I saw a tread on here about penzoil syncromesh manual transmission oil. When i was gonna go buy some, the guy at autozone says it will blow my tranny ?!?!? I was like WTF should i be believing that or is it a bunch of bs ? He basically said the same about the gm syncromesh and just get the OEM honda one, is this true, if not, tell me what type of manual transmission oil do you use and what were the results, and what would you recommended? thanks in advance for any help.

 

Depends what year your car is and what the owners manual says my 92' says to use 5w-30 motor oil so i do, theres many threads of people ruins thier tranns by using motor oil, or honda mtf, and there many people who switch and have success, look in your manual and see what its supposed to have first.

 

i got a z6 with stock si tranny, the motor is from a 94 civic, and as for a manual, i dont think many 92-95 comes with orginal manual anymore..sad but true, thanks for the help. anyone else to chime in about this?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ek-g6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I saw a tread on here about penzoil syncromesh manual transmission oil. When i was gonna go buy some, the guy at autozone says it will blow my tranny ?!?!? I was like WTF should i be believing that or is it a bunch of bs ? He basically said the same about the gm syncromesh and just get the OEM honda one, is this true, if not, tell me what type of manual transmission oil do you use and what were the results, and what would you recommended? thanks in advance for any help.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be 10w30, but 5w30, 10w30, either or is fine, really, obviously 10w30 will provide a bit more lubrication at low temp without being too thick.

I use 10w30, Mobil1.

Any of the above you mentioned will NOT ruin/blow your transmission.
Oil, Honda MTF, Penzoil MTF, GM Syncromesh, etc. etc. - doesn't matter which you put in there.

Only die hard Honda ricer fan boys say you can only put Honda MTF in a Honda, the rest of the world is smarter . There's quite a few of those jokers here, on H-T, that'll tell ya all about how they had their input shaft ready to fall the expletive out and they added Honda MTF and it reseated, resealed, and lasted another 50,000 miles, etc. etc.

Lemme guess, you went to autozone or a similar chain store? Usually that's where these idiots gather, wouldn't surprise me for one to tell you this.

EDIT:
Whoops...quoted the wrong dude...

 

Do you know what year the tranny is, thats what matters i think, after a certain year honda went to or recommended the honda mtf.

 

to be honest im not sure, but i would say its from a 94 also, but if not tell what should i use from the 92 to 95 civics?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by z6hatchboy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you know what year the tranny is, thats what matters i think, after a certain year honda went to or recommended the honda mtf.</TD></TR></TABLE>

They always recommended Honda MTF, much like GM always recommended GM syncromesh, and I'm sure each brand has their own transmission fluid blend which they claim is best...and I'm sure the ricer fan boys always thought Honda MTF was necessary.

Though Honda transmissions aren't special, Honda, like the rest of the transmissions out there, just need a lubricant, any company will do.

 

Internet delay, good info though, heres a thread nothing but good thing on gm and penzoil syncromeshs http://www.superhonda.com/foru....html

 

Well that was initially what i thought about the guy..he kept going on and on about OEM honda dis and OEM honda that..after awhile i just fazed out..i was there cuz they had a sale on synthetic oil, so i grab 2 cases, and thought to myself i might as well change the tranny oil too..thats where he showed and yeah..i just didnt buy any tranny oil. im not too familiar about tranny oil and such, so didnt want to do anything that might blow a tranny..alright so now i know thanks Syndacate, for giving me a more clearer picture about this whole deal

 

aye thanks for the info z6hatchboy. Has anyone ever tried the Royal Purple syncromesh?

 

Here is what the 96-00 Helms manual states:

"Always use Genuine Honda Manual Transmission Fluid (MTF). Using motor oil can cause stiffer shifting because it does not contain the proper additives."

 

Everyone says that about all there products. They probably want you to use oe motor oil too, but ill stick to my mobil 1 .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lemme guess, you went to autozone or a similar chain store? Usually that's where these idiots gather, wouldn't surprise me for one to tell you this.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You don't have to guess. He said in the first post that he did.

