of possible interest to vanagon manual transmission owners.

jonathan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 09:04:48 -0700
From: Daryl Christensen <aatransaxle@msn.com>
To: Jonathan Farrugia <jfarrugi@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: gl4 vs. gl5 gear oils

Jonathan...Yes there has been a controversy about the differences for
years, but mostly on the vanagon list...In the real world...Most shops
put in GL5 and don't have any problems. I take apart many transmissions
with the moly coated syncro's and see no real obvious issue other than
normal wear. I use Laso moly coated syncros in the Vanagon and the Jetta
boxes I build and have never been concerned about my customers using
whatever oil they desire.

That being said...I do however see Redline as being the best oil out
there in respect to its cold weather performance and overall wear
properties. It is a GL4 oil and has solved some strange syncro problems
thru the years that NO other oil could cure. I have always been kinda
caught in the middle of the debate and not being an engineer type, can't
offer any real definitive proof of the problem. Just real world
experience. My big thing is getting people to actually change their oil
once in a while, say every 30 K or so just to get some fresh stuff in
there. Oil does break down thru use and new stuff is a plus for making
them last longer.  I use Redline just because of its ease of shifting in
my own rigs.  Pass this along if you want to as I am off the Vanagon list
for awhile.

Daryl of AA Transaxle
Duvall, WA. (Seattle area)
(425-788-4070)
1-877-377-0773
aatransaxle.com
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Jonathan Farrugia
  To: aatransaxle@msn.com
  Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 12:25 PM
  Subject: gl4 vs. gl5 gear oils

  Darrell

  hi i'm on the vanagon and type 2 lists and i have a question concerning
  using gl-5 gear oil in a vanagon manual transmission.  i saw the
  following come across the type 2 list and it peaked my interest.  i had
  always heard that only gl-4 oil or synthetic such as redline should be
  used in vanagon transmissions.  could you please clarify this for me.
  thanks in advance for your time.

  --------------------------------------------

  It had been mentioned to me that there is a rumor about GL-5 gear oil
  being potentially corrosive to VW trannys, and that GL-4 was the way to
  avoid this. Well, having already replaced my awful, rancid old gear oil
  with the only kind available to me at auto supply stores, GL-5, I took
  this matter up with my mechanic.

  My mechanic was intrigued, but he didn't know. He called a local shop that
  does nothing but VW tansaxles, Ron's Transaxles, for research. Here is
  what they had to say...

  Late Rabbits and Dashers have some sort of a molly-synchro unit in their
  second gear that is damaged by GL-5 formulations; it corrodes them.
  According to these folks, though, our T2 Volks have naught to worry from
  using any of the readily available GL-5 formulations (synthetic or
  otherwise) out there. GL-5 or something called RedLine are what are
  recommended for our old Dubbies.

  I understand that oils and such have Fire potential on the List; I am not
  intending to start a flame war. But, I felt this was valuable information
  to pass along from people who do nothing but VW transaxles. I couldn't
  find GL-4 anywhere, and it was driving me nuts with worry. I actually had
  a nightmare about her gears corroding through last night. (Don't ask me
  how I wound up inside the transmission, but I did.) Now, I am unconcerned and
  will continue on with what's already in there.
  -----------------------------------------------

  jonathan