Best oil for tranny? Recommendations. i want something that is proven.

 

Honda MTF, 5w-30 oil, or GM synchromesh

 

i posted in your other post as well
i use gm sychromesh personally
but i hear redline is pretty good as well as Motul.

 

get a heavy weight

 

Don't use motor oil in these trannies. yes, it will (sorta) work, but it doesn't have the barrier wear protection additives nor the right coefficient of friction. Despite being recommended, motor oil was never a very good solution to the manual tranny problem.

In Honda trannies, I've used Red Line Oil MTL. This is good stuff, but might be a bit too thin in the warmest regions. You can mix it with its heavier brother Red Line Oil MT-90 if you want extra protection ... but it will likely come at the expense of shift quality ... especially before the oil warms up.

One new company I can recommend is Specialty Formulations:

http://www.specialtyformulatio...7.htm

Their MTL-P is formulated to be the same weight/viscosity as Honda MTF (12.5cSt) but it is a full synthetic (Group IV & V) base oil while Honda MTF is merely over-priced mineral oil. Specialty Formulations not only has a better base oil, but its additive package is better too.

For the northern third of North America, you might want to cut it with their thinner "SynchroGlide" which is a 9.5 cSt. Should make for better shifting on winter mornings.

GM and Pennzoil syncromesh fluids are a bit too thin for Honda trannies. Honda MTF is a 12.5 cSt with those other fluids around 9.0 cSt.

I've never tried Motul. Hard to find and with other good alternatives, why bother?

 

for your own good i'd only use honda MTF. I had 5w-30 in my s1 for a short period of time until i was able to get the MTF from honda and it sucked. The shifting was a lot harder and it just didnt feel like it glided as well with the 5w 30. If honda wanted you to use motor oil dont you think they would have put that in to begin with? The same goes for syncromesh. I think that stuff should only be used to try and "preserve" your old grinding tranny.

 

"For your own good I'd only use honda MTF."

That's certainly the safe choice ... but the stuff is so unimpressive. Basically, you are paying $5 per quart for a 'tweaked' mineral motor oil. A little more of the same-old barrier anti-wear additives found in motor oils and perhaps a friction modifier (like limited-slip differential additive) to take some of the 'slipperiness' out of the oil. That's about it.

"I had 5W-30 in my s1 for a short period of time until I was able to get the MTF from honda and it sucked. The shifting was a lot harder and it just didnt feel like it glided as well with the 5w-30. If honda wanted you to use motor oil dont you think they would have put that in to begin with?"

I'm not surprised. Motor oil makes a poor gear lubricant. Wrong coefficient of friction, insufficient barrier anti-wear additives, etc ...

Honda used to spec 10W-30 for their standard trannies ... but that was never a really good lubricant for this type of application. Now there are a lot of good choices available. But it's important to know the weight of each and what's best for your tranny.

"The same goes for syncromesh. I think that stuff should only be used to try and 'preserve' your old grinding tranny."

Nope. Synchromesh fluids are the ideal fluids for manual transmission applications. That was the sole purpose for developiong them. The fact that there have been so few of them available over the past 20+ years is puzzling. Honda MTF was Honda's "C" grade 'stop-gap' solution to the problem of lubricating a manual transmission. It works OK, but now there are better, more suitable fluids available. Just pick one.

 

Honda MTF for sure. The best transmission oil for Honda.

 

For people wanting to understand more about this subject (technically), I'd recommend they read these discussions:

http://theoildrop.server101.co...01630

and

http://theoildrop.server101.co...01743

 

why are people asking the same question every week?

 

synchromesh end of story!

 

ive been using redline mt30 for some time now in my s1, it feels great, although i think i may try syncromesh next time

 

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I use GM Synchromesh Friction Modified. Part #12377916 at your local GM dealership. It's the bottle shown here on the left:



Been using the stuff in my cars for 2 years now, and am very pleased with it. So good that I won't be switching back to Honda MTF or motor oil ever again.

 

Guys, the word "syncromesh" is not a brand name. "Synchromesh fluids" are a class of lubricants which have the correct additive package and coefficient of friction to be used in syncromesh manual transmission.

BUT ... they come in different weights from 7.0 cSt (Royal Purple Syncromax) to 15.0+ cSt (Red Line Oil MT-90 and Specialty Formulations MTL-R). You need to keep this in mind when selecting one for your application.

 

GM Synchromesh