Time to change gearbox oil?

[CitroJim]

Bluebell's little pet hedgehog

[MattBLancs]

Wow, that would worry me! How many miles covered when that taken?

Have you had need to drain it again since, any more seen second time round?

[CitroJim]

Wow, that would worry me! How many miles covered when that taken?

No idea Matt but knowing the history of the car, likely at least a decade... I changed the oil as I could hear a low whine in 5th and wanted to exclude the oil. Bluebell is currently on nearly 91,000 miles... Looking at the driveshafts and so on for clues, I'd say the old oil had likely done a good proportion of that...

As it happened, a change of fresh oil made no immediate difference but it has since reduced although not gone completely... Whether new oil is a factor I don't know

The old oil looked, felt and smelt good and fresh...

Have you had need to drain it again since, any more seen second time round?

Not yet. In my experience, that's about a normal amount of swarf...

Back in the day when I ran transverse engined gearbox-in-sump BMC Minis, 1300s and Metros I used to see more swarf than that on the sump plug magnet at every oil change and I used to change it frequently...

[MattBLancs]

Not yet. In my experience, that's about a normal amount of swarf...

Back in the day when I ran transverse engined gearbox-in-sump BMC Minis, 1300s and Metros I used to see more swarf than that on the sump plug magnet at every oil change and I used to change it frequently...

Interesting stuff, thanks.

Given Jay's recent comments on another thread (about "black diesel" ) I was wondering what we all thought about those gearboxes who routinely have a diet of combustion products, carbon, etc - it's a wonder they last long at all!

[CitroJim]

Gearboxes are tough Matt! I've had a lot of them in bits over the years, both manual and auto, and only once have I seen wear in a manual box directly caused by oil but in that case it was caused by a total lack of it over a long period and then the only things badly wrecked were the diff bearings! With new bearings it could have lived on...

Hence my conclusion, maybe wrong but empirical, that gearbox oil can live long in service in a manual box...

Autoboxes, no.

BMC transverse 'boxes don't last quite so well as their more conventional brethren due to lubrication inadequacies but then again that's more because the oil has to serve two requirements and is a compromise in both cases. These days it's recommended not to run modern engine oils and several oil purveyors now market a 20W/50 especially formulated for classic Minis.

This is becoming a very interesting thread

[moizeau]

My BX back in the UK was scrapped at 450K miles because the back end fell off. Original clutch and gearbox oil.

[CitroJim]

My BX back in the UK was scrapped at 450K miles because the back end fell off. Original clutch and gearbox oil.

Wow! That's some achievement Pete How precisely did the back end fall off? I have a mental image of you driving along, still enjoying a perfect gearchange, on only two front wheels after leaving the back end some distance up the road

[moizeau]

Rust worm got the rear suspension. The cam belt was well over due when I scrapped it. I absolutely nailed it at the end when I realised it wouldn't do another MOT. I really wanted it to go out in a blaze of glory up the A38.......but no, I drove it to the tat yard and weighed the old girl in. Best BX I ever had, original injectors, no leaks anywhere. Only work done on the engine, glow plugs, inj pump reconned at 150K and a new brush box for the alternator. I knew the car from new, It was my Nan's then my Dad's. I got it at 5 years old in 1991 and it died the 2nd Jan 2005.

[myglaren]

It had been owned by Roger Moor

[CitroJim]

Good video Steve and Pete, what a car you had there Exceptionally Awesome

[moizeau]

It was Jim, 1/2 a revolution and would start with a dying battery, never let me down. In the end you didn't need to clutch for upshifts. Was still doing 50 mpg when it met it's maker with the tyres having an extra 5psi. 50 miles a day to work every day. Had my Nan's/Dad's next one, another BX 5 years younger, that got scrapped first. Sure that was a friday night / monday morning car.

[MattBLancs]

Some confusion on specifications,

Definitely 75W80, but the Haynes I have access too reckons GL5, others say GL4.

Interestingly, the GSF product linked by the first post claims GL3!

I may be be completely misremembering this but isn't the GL5 spec disallowed and you should use GL4?

Oh! Don't know!

Just double checked, Haynes 307 manual:


Whilst I am having a look,

306 manual says:



406 Haynes says:


But googling Total Transmission BV, gives Total Traxium and that seems to be GL4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403460989313 ... media=COPY

Confusing!

[Estately]

Having done gear box oil changes since Xantia owning days, I read somewhere that GL 5 oil was not good for certain copper based gearbox components.
Therefore GL 4 was the one to go for. From what I read GL 5 was not an improved oil over GL 4 but a different oil to be used based on the gearbox construction.

I came to the conclusion that GL 4 was to be used for the Xantia, C5 Mk2 and C5 X7 gearboxes.
I will try to find the article and references unless anybody else has some documentation.

Andy.

[MattBLancs]

Having done gear box oil changes since Xantia owning days, I read somewhere that GL 5 oil was not good for certain copper based gearbox components.
Therefore GL 4 was the one to go for. From what I read GL 5 was not an improved oil over GL 4 but a different oil to be used based on the gearbox construction.

I came to the conclusion that GL 4 was to be used for the Xantia, C5 Mk2 and C5 X7 gearboxes.
I will try to find the article and references unless anybody else has some documentation.

Andy.

That advice does ring a bell, I remember reading something similar about gearbox oil formulations and gearbox copper components - can't think where I read it!


I've just looked up online the Westway Lubricants stuff I bought - it says GL4 and GL5 on the label!

From eBay advert

I bought 5 litres not this massive 20l drum

Edit, just to quote my sources:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121662817118

[CitroJim]

I've just looked up online the Westway Lubricants stuff I bought - it says GL4 and GL5 on the label!

Ahh, now that's just a little worrying going on what Andy says about GL5 and copper based components. Here we enter the murky world of supposed backward compatibly... Been here before with various versions of Dexron ATF and supposedly equivalence to LT71141 for HP20 and AL4 autoboxes... I must see if I can dig out the long thread about it... It was years back!

Having done gear box oil changes since Xantia owning days, I read somewhere that GL 5 oil was not good for certain copper based gearbox components.

That's interesting to know Andy, thanks for that Not good for BE3 gearboxes and their bronze synchro hubs on that basis...

I'll have to have a look at what I put in my AX gearbox when I last changed it... Never thought of looking at the GL rating back then...