Correct oil for manual gearbox!!

[bl52krz]

Originally Posted by tonygardner

yes lets cut to the chase , will the halfords oil be ok as im going to change mine soon

that is what i was trying to say, but not having the technical knowledge of opie oils, could not explain. i have been on castrols website this afternoon, but it would have taken me a fortnight to blog what i had read.
so once and for all, use what the manufacturer of your car advises in the handbook.

[Departed 32016]

no idea, however i just bought 2 bottles of mtf94 £8.39 each 2 bottles cover the 1.6 litres needed http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Ro...ce20592f6&TRLU

[bl52krz]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

That seems pretty clear.

The Haynes manual says: Texaco MTF94 or Burmah MTF1067, so Halford's is out.

For the Brakes/Clutch it says: A fluid to DOT4 spec (Shell Donax YB), so is Halford's DOT4 OK or is it only the Shell product?

For the power steering it says: A Dexron III type fluid.

Is anyone else confused?

TC

according to my ex rover/mg dealer, brake fluid to dot 4 is the same wherever you buy it.

[T-Cut]

Originally Posted by bl52krz

so once and for all, use what the manufacturer of your car advises in the handbook.

Unfortunately, the handbook doesn't quote such detail. We have to use what Haynes says.

TC

[T-Cut]

Originally Posted by bl52krz

according to my ex rover/mg dealer, brake fluid to dot 4 is the same wherever you buy it.

That was where I came in I think.

TC

[loz1971]

Thanks guy's, helpful as always, looks like the Halfrauds stuff is going back and I'm off to find some MTF tomorrow

[kfieldin]

According to the RAVE CD:-


Gearbox oil
Use of gearbox oils other than those specified may
result in serious damage to the gearbox.

Manual Gearbox
Use Texaco MTF 94 oil or Burmah Oil MTF 1067 plus
OPEL B 0400063 for refill or topping-up.

Suggests Halfords oil is not to be used.

[tazman3]

Originally Posted by kieranswood

no idea, however i just bought 2 bottles of mtf94 £8.39 each 2 bottles cover the 1.6 litres needed http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Ro...ce20592f6&TRLU

Good find that kieran will have to order some..

Martin

[ceb]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

That was where I came in I think.

TC

I have found that a lot of the 'confusion' surrounding fluids is down to some basic misunderstandings, if it helps with regard to this topic my understanding is as follows:

Gearbox Oil -

If possible I would go with the specified oil, the conditions for the manufacturer stating a particular type / manufacturer are normally two fold, firstly the gearbox was designed/tested with a particular oil (don't forget that most manufacturers don't actually make there own gearboxes) and they to will need to comply with the manufacturers specification and secondly of course there is a marketing/manufacturing deal somewhere along the line.

In essence whilst 'technically' you will find many oils/manufacturers that meet the same specs as the 'designated' oil you would under normal circumstances run foul of any warranty issues with the manufacturer should something go wrong, so it's never generally worth the risk (slightly different of course for us MG/Rover owners, but I suspect that the same may still apply if you have a third part warranty and they can use any excuse to get out of it in the event of a problem!).

As to the others:

DEXRON is often sited as a 'specification' - it is not, it is in fact a trademark I believe, for a product owned by GMC (General Motors), the actual product specifications, which I believe have a 'GMN' number, are different. Just to confuse matters further I think that the DEXRON III approval was withdrawn in 2005/6 and all current products apply DEXRON VI GMN's (which I think are backwards compatible but I'm not sure) so anyone can make a DEXRON 'GMN' compatible product but only GMC or sub licensees can make DEXRON, which is why GULF for example produce ATF fluids which are 'DEXRON' compatible but are not DEXRON.

DOT 4 - on the other hand is a standard. DOT (Department of Transportation) standard 4 is one of several standards concerning the specification of the fluid which covers various items but especially the fluids boiling point, as the fluids are glycol based they can be hygroscopic (absorb water) this lowers the boiling point of the fluid over time which is why they need/should be bled/replaced every so often.

Therefore if DEXRON is specified that would imply it is a manufacturers requirement (given the same service / warranty issues as above), whereas 'DEXRON type' would imply any manufacturer that follows the GMN specs (in reality of course I would suspect that most garages use a DEXRON type fluid, any mechanics have a opinion??).

DOT 'x' type on the other hand means any product that meets DOT specification, which of course can be any one from Tesco's up (or down).

That's my understanding anyway!!

[Zeb]

*Is not changing Halfords' gearbox oil after 6000 miles....*



However......I'll not be leaving it in there for 90,000 miles either....