Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Transaxle Another MTX fluid option

This came up on a thread about appropriate fluids for our MTX-75 on the www.bobistheoilguy.com

Here is the thread. http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=001709

Near the end there were comments made by MolaKule, one of the site sponsors. He has receintly started making boutique fluids. I'll let you read about it yourself. The prices are very reasonable. A little more than RedLine MTL and much less expensive than Ford Honey with more than one choice that may well perform better than either.

Here is the link to his site.
http://www.specialtyformulations.com/index.htm

Just what we need, another 500-post MTX fluid thread

Seriously, it sounds interesting. Someone try it!

With as much interest as there has been finding the "perfect" MTX fluid, I would have thought this would have gathered more interest. Next time I need to buy MTX fluid this will probably be what I will try. It may be a while, I have some ATF+4 in the garage and I'm about 20,000 miles away from changing out the Ford Honey that is in it now.

Jim,

I too have been looking for new gear oil as I have not been satisfied with the Redline MTL to lubricate my Torsen Differential.
I ran Mobil 1 sythetic GL-5 fluid for about a week a little over a year ago and the trans felt great with it AND it was extremely quiet. No noise from the differential in turns.
After being warned to give up the GL-5 fluid due to corrosive properties, I went to Redline MTL. The MTL was much better than ATF but not as good as the GL-5 due to the lack of high pressure additives and it still allowed the diff to make a good amount of noise in turns.
I realize now that I need a fluid with the high pressure additives of a GL-5 fluid but one that does not harm the brass/bronze metals.

I contacted Valvoline and they responded that their synthetic 75w-90 gear oil uses non-activated sulfides in order to prevent corrosion from their GL-5 fluid and should be compatible. Should be wasn't good enough for me so I searched some more.

I looked at Redline and they are claiming their GL-5 gear oil will not cause corrosion as long as the temperature is below 300 F in the trans oil. If it runs hotter then they recommend GL-4 rated MTL which does not corrode up to 375 F.

I looked at Royal Purple and I finally found something in Print that says their GL-5 rated MAX GEAR synthetic gear oil is safe for GL-4 applications or bronze synchro gears.

So I have 3 quarts of Royal Purple Max Gear synthetic Gear Oil, 75W-90 that I am going to try. I got it from a local distributor who is a buddy of mine for $10 per quart.

They also sell it in 80W-90, SAE 90, 75W-140, 85W-140
weights.
It claims to exceed all GL-5 and MIL-L-2105D gear oil specs.

If it performs as good as it sounds, or as good as the Mobil 1 synthetic oil I tried before then it will be a great product that we can be reasonably sure won't harm our transmissions while still quieting down those LSD's.


The HSD GL-5 heavy duty oil in the website you found looks pretty good and the price is right too! It will be another fluid that we should try out.

I'm pretty happy that these companies are coming out and clarifying that their products are compatible with yellow metals.

I know for a fact that a GL-5 oil will protect the differential ring and pinion significantly better than a GL-4 fluid and I'm real tired of hearing those grindy noises in turns from my Torsen. Even though I spoke to Torsen Rick about the noise and he said it was normal, I really hate it.
I'll be sure to post a review after I get this fluid in. It is also cold right now so I should be able to evaluate the cold shifting part as well.

warmonger

I'm running Pennzoil's synthetic Syncromesh. I've had good luck with it. I have not added any FM to it. I'm on the fence as to if the full synthetic needs it. I may add a touch and see if it changes anything for high rpm shifting. I'm starting to think any full synth needs a small boost.

The Royal Purple sounds promising. It may need a boost of FM being full synth???

Specialty Formulations has a great reputation of making quality products as well. However their prices are quite steep once you add shipping. DO NOT BUY just quarts from them. The shipping will kill you.

Warmonger,

MoliKule specifically suggested his MTL-R for our application. If you have any questions about his products and their best fit, why not contact him through his web site. He know exactly what is in each of his products and if they will do what you are after. Evidently he has been known to do some custom blending to best meet your requirements. He is definitely one of the more knowledgeable people on bobistheoilguy.

Well, if I don't like this royal purple then I will consider trying his stuff.
Right now I am stuck waiting for the damned polyurethane to cure and I expect that I won't be done with the mount in less than two days with the way it is right now. I'm going to have to do it in two fills also. Right now I have it two thirds full, it was more full but some leaked out around the tape and I don't want to add more until it solidifies somewhat. I'll let it cure outside over night and then top it off tomorrow. Hopefully the day after it will be ready to reinstall.

bump

Well, I am here to report that this Royal Purple MaxGear GL-5 gear oil is so far working GREAT!

It has completely quieted down the noise inherent in the TORSEN when turning sharply.

With ATF and even Redline MTL I could hear noise from the Torsen as I would turn sharply, or take off at a corner from a dead stop. It also still allows quick, smooth shifts on the cold mornings.
When I say cold mornigns, that would be in the high 30's, low 40's range. So far so good. I noticed that on those cold mornings it seems a bit more resistive, almost thicker feeling yet I have no roughness or significant resistance to engagement.
Once the car was warmed up to operating temperature it felt no different than the Redline MTL did for slick shifting, but was still very quiet.
This stuff seems ideal for added protection or for noisy, LSD equipped tansmissions. However, you will need to evaluate the cold temperature performance on your own if you live in climates significantly colder than high 30s.

So is the friction modifier needed for the Royal Purple? I changed my tranny oil our for it's 80k check up and of course it looked like motor oil but no big chunks of metal came plopping out or any small ones that I could see. I have to agree with Warmonger I like the Royal Purple and it hasn't been warm at all here I have not gone out to start the car and take it for a drive today but yesterday after I changed it I put about 50 miles on it and enjoyed the shifting even with the stock open tranny.