Gearbox Oils

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:43 pm

I've heard you can use ATF in a manual box for the M20, is this true and if so, what benefits does it have over normal gearbox oil. I'm getting the oil seals changed on a sport gearbox for Becky's manual conversion and wondered weather to put ATF in rather than the usual stuff.

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:45 pm

I read this in a BMW mag years ago, reckoned it was better for track days? Personally, I'd stick to some good quality original stuff.

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:46 pm

I used Redline GL4 as per recomendation there:
http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/d ... Section=11

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:48 pm

Simon wrote:I read this in a BMW mag years ago, reckoned it was better for track days? Personally, I'd stick to some good quality original stuff.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, best off sticking to the proper stuff!!!

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:53 pm

E30Adam wrote:I've heard you can use ATF in a manual box for the M20, is this true and if so, what benefits does it have over normal gearbox oil. I'm getting the oil seals changed on a sport gearbox for Becky's manual conversion and wondered weather to put ATF in rather than the usual stuff.

If you dont cain the car then USE ATF! but if you wont maximum protection use a really good fully synthetic oil which is 75w90 or there abouts. This will hold up for the weekend track day activity also!
I use some really pro racing stuff and when the gearbox is cold its near to impossible to change gear! at first i thought it was really shit and i cant live with this but it made me learn to rev match on gearchange when cold.
But once it gets warm its so much better i cant explain it, its like the gears are sucked into possition! But with ATF when it gets warm the gear changes get stiffer not lighter!

Andrew

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:56 pm

Cheers Andrew. I think we'll stick with some good quality standard oil as it's for Becky's car and I can't imagine her understanding rev matching let alone being able to do it :lol:

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:47 pm

In the middle of last winter I changed the gearbox oil in my 318i daily runabout. The oil I put in was the correct SAE80 stuff, but I noticed the oil that came out was bright red (ATF colour).
The next day, when I drove the car from cold, it was very stiff to get into first and stiff to change into second. After about half to three quarters of a mile, the shift action would become perfect again.
The weather began to warm up after a few weeks, and the problem went away, untill the last couple of days, when the problem has started again.
I don't know for certain that the previous oil was ATF, but it certainly shifted gear easier when cold.

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 9:53 pm

Sure it wasn't redline brian? i think all their oils are red in colour

Post Thu Sep 29, 2005 10:03 pm

Gwynleym10 wrote:Sure it wasn't redline brian? i think all their oils are red in colour

No idea what it was, since as soon as it was drained off it went into a barrel with a lot of other waste oil.
Redline isn't very common in the UK though, and the car hadn't had any "enthusiast" owners in it's past.