Lube for Antique Auto Transmission (circa 1925)

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MikeC5

Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
7
Location
Eastern CT
I have a 1925 Dodge Brothers touring car which has a non-synchro, sliding gear 3 speed transmission. Being non-synchro, shifting is a skill requiring practice but even more so than normal because the countershaft assy. is physically disconnected from gear train when in high (3rd) gear so the lube needs to have sufficient viscosity to cause motion to the countershaft or downshifting will be very difficult.

Some folks with these cars report that using Shell Omala 1500W gear oil mixed with either 0 or 00 grade grease helps significantly. My question is, what brand/type grease would be best for this purpose and will it stay mixed with the gear oil? I did search the forums and couldn't find anything applicable.
 
My 23 Buick touring is the same way. I usually just double clutch and it works well that way. Push in clutch, shift into neutral, let out clutch, push in clutch and slide into gear, let out clutch and go. It becomes second nature when driving antique cars.
 
Gear Oil...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear_oil

"EP additives which contain phosphorus/sulfur compounds are corrosive to yellow metals such as the copper and/or brass used in bushings and synchronizers; the GL1 class of gear oils does not contain any EP additives and thus finds use in applications which contain parts made of yellow metals."
 
Originally Posted By: MikeC5
I have a 1925 Dodge Brothers touring car which......



.....which I have yet to see photos of.
 
Thank you for your responses guys. I do need to practice my double clutching, there is no doubt. From what I've read on the AACA DB forum, this is one of those cases where the higher the viscosity, the better. No one really knows what exactly what they originally put in these because back then it just called for 'heavy gear oil'. Some say it was closer to semi-fliud grease. The 1500W I mentioned is a Shell product, 'Omala S3 GP 1500' The viscosity is 1500 which is an ISO value but the viscosity chart suggests it would be similar to SAE 250. Looking at the spec sheet it does say in contains extreme pressure additives but no info on chemical composition. It's also not clear to me if GP refers to the class of lubricant (i.e GL-5, etc.). I'm also going to see if bronze/brass bushings are used in the gearbox. I would attach a photo of the car but can't figure out how....
 
Right now I have straight STP in there... Before that I think it was 140 wt gear oil. It does hold both without leaking. Speaking of leaking, the steering gear leaks (worm and sector). I'm thinking of trying a semi-fliud grease in there to slow down the leak. I now have Lubriplate SPO-288 in there and it takes a while but does slowly leak out. Having had it apart, there doesn't appear to be any type of seal to prevent leaking (there's even a spiral groove on the eccentric bushing to get lube all along the output shaft which also provides a perfect leak path)...
 
Originally Posted By: MikeC5
Speaking of leaking, the steering gear leaks (worm and sector).


8fcEtiK.jpg


Originally Posted By: MikeC5
Right now I have straight STP in there... Before that I think it was 140 wt gear oil. It does hold both without leaking.


Dump the STP. Follow the guidance in my original post of SAE 250:
https://www.lubriplate.com/Online-Store/2-lb-bottles/SPO-299-one-quart-bottle.html

Your Dodge only holds two quarts, so I don't think $40 is prohibitively expensive here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
2500 mile musings on 2016 Ducati Multistrada
Replies
15
Views
5K
LoneRanger
MolaKule
  • Locked
Manual Transmissions and Lubricants
2
Replies
32
Views
20K
[RT] ProjUltraZ
T
  • Locked
High performance lubricant additives Patent
Replies
6
Views
3K
Mokanic
Back
Top