpg, Amsoil did the rest.

Amsoil is a yank company started by a retired air force pilot named "Al Amatusio"

You must have been using tar for oil before that! Or do you have shares in the company?

[Eddy]

............ Or do you have shares in the company?

I wish....
actually sold the stuff for a couple years full time in the early 80s.

I've consistently had good results from every vehicle that I've used amsoil in, which is almost every vehicle I've owned since 1979

I've also used their 2 stroke oil in my chainsaws, lawn mowers etc, and engine oils in.........oh yeah.......engines.

[murcod]

I've used Redline in the gearbox of my Feroza, it's excellent for cold shift problems and has transformed my gearbox. Have also put it in my front diff (the shockproof stuff) as it's supposed to help with shock loading and prevent failures. Shifts are a lot smoother no matter what the temp and the gearbox and front diff are as quiet as a mouse (Castrol VMX80 made it sound terrible ) A couple of others with different 4WD's have tried it after I've recommended it and have also been very happy with the improvements.

Some companies claim improved economy (including Redline IIRC) but I would never recommend synthetics for that reason. My rear diff and transfer case are the only things left in the entire drivetrain running mineral oil, but I wouldn't say I'd had any noticeable improvement.