I have a very basic question -- what does hypoid mean? Also, I have
been told not to use gear oils with high sulfur as this will degrade
the coatings on the tranny components. Is this an effect which
usually takes place only at operating temps or did the 3 months of
room temperature contact with Sta-Lube 90wt already do its damage? One
last question, how do you know if a gear oil contains sulfur -- is
this related to "hypoid"?
Now, here is my contribution to the debate -- it was suggested that a
20W-50 synthetic motor oil (syntec or mobil 1) could be used in a
tranny. Then it was suggested that this wouldn't provide enough
friction for the synchros. I'm on the digest version, so excuse me if
this has been suggested, but how about Motul or a similar synthetic
motorcycle oil. These oils are made with an enhanced additive package
-- most important to this discussion is additives for shear viscosity.
Since in a motorcycle (usually) the oil lubricates both engine and
tranny, something like Motul might translate well to an auto gearbox.
(BTW, I run Motul in the CBR600 sportbike and have been pleased with
its performance thus far.)
-Tim
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