Yes, I was cranky! It was in the morning and this particular OF gets his
typing fingers in gear before his tact button is engaged........Sorry if I
offended; didn't mean to!
Your Brit mechanic is wrong, I'm afraid. BMC and Leyland gearboxes were
designed to be used with engine oil. Actually, there was a factory bulletin
issued in the late sixties that said it was OK to use rear end oil in
gearboxes. However, in less than a year, another factory bulletin followed
saying, in much more emphatic terms, Ignore that one; don't use anything
but engine oil in your gearbox!
I always use 30wt. in a new or tight gearbox, 40wt in an older, worn one. I
prefer something like Valvoline Racing oil, as it has a high viscosity
strength and high resistance to foaming. Frankly, while I'm a staunch
advocate of 20-50 in the engine, I think the "20" part of the specification
makes it a bit thin for anything other than a freshly rebuilt gearbox so
I'd never use it anywhere except in an engine.
I regret I cannot tell you how low the gearbox oil level is when it's below
the "Low" mark on the dipstick. I've never taken the time to measure how
far up the stick each pint goes. In my estimation, if a gearbox leaks
enough to need oil adding frequently, it needs to be repaired. If it
doesn't leak, then the actual oil level is academic. You simply drain it at
periodic intervals and add the amount the manual tells you is required.
Am I forgiven now? :-)
Lawrie
----------
> From: Christopher Delling <saschris@flash.net>
> To: 'Lawrie Alexander' <Lawrie@britcars.com>
> Cc: 'mgs@autox.team.net'
> Subject: RE: Transmission Questions
> Date: Thursday, March 19, 1998 7:43 AM
>
> Thanks for chastising me on this one. Getting a little cranky are we? I
know that the owners manual specifies motor oil, I didn't choose to have it
filled with 90 weight. What I wanted to know was if the use of the gear
oil is causing my problem. I intend to drain the gearbox and overdrive,
and refill with motor oil. I have one vote for 20W50, and one for 30
weight. What do you recommend? Do I need to flush out the box (if so,
what should I use?), or is simply draining and refilling going to be O.K.
>
> I also know what a dipstick is for, and in general how they work.
Specifically how low is the tranny when the oil drops to the low mark? A
pint? A quart? No marks that I have seen give me a clue, and seeing that
it's already a pain in the ass to get oil into the transmission (as opposed
to in the interior of the car, I would prefer to have some idea of how much
oil to put in so that I don't have to keep pulling the hose out to check
the level during the filling operation.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris Delling
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lawrie Alexander [SMTP:Lawrie@britcars.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 19, 1998 12:55 AM
> To: Christopher Delling; 'mgs@autox.team.net'
> Subject: Re: Transmission Questions
>
> Chris....if the factory had felt it was OK to run the gearbox low on oil,
> they'd probably have fitted a longer dipstick. Also, if they hadn't
wanted
> you to use engine oil, they'd have said so.
> I think you just proved why it's so important to read the owner's manual
> and do what it tells you!
>
> Lawrie
>
> ----------
> > From: Christopher Delling <saschris@flash.net>
> > To: 'mgs@autox.team.net'
> > Subject: Transmission Questions
> > Date: Wednesday, March 18, 1998 5:32 PM
> >
> > My B is fitted with a 4-synchro O.D. tranny, which was rebuilt last
year.
> It seems that the gears in the tranny have a ceramic like coating on the
> taper that the synchro ring rides on. The bond between the coating and
the
> 2nd gear failed, and the coating fell of, rendering the synchro useless.
> This occured very suddenly, one gearchange was fine, the next was
> accomapnied by a crunch of gears, all of which resulted in the re-build,
> after which everything seemed fine for several months.
> >
> > This spring, when I returned the car to the road after winter storage,
I
> noted that the 3rd gear synchro seems to be acting up. It was fine when
> the car was put into storage. All new synchros were fitted during the
> rebuild.
> >
> > I have noted that the tranny oil level is down a bit, below the low
level
> mark - I don't know how much down this mark signifies. The mechanic who
> did the work - only does Brit Cars by the way, uses 90 weight gear oil in
> all trannies, and this is what he filled my box with. Also, when I drove
> the car, the temperature was quite a bit lower than in the summer when
the
> car gets most of its use.
> >
> > What is the list wisdom on 90 weight in the trans? Could this account
> for my problem? I know that 20W-50 is the normally reccomended fluid.
How
> about the low oil level? Anyone have a feel for how low the transmission
> is if the oil drops below the low mark on the dipstick?
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Chris Delling
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