2nd gear synchro FIX- MT owners read this thread

[roddy]

@zebro racing if you don't want to risk the Pentosin, try MT85, or a blend of MTL and MT90 (1 quart of MTL, and fill the rest of the way with MT90). From my own experience, this transmission is pretty sensitive to viscosity.

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by zebro racing

I'm so glad this thread got restarted. I just bought my 2013 FR-S on 1/25 (with only 12,xxx miles), and I thought I was just not used to transmission and the second gear issue (I've driven manual my whole life). I'm happy to know it's not just me.

@Scion_Swine
As a previous post suggested, it's best to read the whole thread (it took me a day or two off and on). There is a lot of good info and some amusing rants.

The summary up to this point is as follows:
• Pentosin seems to work well for most everyone that tries it; but I noticed 90% of these successes were from people in northern states where it actually gets cold.
• Redline MTL, MT85 get some love as well
• Motul 300 is a mixed bag of reviews

I'm also glad you chimed in because I too live in the Sunshine/"why did I buy a black car" state where "cold" starts are more of a theoretical thing. My concern with the Pentosin (75w80) is the lower than factory recommended weight. I don't want to go that much lower than the minimum factory recommended weight of 75w90 because I'm a rule follower, and I'd like a little more weight for those 110F days when I'm driving enthusiastically. I personally, am leaning towards Redline MT85, MT90, or Amsoil MTG in the tranny and Motul Gear 300 GL4/GL5 75W90 in the diff.

How about the stuff that Toyota says to use in it - LV 75W (Part # 08885-81007)? From what I can scrape together, it's a light viscosity GL4 gear oil of 6.3 ~ 6.7 cSt @ 100°C. $22/l is a decent price compared to what most dealerships charge: https://toyotaparts.bochtoyotasouth....-lv-0888581007

[Votlon]

Is there a TL;DR version of this post?

[Somerandom18]

Get 75w85 not 75w90 or something like that

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[504]

FYI to any Aussies here, Nulon 75w85 with 1 tube nulon g70 is magic. This is coming from redline, amsoil, Motul and pentosin

[Scion_Swine]

Originally Posted by zebro racing

I'm so glad this thread got restarted. I just bought my 2013 FR-S on 1/25 (with only 12,xxx miles), and I thought I was just not used to transmission and the second gear issue (I've driven manual my whole life). I'm happy to know it's not just me.

@Scion_Swine
As a previous post suggested, it's best to read the whole thread (it took me a day or two off and on). There is a lot of good info and some amusing rants.

The summary up to this point is as follows:
• Pentosin seems to work well for most everyone that tries it; but I noticed 90% of these successes were from people in northern states where it actually gets cold.
• Redline MTL, MT85 get some love as well
• Motul 300 is a mixed bag of reviews

I'm also glad you chimed in because I too live in the Sunshine/"why did I buy a black car" state where "cold" starts are more of a theoretical thing. My concern with the Pentosin (75w80) is the lower than factory recommended weight. I don't want to go that much lower than the minimum factory recommended weight of 75w90 because I'm a rule follower, and I'd like a little more weight for those 110F days when I'm driving enthusiastically. I personally, am leaning towards Redline MT85, MT90, or Amsoil MTG in the tranny and Motul Gear 300 GL4/GL5 75W90 in the diff.

Well I put in the 75w80 about 2 weeks ago and idk if I'm just getting used to it but it's seems to be slightly better than when I first put it in. I'm not sure if it was this thread but I read that weight doesn't necessarily matter on modern cars. Oil still protects your parts. Thicker oil was just used to fill in bigger gaps between components that weren't machined that precise. I could be wrong but I haven't done much research.
Now the question of my shifting feeling slightly better after the oil has been used in for a little doesn't make to much sense to me. I would assume it would worsen overtime but not this fast.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by Brzer

Been doing some research as I wanted to meet OEM specs when changing out fluids after break-in. My dealership service manager inquired at the regional level and one does not have to use the owner's manual specified Toyota MG Gear OIL special II. GL-4 is fine. Motorcraft XT-M5-QS is highly recommended on the Miata message boards for smoothing out transmission notchiness. It is GL-3 compatible and is made in Germany for Ford, I am not sure by whom. It is a 75w-90 oil and lists for just over $21 a quart but I found a local Ford dealer who sells it for $17.50. I am going to try it out. Will post what I think when I get it done. Also an email responce to my inquiry from Pentosin stated that MTF2 has not been tested in the BRZ and that they could not recommend its use in our vehicle. See link below.
http://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricant...ission%20Fluid

Originally Posted by Brzer

Might have been to quick to post the recommendation for the Motorcraft oil. I came across this post.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showt...=1#post5581498
Will have to investigate further.