Idiots are in all chain stores. They're not usually the best places to go for good advice. Then again, there's a lot of idiots on here who try to act as though they know everything too, and even insult people in posts where they happen to be wrong.

Not all transmission fluid is the same and you don't want to just use any fluid in any transmission. If you bother to read the back of the bottles, they'll usually list down what vehicles they're for. Certain vehicles take different fluids, though this usually matters most for automatic transmissions. Some cars, such as certain years of Ford Rangers, take different fluids depending on the year even if it's in the same basic generation of vehicle.

Read your owner's manual. Especially if you have an older model, call Honda. Ask what they recommend. If you manage to get a part guy or tech who has been there for awhile, they might be able to run down the different options that would be optimal for your car.

I prefer Honda MTF and GM Syncromesh myself. Neither have damaged my transmission. I do flushes with cheap 10w30. I know I've been told I can use normal oil if I want to, but I'd prefer not to even chance using all sorts of different crap when I know there are already a variety of issues that the manual D transmissions have.

I don't see why not to use the stuff Honda recommends. I mean, it's not expensive and it's not like you have to put fluid in your transmission very often. If you do, then you have bigger issues than what fluid to use in it.

Oh, and to the OP: If you want to buy GM Syncromesh, you're going to have to go to a GM dealership, not AutoZone.

 

I agree with your z6hatchboy. you stick to mobil1 and ill stick to valvoline synPower! lols ill give penzoil a shot to see how it would perform, thanks for all the help guys!

 

Thats is true about what you say NOFX..I didnt go into autozone asking for advice, he just came up and asked me if i was using that for my tranny..i said yeah..and it all goes south from there, and he just wouldnt shut up..but what can you do, cant avoid them cuz thats where they all hang out most of the time..lols sad but true. thanks tho

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NOFX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't see why not to use the stuff Honda recommends. I mean, it's not expensive and it's not like you have to put fluid in your transmission very often. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This has always been my logic, and can't understand it either. You'll end up saving something like $6 on a B-series by going with regular motor oil.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NOFX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You don't have to guess. He said in the first post that he did.

Idiots are in all chain stores. They're not usually the best places to go for good advice. Then again, there's a lot of idiots on here who try to act as though they know everything too, and even insult people in posts where they happen to be wrong.

Not all transmission fluid is the same and you don't want to just use any fluid in any transmission. If you bother to read the back of the bottles, they'll usually list down what vehicles they're for. Certain vehicles take different fluids, though this usually matters most for automatic transmissions. Some cars, such as certain years of Ford Rangers, take different fluids depending on the year even if it's in the same basic generation of vehicle.

Read your owner's manual. Especially if you have an older model, call Honda. Ask what they recommend. If you manage to get a part guy or tech who has been there for awhile, they might be able to run down the different options that would be optimal for your car.

I prefer Honda MTF and GM Syncromesh myself. Neither have damaged my transmission. I do flushes with cheap 10w30. I know I've been told I can use normal oil if I want to, but I'd prefer not to even chance using all sorts of different crap when I know there are already a variety of issues that the manual D transmissions have.

I don't see why not to use the stuff Honda recommends. I mean, it's not expensive and it's not like you have to put fluid in your transmission very often. If you do, then you have bigger issues than what fluid to use in it.

Oh, and to the OP: If you want to buy GM Syncromesh, you're going to have to go to a GM dealership, not AutoZone.</TD></TR></TABLE>

First off, I didn't see the first line until you pointed it out (so sue me).

And no, if you bothered to look at any computerized mech. book they list oil weights, not oil makes, for the transmission fluid, they do that for a reason.

Honda is going to recommend Honda MTF? Big surprise on that one.

You prefer not to chance it because you simply don't understand it, lubrication is lubrication, it doesn't matter if it's GM, Honda, Penzoil, or any of the other 50,000 companies that make oil. True, there's a line, the line is don't buy **** that's $.75/qt, but the line is NOT right after "Honda MTF."

