Hi Guys
This Lube question is starting to get to me so I thought I might as well put
my .02's worth in here. We make a living out of dealing with and fixing
these things. Now we see OD's with ALL sorts of oils in them, anything from
very, very thick stuff to a green colored liquid with the consistency of
dishwater! It is true that Redline MT fluid does seem to affect the
longevity of the friction lining as we have had gearboxes with Redline in
them that have been slipping. Then on the other hand we have seen vehicle
that have experienced no slip at all with the Redline and all is well! This
is common to all of the OD types from A,D,LH,J etc and there are a lot more
other types as well!
It could be that (and it's only an idea!) the OD,s that have failed have had
Redline put in them because the unit was failing anyway, and this was an
attempt to make something work that may well have been on it's last legs at
that point!.
They were built to run with a straight weight oil in them anyway EP80 or 90.
Now in some transmissions problems were found with using these oils and the
viscosity index when they were used in these particular applications,
therefore some manufacturers suggested that engine oil (20w-50) should be
used.
An old trick on the used car lots in the UK when these cars were in their
heyday was to add a cup of kerosene to the gearbox oil, this thinned the oil
and helped the action of the OD. (not recommended!) the risk then was that
you would hear a noisy gearbox bearing.
To stop that they added a 120 weight oil, but that is another story, I could
go on and on with such things, shredded panty-hose, sawdust and banana skins
etc
In short, I am no chemist but as far as I can tell there is nothing in the
Redline oils that should cause a failure any earlier than when any other oil
is used. There is a warning however with the modern idea of using oil
additives DO NOT USE OIL ADDITIVES IN AN OVERDRIVE. , I am talking about the
Molyslip/Wynns/Stp/Slick 50 type of products these will render your
overdrive inoperative. The overdrive unit contains a friction clutch, if the
lubricant used is too slippery then the clutch will not work!
As I said, just my opinion and trying to help.
Regards
John J Black
Waterloo Drivetrain Systems
http://www.waterloo-dtr.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of WSpohn4@aol.com
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 6:56 AM
To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: OD Lube
In a message dated 2000-06-23 5:32:47 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net writes:
<< To sum up this long message, I wholeheartedly recommend Red Line MTL in
any MGB tranny, even the overdrives. There is no reason not to take
advantage of the superior lubrication and longevity provided by modern
synthetic oils that are designed for transmissions.
>>
My friend ruined his OD unit when he out Redline in it. Too slippery, I
imagine, and it just wouldn't hold properly. This was in a race car with
higher power, and high rpm shifts. Obviously it works alright for many
people
that motor more sedately.
Bill S.
(I use Castrol 40 wt in my OD)
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