First let me point out that this man took the time to actually review the thread, view the pictures and then respond to me in less than 24 hours. Here's the gist of what I submitted to Redline Oil:

Originally posted by warmonger:
....The thread follows at the bottom of this request.
I need an engineer to take a look a this thread in an online automotive forum and make an educated guess as to what is going on. I have used MTL and found it to work very good but I only used it for about a year and a half. The reports are saying that the EP's are causing oxidation of the metal on the Torsen T2 differential, the Quaife differential, the aluminum case, and not protecting the gear teeth. The purported oxidation and poor lubrication is supposed to be causing sludge buildup which further reduces lubrication to bearings.

So if this is true then I would want to discontinue use of the redline product....




Here is their reply:

Originally posted by Redline Oil:
James,

Thank you for contacting Red Line Oil, the MTL does not cause oxidation and or corrosion. I don't see the oxidation that is being referred to, a dark film that seems to wipe off, it doesn't appear to be a high temperature oxidation component. I see what likely is some rust on the edge of the gear and the inter bearing race, likely from the presence of moisture. The MTL offers good rust protection, so this likely occurred some time previous to it's introduction. As far as the sludge, the Quaife and Torsen type differentials do tend to darken the gear oil, this is just the nature of these units, the MTL doesn't cause the sludge it is just a byproduct. The MTL is a GL-4 gear lube offering good EP protection but is not corrosive to either internal components or the aluminum case.

I am not familiar with the XL-7, I don't know what it may contain other than a friction modifier. A friction modifier makes the fluid slipperier which is not typically desirable in a synchro type manual transmission/transaxle application, a Dexron/Mercon fluid already being fairly slippery.

I would be interested in seeing the test results.

Regards, Dave
Red Line Oil



Former owner of '99 CSVT - Silver #222/2760 356/334 wHP/TQ at 10psi on pump gas! See My Mods '05 Volvo S40 Turbo 5 AWD with 6spd, Passion Red '06 Mazda5 Touring, 5spd,MTX, Black