Does this discussion of transmission oil apply to AH Sprites, which,
if memory serves, expect standard weight engine oil rather than
heavier gear oil?
Of course, by "standard weight" I mean something like 10W-30, rather
than the 20W-50 we typically have to use to get any readings on the
oil pressure gauge...
it seems a common misconception that gear oil `weights' and motor
oil `weights' have anything to do with each other.
Actually, Richard, for Spridgets and Bs, the situation
is different. The factory manual recommends using
motor oil -- the same stuff you put in the crankcase --
in the gearbox. That is, to do a complete lubricating
fluid change on a Midget, you need 5 quarts of, say,
20W-50 for the engine and another quart or three pints
(hey Andy, I actually don't know this off the top of
my head! :-) of the same for the gearbox. You then need
some 80 or 90-weight hypoid gear oil for the diff; what
did we put in, Miq, about a pint and a half?
As for the detergent issue, I'm interested to hear
about it but it comes as a surprise. In five years of
pretty heavy working, reading, and buying stuff for
Spridgets, I've never come across this issue of the
detergent additive stripping off the coating. Is
this coating a new addition to late-model Gold Seal
transmissions? I mean, I know the alloy numbers of
the various materials used for the crankshafts of
the racing Sprites and the street versions that
were derived from it, but I've never read about
any coating on the synchros. That doesn't mean I
don't believe it, but it means I suspect it, if
you catch the difference. I'd like to know more
about it, especially since I plan to race an ITC
Midget next year. (And since the EN40B cranks are
certain to be unavailable, I'll have to settle
for one of the EN19B versions, shunning the EN16B
ones that cracked in street use...:-)
RPW's point about the index into a viscosity table
is interesting and well taken, but note that these silly
British cars don't follow the known rules of automotivia.
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