Shop says I need a new transmission: what's recommended?

[Paulbeard]

$20? You know it takes 4 quarts, no? More like $60 for the gallon jug but still less than Swepco 201…

GL-4 or GL-5?
_________________
Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[jimf909]

[shagginwagon83]

[jimf909]

[Paulbeard]

That may be the way, then. Drain the Redline, run some cheap stuff, then refill with Redline and then check it after some reasonable interval.

Kinda surprised anyone would rebuild a trans without cleaning the case, etc. Why wants to work with grody stuff if they don't have to? How can you inspect stuff you haven't cleaned?
_________________
Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[E1]

Noting that we're discussing only a cleaning cycle, and that if any new parts need breaking in, that's done with Dino oil and not synthetic.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[davevickery]

[?Waldo?]

The cost of gear lube is peanuts compared to the cost of repairing a damaged transmission.

With an unknown trans that has a dirty case and was supposedly just rebuilt, I would definitely do a couple quick oil changes until a baseline clean magnet is achieved. If concerned about the cost of those changes, then drain the lube into a clean container and settle it for use later as Sodo has outlined in one of their trans lube threads.

[E1]

^^^
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[Sodo]

[Zeitgeist 13]

Maybe someone will figure out a way to separate the transmission section from the diff, just like the 010 autos. Then you could run ATF in the former and gear oil in the latter.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Sodo]

1st gear is adjacent to the pinion bearing. There's no space for a seal to separate the two cavities.

That's like setting a special wheel alignment for longer tire life, while driving with tires under-inflated (due to inattention).

Simple "transaxle maintenance" is more likely to produce results. Most transaxles suffer non-maintenance because they were very well-made, designed tough enough to go 90,000 miles with no oil changes. Imagine how far they woulda run if someone changed the oil. This was a "lost opportunity" but here we are, wishing that the POs & soccer moms were looking out for us antiquers.

Maintenance rewards the owner, always has always will but ya gotta go under the van. Which some see as worse than transaxle trouble, prob cuz its seldom.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[shagginwagon83]

[Sodo]

Yeah its the MT90 that I remember was the go-to gear oil. I don't follow oil brands anymore. Redline MUST have a hypoid gear oil.

But anyway once I found out (by super-filtering) that there's lots of metal in the oil of a "rebuilt" and started reading industry lubrication journals, realized that brands and types are rarely even mentioned _PLUS_ they rarely mention lubricant cleanliness.

Why, because it's unimportant? No, because its the most obvious first concern (lubricant contamination) and you MUST be looking for the next level of lubrication enhancement.

There is a hierarchy what produces "results" and if you want results, ya gotta take care of the more important issues first, and it's not something you can read on a bottle label.

Kinda like choosing the top tire brands, raised white letters and side-wall blackening, reading the year of manufacture etc, while never checking the tire's inflation.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[E1]

Sodo, Thank You for your candor about AA, that is not okay and I appreciate knowing this.

I'm another who wants to use Redline -- great oils, and they heavily support our racing comrades -- but am on the side of thinking the MT90 inappropriate for our specific application. Too much noise to the contrary, from way too many sources. Not to mention I want a heavier oil like 75-140, cheap insurance just like 15/50 and the Castrol 20/50 I've run for a million miles in street cars with never a single engine oiling or wear issue.

I realize GW recommends it, but even if they learned it wasn't right it'd be a PR disaster to admit that. After becoming a fan of using a quart of Lucas oil treatment in with my 15/50 Mobil 1 in the engine (STOPS valve lifter noise on startup like nothing I've tried), I now wonder about adding a quart of their gear oil to the transaxle next change (I like doing that every 10,000 miles tops).

Anyone used Lucas in the gearbox?


Sodo, you'll be pleased to know whenever we do a rebuild, a temp sensor will be installed, too. Can't think of a better way to see stress, when stressed.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[Paulbeard]

[Paulbeard]

Well, I am glad I took y'all's advice and dropped the oil from the new/rebuilt trans I just had installed.

Peep this:

That's after 20 miles or so. The pan was sparkly on the bottom as well. Not great. But I'm glad to get that out of there. I'll do another dump and fill after 500 miles, at the latest.

I only got about 3 qts out but replaced it with a full gallon. Not sure if I should have seen a full gallon out or how much I should have gotten. But there is a gallon of FLAPS's best 75-90 in there for the flush cycle.
_________________
Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[?Waldo?]

Can you get a good shot of the big piece cleaned off? Maybe someone can identify it.

[Paulbeard]

[jimf909]