What gear oil for my tranny

[Mike Brake]

So it's been along time since I've put gear oil in my tranny let alone drive the car. I'm pretty sure last time I used redline MT 90. Any one have any suggestions on what would be a good gear oil to use.

[Brett Haviland]

I have has good luck with penzoil syncromesh in mitsu trannys  Really makes a noticable differance in shifting compared to running 100% 75w90 gear oil.

Some people mix it  with a synthetic 75w90 gear oil like royal purple/redline/lucas or whatever and run it 1/2 and 1/2.


Right now im running 1/2 lucas 75w90 and 1/2 penzoil syncromesh in my evo.  Shifts nice and smooth.

[Mike Hewitt]

I have has good luck with penzoil syncromesh in mitsu trannys  Really makes a noticable differance in shifting compared to running 100% 75w90 gear oil.

Some people mix it  with a synthetic 75w90 gear oil like royal purple/redline/lucas or whatever and run it 1/2 and 1/2.

There's a HUGE debate on DSMTuners about mixing gear oils, people say yes, people say no...

Personally I like Penzoil Syncromesh\BG Syncroshift. Same product. Put it in my Laser and my Talon, noticed a difference in shifting so +1 for those products from me.

[Dave Ingham]

Jack's Transmissions highly recommends that you  do not run any of the syncromesh type fluids, as it is supposed to be very hard on syncros. For his transmission rebuilds, he recommends either Mitsubishi EVO MR 6 speed oil or a 50/50 mix of Valvoline 80w-90 and Redline heavy weight shock proof. I have ran both the mitsu oil and the mix in my Jack's built trans and they both work very well except for when it is cold out. In cold weather, the mitsu oil allows for much smoother shifting due to its lower viscosity.

[Mike Hewitt]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe Jack's Transmisisons says don't use the syncromesh type fluids on HIS transmissions because of the syncro's he puts in? Something to do with the brass I believe? Don't quite recall..

[Dave Ingham]

You could very well be right Mike. I have never really thought of that before. Thank you for pointing that out.

[Sy Haw Wong]

There are a lot of topics on BCDSM.  You can search it up 

I used Royal Purple (forgot the weight - search up my old posts).

Its awesome and reliable for an FWD so far.

[Richard Clark]

I use Royal purple 75w90. Makes the trans shift like butter. I have never had a problem even when it is cold out.   

[John Hartman]

cheap good, proven oil is the Penzoil Synchroshift/Delco Synchromesh oil.  Its like $6 a liter and works well in these trannies.

The Royal Purple/Redline/Amsoil stuff is also very good, but its alot more money.

I am pointing this out in this thread because Mike chose to drive 10 hours for his tranny because Darryls $400 tranny was too much money, so he is obviously on a budget.

Whatever you put in it make sure its the correct GL certification for our trannies.

[Richard Steger]

I'm not sure the syncroshift oil has the right GL certification for our trannies.  Great Canadian Oil Change wouldn't put it in my car no matter what I told them. But when I brought in the Redline Mt90, no problem.  I think I read in John Shepherd's forum that he recommended Penzoil Syncroshift too.

[Mike Hewitt]

Well a little searching around..

This is right off of Shep's site under recommended oil to use;

"There are several gear oils that will work depending on horsepower or intended use. For most transmissions we recommend Redline MT90 or Pennzoil Synchromesh."

This off Jack's site;

"For our DSM transmission rebuilds we recommend factory Mitsubishi 6-speed manual transmission gear oil from the 2005 Mitsubishi EVO MR."

This is off TRE's site;

"I highly recommend REDLINE MT-90 gear oil as it has proven itself a worthy oil for those who are making lots of torque, shift fast, and wanting long service life from their transmission."

This is also of TRE's(Team Rip) site about using the Synromesh\Syncroshift products, kind of makes me wanna swap it out...

"While it has been found that the Synchromesh/Synchroshift type oils can sometimes improve the effectiveness of the synchronizers, allowing for faster shifts at higher rpms, this oil does not have enough film strength to ensure long gear and bearing life for the Mitsubishi transmissions.

Synchromesh/shift type oils are used in transmissions that are found in low torque applications that don't ask much from the oil in regards of film strength. Transmissions that call for Synchromesh type gear oils are designed with wide gear shaft spacing which greatly reduces the force on the gear teeth and large bearings so that they can used these low film strength oils. The reason behind it is to reduce parasitic frictional losses and to improve shift quality.

If you have a weak synchro, you may want to try the “Synchromesh/Synchroshift” type oils. However, it is our strict recommendation that you use the proper GL rating that the transmission was designed to use.  Check your owner's manual for this information.

Use of GL-5 spec gear oil is not recommended in your manual transmission.  The EP (Extreme Pressure) additives found in GL-5 will reduce the effectiveness of your synchronizers making the transmission shift poorly and tarnish them over time. How quickly will it eat up the synchros?  This is dependent on both time and temperature but it's a gradual process. However, it should also be noted that if you are wanting an oil that does provide higher film strength and added protection against gear & bearing wear, you may consider using a GL-5 spec gear oil. Just remember that it will not shift as good at the high rpms and that it will oxidize the synchros over time"

SO... all in all, I think I will be swapping out for Redline MT-90 in the near future..

[CamWeiss]

BG Synchroshift II.

Best. Stuff. Ever.

Beware of GL5 vs. GL4. I do recall hearing that one will damage the yellow metal peices in our transmissions (synchros principally).

However, this is what I've read - An Amsoil tech told the author of this post on Benzworld:

Here's an explanation Bruce sent me almost 2 years ago when I had the same question. Figured I'd help you not to repeat yourself again, great info!

Jeff, All cars made today have brass syncros that look the same as Beetle syncros. To think that the oil companies would make a product that would destroy every gearbox it went into is rediculous. When I first heard this GL-4/GL-5 corrosion thing, I did some research on the oil co web sites. I couldn't find anywhere that said it was harmful, so I sent a tech message to the Amsoil tech guy. His response stated the history of how that myth got started by the ignorant VW people. When GL-5 first came out it was indeed corrosive to brass syncros. But only at temps above 250ºF. Now since it is impossible to get any street driven gear oil to that temp (It is hard to get engine oil that hot!), there will be no problems using regular GL-5. However, just to satisfy the ignorant masses, the API came up with another added rating, called MT-1 which is tacked onto the end of all GL-5 oils you can buy today. With this MT-1, GL-5 oil is not corrosive at any temp.
The difference between GL-4 and GL-5 is the extreme pressure capability. On surfaces that have high pressure where metal to metal contact will happen, the GL-5 is way better at protecting. Spider gear teeth and side gear teeth are one place where GL-5's better EP rating is desperatly needed. I've got 5-6 Bus 091 ZFs in my garage right now that have suffered significant wear on the gear teeth from probably using GL-4.

[kevin derhouson]

useful info in here 

[Remi Raymond]

has anyone tried to purchase evo parts from a vancouver dealer (evo IX that is)?

I'd be curious to know how much they want for the Evo IX mr gear oil. I've read some good things about it a few times now, makes me want to try it.

[Mike Brake]

So much Good info in here. So I'm thinkin redline mt90 is for me. Just countin down the days til next weekend and she gona be up and running