Motul 300 - Made shifting worse?

[evan_gt86]

Has anyone else experienced this when switching to Motul 300? It seems like it's harder to shift the car, and also put it in gear from a stop. This was the first trans fluid change, and I did it at 23,xxx. Anyone else? I'm not sure I could have done anything wrong. The trans took around 2.5L of fluid. There was a fair amount of metal shavings on the drain plug, but nothing out of the normal for break-in.

Just curious if anyone else has seen negative effects from switching to Motul 300 or another aftermarket oil.

[ryoma]

Once the transmission gets warmed up it shifts easily for me. Its only when it's cold do you get a little tricky. Also if for any reason 1st gear feels locked out, put it in 2nd then to 1st. It should go in easily

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[why?]

It took about 500 miles for me to get used to the new feel, almost like the fluid needed a break in period, then it became much better than stock.

[tato.valverde]

I changed mine on my previous FRS to Motul because of hard shifts and grinds into 1st and 2nd, and it didnt make it better nor worse, it was still shitty.

On another note, apparently our transmission requires GL3 oil, and Motul 300 is GL4/GL5, so there are rumors of Motul destroying your synchros over time, so I won't be using it on my new FRS

[jasonojordan]

I have motul 300 in mine. cold shifts are crap. Once it warms up though everything shifts nicely. Im going to try switching to redline to see if that is any better with the cold shifts.

[Yardjass]

Originally Posted by tato.valverde

I changed mine on my previous FRS to Motul because of hard shifts and grinds into 1st and 2nd, and it didnt make it better nor worse, it was still shitty.

On another note, apparently our transmission requires GL3 oil, and Motul 300 is GL4/GL5, so there are rumors of Motul destroying your synchros over time, so I won't be using it on my new FRS

And they're just that, rumors. Motul's vendor literature says it acceptable for GL-4 use and is backwards compatible for use in GL3 systems without negative effects. The people complaining probably used the limited slip diff kind in their transmission and didn't notice, or had non-oil related problems because our transmissions just suck in general.

Originally Posted by bluesubie

GL-3 is an "inactive" spec according to the API which is why they are difficult, if not impossible, to find.

https://www.lubrizol.com/DrivelineAd...arOil/GL5.html

GL-5 can be used if it meets both GL-5 and GL-4. Motul Gear 300 meets both and likely achieves this with the use of metal deactivators.

Gear Tribology and Lubrication Part I
If you're not comfortable with this, run a gear oil that meets only GL-4 as it has 30-40% less extreme pressure additives. I do believe that a lot of people run Motul Gear 300 in the tranny although YMMV, of course.

[evan_gt86]

I have noticed that it gets better when the car is warmed up. First and second shifts suck when the car is cold. Glad to hear its not just me though. I'll most likely run the motul until fall, then switch it out to something else. Thanks for the input!

[JazzleSAURUS]

Please don't spread rumors that it's going to ruin transmissions. That's incorrect.

30k on my trans with motul.

These transmissions are very tight, and in cold weather, when cold, will be difficult to get into first.

[housecat]

I've driven 25k with Motul 300 in the trans, no major issues. Shifting in the cold is still difficult, it helps to double clutch and shift into 2nd before 1st at a stop as others suggested.

The transmission is sometimes stubborn and won't go into the next gear while driving. This is likely just the character of our transmission and not the oil. Forcing it into gear usually results in grinding, so usually I have to "fight" with the transmission and rev match/double clutch/throttle blip to get it into gear smoothly.

[Tokay444]

I found just draining factory fill and getting the particulate matter out of there smoothed shifting up immensely, even cold, with Motul Gear 300.

[strat61caster]

I've got almost 27k miles on Motul 300 so far, changed at 30k from OE fill, so 56k miles on the transmission.

Once warmed up the thing shifts fine, it's much happier at higher revs than <3.5k imo, it was designed that way. I'll be changing brands shortly for my next gear and LSD fluid change come this spring but I didn't think there was anything wrong with the Motul. Any observed differences in performance were marginal and likely placebo.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31929

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Tokay444

I found just draining factory fill and getting the particulate matter out of there smoothed shifting up immensely, even cold, with Motul Gear 300.

hmmmm...... so, as I understand what you just said, that you believe that by changing the transmission fluid, thus removing any particulate matter, that made the transmission shift smoother ..... ??

Or did your car's transmission seem to shift smoother, because you replaced the oil with Motul Gear 300 ... ??

Do you reckon that the transmission would have shifted smoother if you would have just drained the oil and replaced it with the OEM fill ... ??

.......and if @Cole tells me to do a search ...... I will SCREAM! ......





humfrz

[evan_gt86]

May I note that this was the first fluid change since OE fill, and I didn't notice any issues running the stock fluid. Once nice and warm, Motul does seem to shift better on occasion, but I have to say that even the dirty OE fluid worked better most of the time in my application. That being said, was the OE fluid a subaru, or toyota fluid? I would imagine it's the same between the BRZ and FRS since they were both assembled at FHI.

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by humfrz

hmmmm...... so, as I understand what you just said, that you believe that by changing the transmission fluid, thus removing any particulate matter, that made the transmission shift smoother ..... ??

Or did your car's transmission seem to shift smoother, because you replaced the oil with Motul Gear 300 ... ??

Do you reckon that the transmission would have shifted smoother if you would have just drained the oil and replaced it with the OEM fill ... ??

.......and if @Cole tells me to do a search ...... I will SCREAM! ......





humfrz

I can't say with any certainty, because it was the first and only fluid swap I've done on the car so far.