Originally posted by White93Civic Everything I've read recommends just using regular 10W-30 motor oil. Why will the motor oil ruin your transmission? Does it gunk it up or something? Thanks for the info.
10W30 motor oil is not well suited for transmission use because of two factors - shear stability and improper coefficient of friction. In other words, it's not made for trannies, it's made for engines. It doesn't lubricate gears, brass synchros and bushings very well, and what small amount of lubrication it does provide doesn't last very long. Consider it for use in emergencies only. That's what my CiViC manual says and Honda Corp is telling the truth here for once...
OEM tranny oil is okay, but it's dino juice. Red Line is the best. It's synthetic and will make your tranny last forever...
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Originally posted by hydramatic99 BDC, would a synthetic 10w30 be an ok choice?
Yes, in an emergency. Motor oil is motor oil, and gear lube is gear lube. You shouldn't run gear lube in a motor, or motor oil in a gear box. Honda CiViC's use a transaxle design. That is, they have transmission gears and differential gears mixed together in a common gear box. Using the correct lubrication is critical to their longevity.
Yes, I know that trannies and differentials are supposed to use different lubes, so whichever oil you stick in there is technically a compromise. That's why you need to use a GOOD API GL-4 gear lube ONLY, which is made for transaxles. API GL-5 lube, which is made for differentials, will eat your tranny and so will motor oil, which, of course, is made for motors.
Sure, Red Line MTL/MT-90 synthetic gear oil costs around 8 bones a quart, but you only need 2-quarts to fill a CiViC transaxle. That's $16.00 to have the world's best gear lube in your ride.
I hope this is making sense. You can't go wrong with Red Line. Using Honda MTF, motor oil or GL-5 gear lube is just like waiting for a time-bomb to go off inside your tranny. Red Line oil is cheap compared to the price of replacing your transaxle, you know?
"Pay special attention to posts by BlackDeuceCoupe, the instigator of
the forum... who does a nice job breaking my column and responses
down." - Paul Brink, ASU State Press
DISCLAIMER Any resemblance between the views expressed above and those of
the owners and operators of this system is purely coincidental. Any resemblance
between these views and my own are non-deterministic. The existence of BDC
is disputable. The existence of views, in the absence of anyone to hold them
is problematic. The existence of the reader is left as an exercise in the
second order coefficient.
Originally posted by pushVTEC How long u think a tranny would last with 1 qt of fluid in it?
I see you wear your hat backwards [sig pic] so you're probably kinda confused, but why would you ask a question like that? What's that got to do with this discussion???
"Pay special attention to posts by BlackDeuceCoupe, the instigator of
the forum... who does a nice job breaking my column and responses
down." - Paul Brink, ASU State Press
DISCLAIMER Any resemblance between the views expressed above and those of
the owners and operators of this system is purely coincidental. Any resemblance
between these views and my own are non-deterministic. The existence of BDC
is disputable. The existence of views, in the absence of anyone to hold them
is problematic. The existence of the reader is left as an exercise in the
second order coefficient.
Originally posted by pushVTEC Just a simple question? adn we are talking about transmission fluid... so why not ask a tranny fluid related question?
Im gonna look really stupid if your being sarcastic, what your asking is just like asking how long would my engine last with very little engine oil, well is it really good for it? and how would anybody really specifically know?
Originally posted by pushVTEC Jesus christ, lets all flip out about a little question. If it's so dumb and obvious why don't u answer it and stop being asses about it?
Its never good to run your car when it's low on any required fluid. "How long will it last if its low?" That I can't answer, but it will make it wear out much faster, and it could even lock up.
BDC is right in saying synthetic fluids such as redline products are better then motor oil. However, I am going to stick with the OEM fluid from Honda. In the Si's Honda uses synthetic fluid, and I want to stick with it.
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Originally posted by kommon_sense What is the advantage of using the redline tranny fluids?
Using synthetic oil in your ride is the single best thing you can do for its longevity. In other words, when you use synthetic oil, basically all wear ceases. Mobil 1 ran a BMW on rollers for 1,000,000 miles, took the engine apart and there was practically zero wear. I think one rod bearing was slightly out of spec.
The same 'no wear' situation applies to trannies, and Red Line synthetic gear oil is generally considered the best there is. I buy it at a racing shop where guys spend more on their [top fuel] blocks than I did for my CiViC! Red Line is the only oil they sell there, if that tells you anything....
If you want to read the scoop on Red Line gear oil:
"Pay special attention to posts by BlackDeuceCoupe, the instigator of
the forum... who does a nice job breaking my column and responses
down." - Paul Brink, ASU State Press
DISCLAIMER Any resemblance between the views expressed above and those of
the owners and operators of this system is purely coincidental. Any resemblance
between these views and my own are non-deterministic. The existence of BDC
is disputable. The existence of views, in the absence of anyone to hold them
is problematic. The existence of the reader is left as an exercise in the
second order coefficient.
hey BDC to refill the mtf i heard you have to use so kind of hose to put it in? is that correct? how would i do it and where would i get the tube if it is correct?
you can get a hose from autozone or pepboys that screws ontop of the mtf bottle and it has a twist on\off valve. There is a hardened plastic tip at the end where you put it in the fill hole of the tranny and add the oil. Redline's bottle doesn't fit the one i have so i put a funnel at the end end just fill it from there. If you want some pics lemme know I can show you what it looks like.
Originally posted by B16a2vtec95 hey BDC to refill the mtf i heard you have to use so kind of hose to put it in? is that correct? how would i do it and where would i get the tube if it is correct?
I just use a funnel with a long flex hose. It's made for pouring oil into automatic transmissions. Or, you could use a pump and do it from underneath the car; like the ones they use for pumping gear lube into differentials. To me, the funnel is fastest and cleaner...
"Pay special attention to posts by BlackDeuceCoupe, the instigator of
the forum... who does a nice job breaking my column and responses
down." - Paul Brink, ASU State Press
DISCLAIMER Any resemblance between the views expressed above and those of
the owners and operators of this system is purely coincidental. Any resemblance
between these views and my own are non-deterministic. The existence of BDC
is disputable. The existence of views, in the absence of anyone to hold them
is problematic. The existence of the reader is left as an exercise in the
second order coefficient.
