>From: howard@aur.alcatel.com

> Has anyone had any experience using synthetic oil
> in their manual transmission? I have an '87
> Westfalia and I'm thinking about using Redline MTL.

I use MTL in my GTI.  When I did the 5th gear conversion a few years ago
I put in 90w140 and it was too thick causing to grind in second gear.
Then I tried 80w-90, much better but only when warm.  The MTL has not given
me any problems since then.  It is rated as 75w-80 gear oil or about 30w
engine oil.  I don't have any experience with it in the vanagon.

> Redline also makes a product called Water Wetter that
> is supposed to reduce friction in your cooling system
> so that the engine cools more efficiently. Anyone
> tried this?

I have not tried it myself but have heard experiences about it.  There
are two types depending on what coolant you use (phosphates/non-phospates).
What it does is decrease the tension between the coolant and metal which
improves the heat transfer.  From what I read and heard from people who use
it is that during normal driving you won't see much of a difference.
It seems to work better when it gets much hotter.

> I use Redline in the transmission of my everyday car
> and it has improved the shifting, especially on very cold 
> mornings.

I agree to that.

Jonathan
jdove@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu