2nd gear synchro FIX- MT owners read this thread

[R2]

I replaced the stock fluid with Redline MTL in January and wanted to wait until the summer to report on my experiences. Given the large temperature range in my part of the world, -40C to +35C, I've experienced a huge change in the feel of the car. So, now that it is summer and we've had some hot days, here's the summary of results:


Winter(Stock fill)
-Similar results to everyone else, the transmission was extremely stiff until driving it for 30 min or more, then it would become fairly smooth. It would whine at temperatures below -30C, kind of sounded like it had straight cut gears. At temperatures below ~0C it would consistently refuse to allow a 1->2 or a 3->2 shift, and double clutching provided only a 50% success rate. Plenty of grinding on the 1->2 shifts that were successful, but this always improved with about 5-10km of driving. The result of this was I almost never used 1st gear in winter, 2nd was the go to at lights and stop signs.


Winter (MTL fill): 1->2 and 3->2 shifts NOT improved at all, still got the lock out feel and plenty of grinding. Double clutching had the same success rate as the stock fill. Shifting effort was reduced though, initially it didn't feel as good but I learned to like it. The biggest benefit was that it felt like it was much warmer at any given temperature than with the stock fluid, so the lower viscosity at low temperatures was obvious.


Summer (Stock fluid): At temperatures above 20C it felt great all the time. Below 20C I'd get the occasional grind on 1->2 shifts. When the transmission was warmed up from driving, shifting felt perfect.


Summer (Redline MTL): Shifting feels "lighter" at temperatures above 0C, and feels great at temperatures above 20C. When the transmission is warmed up from driving, shifting feels perfect - perhaps this happens a bit quicker than when on the stock fluid.


As it turns out the stock fluid (after ~14,000km) has a similar viscosity as MTL fluid @ 100C. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62288


TLDR: Summer - not much difference, winter reasonable and worthwhile difference.

[SpeedyJay]

NVMD

[Calle]

I replaced my stock transmission oil during the weekend with Redline MTL and shifting greatly improved. I live in Sweden and temperatures are between 5 and 20C at the time. The car has rolled about 7800km and there wasn't much metal on the drain plug magnet.

I never experienced grinding with the stock oil but the shifts between 1 and 2 was quite stiff and notchy. With the Redline oil the shift feel is probably one of the best I've tried to date.

The next step is to replace the differential oil but I'm not expecting a major difference.

On a side note the underbody panels are quite cool, didn't expect to see them on my EU GT86.

[OICU812]

Originally Posted by PMPB

I think I've come to the conclusion that Motul Gear 300 is no better than the stock fluid. It's summer here now, and second gear is still crunching for the first 4-5 shifts, and once the car is fully warmed 2nd still feels really stiff.

I may also have developed a new to me click/nick with 3rd gear. Also, first is now impossible to get if the car is rolling over 5km/h (I'd never try over 8-9km/h). So it's easier to slam on the breaks, pop it in first and blast out of there after the traffic starts honking at you.

Gear 300 may in fact be WORSE than the stock fill so much for that idea... Ontario is still not 'stinking' hot yet, so I have some hopes it'll get better through the summer. I fully expect that this fall I'll be voiding my warranty with Pentosin.

Unless you're going to run and tell them to note what you're using or can't somehow change b4 you take in "if there was an actual problem" can't see why you would void anything. Some folks around here with tranny problems not related to oils at all have had the P oil in there and dealers did not void anything..

Suppose depends on your dealer...lots of folks running this Tranny oil zero issues, it's only an improvement.

[ML]

These are my options for fluid locally. Kinda confused about which one for the trans, and which one for the diff.

http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...r_oil/gear_oil

http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...r_oil/gear_oil

[roddy]

If that is what you want to use, Synchromax for the trans and Max Gear for the diff. You'll need 3 (~2.3) for the trans, and 2 (~1.2) for the differential.

[zoth]

Originally Posted by ML

These are my options for fluid locally. Kinda confused about which one for the trans, and which one for the diff.

http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...r_oil/gear_oil

http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...r_oil/gear_oil

2nd one..

[ML]

Originally Posted by zoth

2nd one..

For both?

[zoth]

Originally Posted by ML

For both?

yeap

[qqzj]

Just want to make sure. Are we talking about this from Amazon?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Pentosin-MTF2-1L-75W-80-Transmission-Fluid/dp/B00JMAQ39G"]Amazon.com: Pentosin (MTF2-1L) SAE GL-4 75W-80 Transmission Fluid - 1 Liter: Automotive[/ame]

It is about 22 bucks. Why I saw people paying $80+ for it? Am I missing something? Thanks a lot.

[ML]

Originally Posted by qqzj

Just want to make sure. Are we talking about this from Amazon?

Amazon.com: Pentosin (MTF2-1L) SAE GL-4 75W-80 Transmission Fluid - 1 Liter: Automotive

It is about 22 bucks. Why I saw people paying $80+ for it? Am I missing something? Thanks a lot.

Might want to watch this thread

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71516

[stevo585]

Originally Posted by PMPB

I think I've come to the conclusion that Motul Gear 300 is no better than the stock fluid. It's summer here now, and second gear is still crunching for the first 4-5 shifts, and once the car is fully warmed 2nd still feels really stiff.

I may also have developed a new to me click/nick with 3rd gear. Also, first is now impossible to get if the car is rolling over 5km/h (I'd never try over 8-9km/h). So it's easier to slam on the breaks, pop it in first and blast out of there after the traffic starts honking at you.

Gear 300 may in fact be WORSE than the stock fill so much for that idea... Ontario is still not 'stinking' hot yet, so I have some hopes it'll get better through the summer. I fully expect that this fall I'll be voiding my warranty with Pentosin.

I'm running the Gear 300 here in Florida and its hot of course 90-95F. Its still notchy when cold but once warm it feels nice. But really not much better than the factory fill.

What I noticed the most is the cold diff "chatter" is gone.

[surcy]

After reading through all of this, I decided to replace my 6sp manual transmission fluid (2700 miles). My transmission had the 2nd gear change difficulty when cold and also random changing difficulty. As info, the factory fluid looked like new and there was a very small black build up on the magnetic drain plug--no metal particles.


I wasn't sure what to use; however, I had 3 liters of BMW MTF-LT-2, SAE 75W-90, API GL4 left over from a 2004 M3 trans fluid change, so I decided to try this. I understand that this is the same as the Pentosin fluid.


Initial impression is that the trans shifts very smoothly--much improved over the factory fluid. No second gear issues whatsoever. I will evaluate over time and report back on results.

[surcy]

Correction in the last post: The BMW fluid was SAE 75W-80