Speaking of idiots there's also the idiots that post in threads without any real information informing the rest of us that they're not knowledgeable enough to actually realize what's going on around them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Padawan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This has always been my logic, and can't understand it either. You'll end up saving something like $6 on a B-series by going with regular motor oil. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Exactly.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First off, I didn't see the first line until you pointed it out (so sue me).

And no, if you bothered to look at any computerized mech. book they list oil weights, not oil makes, for the transmission fluid, they do that for a reason.

Honda is going to recommend Honda MTF? Big surprise on that one.

You prefer not to chance it because you simply don't understand it, lubrication is lubrication, it doesn't matter if it's GM, Honda, Penzoil, or any of the other 50,000 companies that make oil. True, there's a line, the line is don't buy **** that's $.75/qt, but the line is NOT right after "Honda MTF."

Speaking of idiots there's also the idiots that post in threads without any real information informing the rest of us that they're not knowledgeable enough to actually realize what's going on around them.</TD></TR></TABLE>
You don't get it. I never said they'd list brand of fluid. You're putting words in my mouth.

Again, why be cheap on fluids that 1) matter, 2) aren't that expensive anyway and 3) you don't have to change often enough to have to worry about it breaking your wallet. If you really need to get the cheap stuff, then you must be some real cheap ***. You're only suggested to change your transmission fluid every 90,000 miles.

If a lubricant is a lubricant, why not use the seventy-five cent stuff?

You're also coming off as a real dick. Big surprise there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NOFX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You don't get it. I never said they'd list brand of fluid. You're putting words in my mouth.

Again, why be cheap on fluids that 1) matter, 2) aren't that expensive anyway and 3) you don't have to change often enough to have to worry about it breaking your wallet. If you really need to get the cheap stuff, then you must be some real cheap ***. You're only suggested to change your transmission fluid every 90,000 miles.

If a lubricant is a lubricant, why not use the seventy-five cent stuff?

You're also coming off as a real dick. Big surprise there.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not putting anything in your mouth, I'm just saying, in terms of what matters, fluid weights are listed, not makes of fluid.

It's not necessarily being cheap, it's having what's available to you. Usually there's oil sitting around the garage, usually there's no Honda MTF sitting around the garage, so unless it's your private garage and you plan on doing this **** in advance, it just wastes time. Especially when it comes down to a simple fact that any name brand oil is the equivalent of Honda MTF.

Why not use $.75 stuff? 'Cause that wouldn't really be name brand now would it? Maybe I should have been more specific. Any <u>known name brand company</u> (ie. penzoil, mobil1, royal purple, castrol, etc.) will be the equivalent of Honda MTF, a pep boys special won't be.

I don't know the etiquette on how long you're supposed to wait before changing the transmission fluid, but I do it A LOT more than 90k, and if you wait 90k before changing the trans fluid in an automatic, you're boned. The transmission will be ready to take a crap at that point.

Take the last time I changed my trans fluid for example, about a month ago, I was doing an alignment on my car, it was on my friend's lift, and I couldn't get the left toe bolt loose, so I was walking around pissy for a few minutes looking for a way to get the bolt since I couldn't get a breaker bar up there and an impact wasn't doing ****, so I saw the transmission fluid and decided to change my transmission fluid. So I used a few bottles of Mobil1 he had in the garage, I did NOT, drop my car, drive an hour and 15 minutes to the middle of nowhere to the nearest Honda dealership to pick up something that has the same quality as the Mobil1 that is already in front of me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ek-g6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I saw a tread on here about penzoil syncromesh manual transmission oil. When i was gonna go buy some, the guy at autozone says it will blow my tranny ?!?!? I was like WTF should i be believing that or is it a bunch of bs ? He basically said the same about the gm syncromesh and just get the OEM honda one, is this true, if not, tell me what type of manual transmission oil do you use and what were the results, and what would you recommended? thanks in advance for any help.</TD></TR></TABLE> MTF doesnt ruin transmissions, people do

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raphael &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> MTF doesnt ruin transmissions, people do </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well said .

