I'm going to do a bit of trial and error with my Nissan Frontier before the cold weather sets in. My Frontier specifies a GL-4 75W-85 lubricant for the manual gearbox. I have used the OEM Nissan fluid as first fill, Ravenol 75W-85 MTF and Redline MT-85. None of these fluids made any appreciable difference in the way my transmission shifted (horribly) or in the amount of gear whine experienced (completely acceptable).
I am going to experiment next month with Amsoil's Manual Synchromesh Fluid. It is published to be a 10.1 cSt fluid which is below the minimum for a 75W-85 product but far above other synchromesh fluids.
After a winter of using this product, and if the shifting quality is not better than with the OEM fluid, I intend to try Royal Purple HPS 10W-40 or their Euro 5W-40 motor oil.
If any of these products make an improvement to shift quality or cause any negative sounds or detectable actions I'll certainly poke out a comment on here.
TO THE OP: please let us know what route you take and how the transmission feels after your fluid change.
Once upon a time, the magic go-to elixer for the Miata world was the Motorcraft XT-M5-QS. Apparently it was made of unicorn tears and most people loved it in their manual boxes. I never got around to trying it as I sold the car, but I had always intended to. From memory it was some made in Germany lube that was designed to deal with some balky shifting Ford transmissions.I'm going to do a bit of trial and error with my Nissan Frontier before the cold weather sets in. My Frontier specifies a GL-4 75W-85 lubricant for the manual gearbox. I have used the OEM Nissan fluid as first fill, Ravenol 75W-85 MTF and Redline MT-85. None of these fluids made any appreciable difference in the way my transmission shifted (horribly) or in the amount of gear whine experienced (completely acceptable).
I am going to experiment next month with Amsoil's Manual Synchromesh Fluid. It is published to be a 10.1 cSt fluid which is below the minimum for a 75W-85 product but far above other synchromesh fluids.
After a winter of using this product, and if the shifting quality is not better than with the OEM fluid, I intend to try Royal Purple HPS 10W-40 or their Euro 5W-40 motor oil.
If any of these products make an improvement to shift quality or cause any negative sounds or detectable actions I'll certainly poke out a comment on here.
TO THE OP: please let us know what route you take and how the transmission feels after your fluid change.
My saab 9-3 2008 manual transmission calls for GL4.
could only find a Lucas product here locally.
It's GL4 AND GL5 rated.
Specifically the Lucas synthetic, which is for "trans and diff", this one:
Would there be any issues using this?
Probably won't hurt anything, but might cause yuck shift quality.
................... Shouldn't hurt anything.
Yea, should have been more specific. I was more thinking yellow metal damage when I typed that, but yea, yuck shifting will wear the synchros more.Probably yes. If the manufacturer specifies API GL-4 I'd prefer using GL-4.
If shift quality suffers synchro wear WILL increase.
Personally I'd give Redline MT-85 a try when living in the US. In a more northern climate
Castrol Syntrans V-FE 75W-80 and Ravenol MTF-2 are worthwhile options. All GL-4 only.
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Sure it says GL4? What am I looking at differently? Sometimes I really have to doubt myself and triple check. It says GL5 here.My saab 9-3 2008 manual transmission calls for GL4.
I could only find a Lucas product here locally.
It's GL4 AND GL5 rated.
Specifically the Lucas synthetic, which is for "trans and diff", this one:
View attachment 75060
Would there be any issues using this?
Try Motul Gl4 75w85. Has worked very well in my cars/pickups with synchro trans.That Motorcraft fluid is a 75W90 product with a viscosity of 15.4cSt@100ºC. This is a bit viscous for my application and I'd prefer to stay within the 75W85 range or slightly under. I don't see a benefit to using a more viscous fluid than what is prescribed.
MT-1 rated for non-synchronized truck type transmissions, but a syncrohized transmission won't like it.