Proper GL-4 Oil..

[R.O.R-2.0]

so, i serviced the trans in my 86 GTI last night, and i used sta-lube GL-4 specific oil.. it was WAY PRICEY @ a little over $10/quart, and i even thru in a half bottle of power punch suspended moly additive.. i figured a dose of molybdenum couldnt hurt anything in there either.. and since i actually use the car to tow things quite regularly, that the extra protection from the moly would be worth it. i dont want to go killing my .75 5th gear!

anyways, almost $30 later, i had the last 2 quarts of GL-4 specific oil in the county, and a bottle of suspended moly additive..

AND HOLY SHYT!! the difference is amazing.. it doesnt crunch 2nd gear anymore when its cold, and 1st gear shifts alot easier. you used to have to be about stopped to shift into first gear, now it just shifts like it should. shifting ALL GEARS is generally smoother now. and almost every VW ive ever had, has had JUST A LITTLE BIT of gear noise coming from the trans.. all of them. i thought 020 trannies were just kinda noisy, but now that this one has fresh PROPER oil in it, it makes NO NOISE AT ALL. not that i can hear atleast! before, it had a FAINT whine in 5th gear, above 2000 revs, and only when applying throttle..

anyways, i am absolutely AMAZED at how much of a difference it makes when you use the proper oil for these trannies. i didnt even get the EXPENSIVE GL-4 oil, this particular brand of oil is usually the cheapest GL-4 oil you can get, but my local napa only had this model of oil on hand, and only 2 quarts (guess it was my lucky day!)

they tried selling me some universal GL-3/4/5 gear oil, but then i mentioned the MAGIC WORD volkswagen, and then they told me that the GL-4 sta-lube that i picked up the first time, was the oil i needed..

[theman53]

Yep. The expensive stuff works too. I used Royal Purple last time and will use Schaffers next time. I had similar results.

[R.O.R-2.0]

but i would never put expensive oil in a $200 ghetto-sled...

[ORCoaster]

Any thoughts on if it is the Moly additive that is making this thing run so much better?  If so I might be talked into draining a bit of the oil I have in the trans and replacing it with the other.  Got a brand on the moly?  I am going to assume NAPA has it in most of their stores.

Or  did you order it especial?

Might cure the whine I have. 

With the car that is.  Not much you can do for the rest of me. 

[srgtlord]

Ive had 75% stalube 85w-90 and 25% coastal gl3-4-5 cocktail in my tranny for about 25,000 miles since I put new seals in. My previous tranny blew up from topping it off  using an el-cheapo  gl-5 oil, second gear had noooo syncro left. Lesson learned lol.

 The only downside I found was the gears get a bit hard to shift into when it below freezing outside but this is easily remidied by lettting your car warm up in the winter.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Ive had 75% stalube 85w-90 and 25% coastal gl3-4-5 cocktail in my tranny for about 25,000 miles since I put new seals in. My previous tranny blew up from topping it off  using an el-cheapo  gl-5 oil, second gear had noooo syncro left. Lesson learned lol.

 The only downside I found was the gears get a bit hard to shift into when it below freezing outside but this is easily remidied by lettting your car warm up in the winter.

that downside is because of the 25% GL-5 oil.. these trannies DO NOT WORK RIGHT with GL-5 oil in them.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Any thoughts on if it is the Moly additive that is making this thing run so much better?  If so I might be talked into draining a bit of the oil I have in the trans and replacing it with the other.  Got a brand on the moly?  I am going to assume NAPA has it in most of their stores.

Or  did you order it especial?

Might cure the whine I have. 

With the car that is.  Not much you can do for the rest of me. 

it was power punch extreme pressure additive that i used. im sure napa as well as walmart and any big stores like that should have it.

[srgtlord]

         It was not just a gl-5 oil, it was Coastal a multigrade gl3-gl4-gl5 oil just like napa's multigrade 75w-85w-90w  In fact they no longer even sell the same oil anymore. It exists under the same name but under a different formula. I purchased it 3 years ago . Since then even the product number has changed. I did lots and lots of research until I decided upon this mix. I have read that people who used royal purple and Redline synthetic gl-4 had the second gear grind. I also read of people on other car forums who used straight coastal 80w-90 gl3-4-5 in their transmissions and people who used straight stalube 85w-90. I did at one point  have my tranny filled with just stalube 85w-90  but cold weather shifting was very,very stiff. When its -7 Fahrenheit the thickness of the oil matters. I know the formulation of the new stuff is different, for shiggles I mixed a half a cup of stalube and half a cup of the new coastal fluid and the 2 reacted to create a blood red color.............   The older coastal fluid did not react when I mixed the two in a cup.

[theman53]

I and tyler have done the GM syncromesh as well. Older trans that are SLOW shifting speed up quite a bit. I have only mixed the stuff 50/50 with GL-4 oils, but tyler has ran 100% with no issues.

Over the last year I have been running Schaeffer's oil and with the results I have seen I will continue. The next trans fill with have there 75w-90 in it. It is nice and slick and has TONS of moly in the oil. All of their oils do have TONS of moly in them. They also have a moly additive that you can add. Amish guys around here get and sell it cheap. 21.00 for a gallon of 5w-40 diesel oil. They will also do engine oil analysis for free if you send it in and are using their oil.