The Motocraft juice is pretty much THE benchmark in the Mazdaspeed3/6 world.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by 2forme

I don't think they would ship out the oil to test its viscosity. I could be wrong, I just think it's highly unlikely.

I work for a large OE manufacturer, albeit not automotive, but in the event of failure, we routinely send out used oil samples for analysis.

[Scion_Swine]

So I am thinking of changing my 75w80 for Red Line (50304) MT-90 75W-90.
I am thinking the heavier weight will help during tracking seasons, here in sunny Florida, on hot days.
any negatives to using a step up in weight?

[BuffDriver]

People living on the Gulf coast rarely have winter temps lower than the high 40's yet the transmission in my new 2016 BRZ was still notchy in the mornings. I read many of the other informative threads besides this one and changed the oil to Motul 300 [ tran n diff ] and it helped. But I still ocasionally have the feeling going into third like the gear teeth have to rotate just half a tooth or so to engage.
What did more to fix shifting feel and notchines was to instal a TRD short shifter, MTEC trans n clutch pedal springs... and as per the wonderful thread by Ultramaroon, change out the clutch slave cylinder. Better shifting and effectivly a new/different car. All this basically eliminated the 2nd gear problem.

[Tokay444]

For what it's worth, I live in Ontario Canada, and see negative ten Celsius temps routinely right now. I switched to Motul Gear 300 in November, and my 1-2 shifts in the AM are butter. I had 25000kms on the factory fill at the time, and pre change, I did have the common issue of a difficult 1-2 shift when car was cold. During the fluid swap I took note or a lot of paticlage matter on the magnetic drain plug. I have a working theory that the smoothness may be as a result of fresh fluid rather than the thinner fluid all together.

[Scion_Swine]

Originally Posted by BuffDriver

People living on the Gulf coast rarely have winter temps lower than the high 40's yet the transmission in my new 2016 BRZ was still notchy in the mornings. I read many of the other informative threads besides this one and changed the oil to Motul 300 [ tran n diff ] and it helped. But I still ocasionally have the feeling going into third like the gear teeth have to rotate just half a tooth or so to engage.
What did more to fix shifting feel and notchines was to instal a TRD short shifter, MTEC trans n clutch pedal springs... and as per the wonderful thread by Ultramaroon, change out the clutch slave cylinder. Better shifting and effectivly a new/different car. All this basically eliminated the 2nd gear problem.

Link to that thread by Ultramaroon?

[BuffDriver]

The DIY by Ultramaroon is:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...slave+cylinder

[reeves]

Originally Posted by zebro racing

The summary up to this point is as follows:
• Pentosin seems to work well for most everyone that tries it; but I noticed 90% of these successes were from people in northern states where it actually gets cold.
• Redline MTL, MT85 get some love as well
• Motul 300 is a mixed bag of reviews

I'm also glad you chimed in because I too live in the Sunshine/"why did I buy a black car" state where "cold" starts are more of a theoretical thing. My concern with the Pentosin (75w80) is the lower than factory recommended weight. I don't want to go that much lower than the minimum factory recommended weight of 75w90 because I'm a rule follower, and I'd like a little more weight for those 110F days when I'm driving enthusiastically. I personally, am leaning towards Redline MT85, MT90, or Amsoil MTG in the tranny and Motul Gear 300 GL4/GL5 75W90 in the diff.

Originally Posted by Votlon

Is there a TL;DR version of this post?

TL;DR:
Go with Pentosin MTF-2. There's a ton more complaints about Motul (compared to Pentonsin) on these forums.

I live in the south. I tried Amsoil tranny fluid first, it sucked (or, at best, it felt just as notchy/hard-to-shift as the factory fluid).. even for the "warmer" climate temperatures of the southern U.S.

Pentosin MTF-2 made me never curse shifting into 2nd gear again (or any other gear) since I switched to it. 60+K miles on Pentosin, still shifting good. I'm still on my original Pentosin fluid change, I've been too lazy to change my tranny fluid the last few years, but I'm planning on changing it soon this year.