It's usually lack of maintenance and people abusing the transmission that make them go.

I have yet to see any kind of transmission fluid ruin a transmission.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raphael &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> MTF doesnt ruin transmissions, people do </TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed and end of discussion for me...and another thing dont listen to people who hang out at Autozone or chain stores like that..they give advice that are not needed

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I'm not putting anything in your mouth, I'm just saying, in terms of what matters, fluid weights are listed, not makes of fluid.

It's not necessarily being cheap, it's having what's available to you. Usually there's oil sitting around the garage, usually there's no Honda MTF sitting around the garage, so unless it's your private garage and you plan on doing this **** in advance, it just wastes time. Especially when it comes down to a simple fact that any name brand oil is the equivalent of Honda MTF.

Why not use $.75 stuff? 'Cause that wouldn't really be name brand now would it? Maybe I should have been more specific. Any <u>known name brand company</u> (ie. penzoil, mobil1, royal purple, castrol, etc.) will be the equivalent of Honda MTF, a pep boys special won't be.

I don't know the etiquette on how long you're supposed to wait before changing the transmission fluid, but I do it A LOT more than 90k, and if you wait 90k before changing the trans fluid in an automatic, you're boned. The transmission will be ready to take a crap at that point.

Take the last time I changed my trans fluid for example, about a month ago, I was doing an alignment on my car, it was on my friend's lift, and I couldn't get the left toe bolt loose, so I was walking around pissy for a few minutes looking for a way to get the bolt since I couldn't get a breaker bar up there and an impact wasn't doing ****, so I saw the transmission fluid and decided to change my transmission fluid. So I used a few bottles of Mobil1 he had in the garage, I did NOT, drop my car, drive an hour and 15 minutes to the middle of nowhere to the nearest Honda dealership to pick up something that has the same quality as the Mobil1 that is already in front of me.</TD></TR></TABLE>
So then... if (as you said) a lubricant is a lubricant, why not use a non-name-brand fluid?

And for both the automatic and manual 6G Civic transmissions the time is recommended to be 90,000 miles for normal conditions. 30,000 for severe conditions.

My Honda dealership is right down the road from Autozone. So either one is just as far out of the way. In fact, Autozone is much farther away from the exit. I get a 20% discount at Honda. I get a 20% discount at AutoZone, but not on all fluids. I don't usually leave fluids cluttering up my garage since we have enough crap in there already. I clean it and somehow it turns into a mess almost right away.

I agree that fluid doesn't ruin transmission (though I did recommend against that one customer using gear oil in his truck again - he figured it's what was used), but according to Honda there are issues with the manual D-series transmissions' ISBs. I've been told it's bad design.

 

btw syndicate how far are you from nyc. i just moved back out here looking to meet up with some honda folks, everyone out here is on some grimmy, theft, murder ****! lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ek-g6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Agreed and end of discussion for me...and another thing dont listen to people who hang out at Autozone or chain stores like that..they give advice that are not needed </TD></TR></TABLE>
You'd be surprised at some of the things that AutoZone employees HAVE to say. I'm so tired of confusing people because I have to say this when they come in the door (within 30 seconds or thirty feet of the door):

"Hi. What are you working on today? (Hand them a flier.)"

That confuses people. I've gotten reactions such as, "We're repainting the stripes down on such and such road," and, "I'm not working on anything. I need lightbulbs." The usual is a deer in the headlights expression.

We also have to mention some of the deals in the flier such as half off on Duralast wiper blades. If they buy a battery, we have to offer certain products. If we sell an alternator, other items. And so on.

Then when they get checked out we have to ask if they want hand cleaner, shop towels or the three pack of STP. Once we ring it up the register prompts us to ask if they'd like to donate a dollar (or some other amount) to the St. Jude's Children's Hospital. That's when I get customers who tell me that once the kids at the hospital donate to them, they'll start donating to the kids.

Then wish them a good day and thank them for their purchase when they leave.