NV5600 6speed oil

[1040 WreckerMan]

Well it looks like the Co is shipping up a fleet of trucks that will be operated out of my shop and the trucks are equiped with NV5600 6 speed manual transmissions similar to those found in Dodge pickups. All of these trucks will be due for gear oil changes soon.

The specs for the Texaco oil look very similar to RedLine MTL.

Rather than experiement myself I was hoping for some input. What has everyone been running and how many miles? The dealer wants near 30 bucks a quart for the OEM stuff (blended by Texaco last I heard). Thanks for the help.

 

[MGregoir]

The Dodge stuff is Texaco MTX 1874, and the only reccomended lube officially. The spec number is MS-9224.

In five gallon pails the stuff works out to around $11 per quart.

GM also buys this stuff to use as their synchromesh fluid, and use it interchangably with Pennzoil Synchromesh fluid, so there is another lead.

Each truck will take 9.5 quarts.

 

[racer12306]

Maybe take a look over at Diesel Truck Resource. Lots of people over there with the NV5600 in their trucks.

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

Ya I recognize the Texaco number which is the spec I got from Magna.

I was under the impression that the GM and Syncromesh fluids were for the NV4500 with the fiber syncro's?

Is the syncromesh oil actually a fluid designed for transmissions such as the 5600 or is it a one size fits all fluid? I'm not sure but I do not believe GM used the NV5600 in any of their trucks.

 

[MGregoir]

The NV4500 required a special fluid called Castrol SynTorq LT. GM uses it for certain transmissions as well.

The NV5600 appears to require that specific Texaco fluid, which is a conventional "synchromesh" transmission fluid, and GM uses it interchangably with Pennzoil Synchromesh.

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

I guess I'll call the Pennzoil distributor as that sounds like the only real option. The GM dealership doesn't give us much of a brake so we don't buy from them normally and we have never bought from the local Dodge dealers so those options are out.

 

[MGregoir]

Call your Texaco distributor, if you have one.

I have heard of guys buying MTX 1824 from distributors, but you have to buy it by the pail.

Pennzoil Synchromesh says it meets the spec right on the bottle and in the data sheet, according to further research. It mentions the specific part number it replaces, as well. I guess that's the right option, and people have said they use it with good success on a few forums.

 

[hounddog]

The AMSOIL MTL works great.Its NV5600 approved.www.amsoil.com become a preferred customer or a dealer and save some bucks.

 

[tdi-rick]

I found a TDS for MTX 1874 here if anyone is curious/interested. http://www.angelfire.com/ms/brianberryhill/pgt/stf.html

 

[Steelhead]

any of the rigs still on manuf. warranty?
if so, stick with what the manuf. specs, especially if they're Dodges.
Chrysler/Dodge has became extremely restrictive on warranty claims.
the NV5600 is an expensive tranny to rebuild, parts are becoming scarce

some of the off warranty Dodge NV5600 owners are running 3:1 mixes of RL MTL:MT90

the 5600 has a weak 6th OD, shift fork design weakness.
tow haul hvy loads in 5th or lower

 

[afoulk]

I agree with Steelhead, there were some instances of 6th gear problems because guys were lugging them in 6th while hauling heavy loads, atleast in the Dodges with the 5.9cummins. I had one in my old 02 Dodge, and tryed both RP Syncromax and Redline MTL. I prefered the Redline over the RP, seemed to shift nicer, especially in the cold. Most of the guys I saw running a mix of Redline MTL and MT90 had the NV4500 5spd. There was a lot of talk on what the best oil in the 5600 was over on dieseltruckresource.com, and it seems you can't go wrong with either the Pennzoil stuff, Redline, Torco's oil, or even the factroy stuff. Some that towed heavy said the Amsoil and RP seemed to breakdown a little quicker.

Also, is 9.5qts. the actual capacity of them? My dodge used to call for 4.75qts., but most guys overfilled them through the shifter with 6-7qts. because they had problems wiping out the input shaft bearing when towing while climbing a steep grade.

And if your gonna have a fleet with them in, might wanna take a look at the filter kits that GenosGarage.com sells for them. Had one on my Dodge, and you would be surprised at how much [censored] they catch.

 

[deeter16317]

I have a lot of miles on Redline MTL...it works fine in the NV5600. I have done a lot of reading on the NV5600 and the fluids people use in it...there is no clear winner/loser. I never saw a trend of failures from using one of the synchromesh fluids available (however, I have read about plenty that failed from running 80w90 gear oil).

I have came to the conclusion that each NV5600 is unique...and with that said, each one will react to a fluid differently than another. I have had the worst luck with Royal Purple Synchromax, but there are a good many owners that had good luck with it.

If the price of PZ had not went up, I would have changed back to PZ from the MTL...but since they are really close in price, I stuck with MTL.

If you pull the PTO covers and swab all the oil out, you can squeeze 4.75 quarts into a NV5600. If you just drain through the bottom cover bolt, you will only get around 4 quarts in. I run FastCoolers and get around 7 quarts in, and that's overfilling by around a quart.

The one NV5600 rebuilder claims that by overfilling by one quart, the trans will last longer because it keeps the center support bearing lubricated when climbing.

 

[D-Roc]

I installed RPS a while back in my G56...worked a heck of a lot better than the slushbox juice that was called for by oem...but I think I will try Redline mtl next.
Hey Steve, did you also install the MTL in your TCase?

 

[deeter16317]

Originally Posted By: D-Roc
I installed RPS a while back in my G56...worked a heck of a lot better than the slushbox juice that was called for by oem...but I think I will try Redline mtl next.
Hey Steve, did you also install the MTL in your TCase?




Because the MTL is *just* that much thicker than Synchromax, I run Royal Purple Synchromax in the tcase. I also change the tcase a lot less than my NV5600, and buying the RP local is not all that bad.

In a box calling for auto trans juice, I would probably run the RP. Its the only one that makes mention it can be used in place of an ATF...not that it means a whole lot.

 

[D-Roc]

Good point with regards to the RPS and trany that is specd for ATF...I didn't think about that.