changing all fluids/ summary

[Donnie]

Hi all, I am about to change ALL fluids in my '67 2a 109 6cyl. machine..I know that this has been discussed into forever, but I don't know how to find the thread. also there have been Many changes in the chemistry of fluids since the manuals were written...some tolerate brass, some don't. some are thin and some lack the ability to cling to rotating surfaces & on & on...I am asking for a few opinions.
tranny, transfer box, steering box, steering transfer link? 4 lack of the correct term. Diff's, Fairey OD..TIA, Donnie

[gudjeon]

I use plain old castrol 80w90 gear oil for diffs, tranny, transfer case, swivels and gear box. I get it from W-Mart. I know some will rail against the thought of GL-5 spec due to the infamous perceived notion that it eats brass. I have used it for years, and know of an old english car restorer that has used it in stuff older than Landy's. I have not lost anything yet and have not seen any classic car tranny lost to GL-5 gear oil.

For the motor, it purrs along with 15w40 for summer and 10w40 in winter. Again, some will claim new oils lack zinc additives that used to protect older engines with older spec oils. I have seen cam and follower wear on old side valve engines that have ran all their lives using the older more "zinc rich" oils. I can say it did not seem to help them out much in terms of wear that some warn about occuring using newer spec oils.

I just make sure it is a decent brand that you have heard of before. If everything is working right, no fancy additives or formulations are needed. Keep your stock of fluids simple.

In the end its what you are comfortable with and what you want to spend to feel said comfort.

[greenmeanie]

I'll second the above. I've got over 100K on a gearbox running 80 or 85W 90 without any isse from the yellow metal parts.

I have heard that shifting is smoother with GL4 because it is not as slippery as GL5 so the synchros bite faster. I know when I tried synthetic in mine it semed a whole lot rougher.

[kevin-ct]

I use 75W80 in the over-drive, t-box, and the trans and the steering box. 75W80 is easer to shift in cold weather. I use 80W90 in the axle’s and diff’s, and the swivels

10W40 Kendall oil in the winter and 20W50 HP Kendall (which has 1200 ppm of zinc) in the summer

Hope that helps.

Kevin

[ybt502r]

I've used synthetics (90W Amsoil from our hosts) in the gear boxes with no issues. It's cold in Canada, and I want to be able to start, shift, and move at -20C. It does seem to leak just a bit more, but that's all relative. The shifting might or might not be a bit harder, but it's not something I notice once everything is warm. I also use 10W-40 synthetics in the engine too. It's never failed to turn over and start due to cold as a result.

The Rover sits in an unheated garage (plugged in below around -15C). I have to watch the fluid levels and especially double check everything in the summer when I can actually work on the truck. I chose the synthetics over the GL-4 as I figured the cold running would do more damage than perhaps the upgrade in spec to GL-5.

[Jim-ME]

I use Lucas 80/90 wt in the trans, transfer, diffs, steering box and the swivels (now that they are both new and don't leak) otherwise I would use Lucas Hub Oil. I use a mixture of bearing grease and hub oil in the rear hubs. I run Castrol GTX 20W-50 in the summer and 10W-30 High Mileage Castrol in the winter. I also just started using Lucas Oil Stabilizer which has seemed to help increase the oil pressure and makes to engine run smoother.
Jim

[Eric W S]

www.bobistheoilguy.com

Go right to the source. Amazing info on that site.