A good 75w90 GL-5 for a MANUAL trans

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Heres the deal--- I replaced the factory manual trans fluid in my 97 corolla at about 110k. I used a 50/50 mix of redline MTL and MT-90, and i am NOT satisfied at all... Pretty bad shifting.

The owners manual specs 75w90 GL-4 OR GL-5. Someone here mentioned the factory fill was GL5 75w90, and it pretty much works the best in this application, dino, not synthetic

So, can anyone suggest a DINO 75w-90 GL5 that isnt overly additized with limited slip additives? Would a plain jane napa or coastal fluid work? Or I think I saw valvoline having one too...
 
That was probably me that suggested that, as I have a 94 Corolla and every synthetic I've tried has been horrible.

I've used both Castrol and Valvoline 75w-90 dino GL-5 with pretty much similar results. All I can find now is Valvoline so that's what I use! They're all going to be similar IMO.
 
Motorcraft Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid, Part number XT-M5-QS, available at your local ford dealer. short version is that it is made by Fuchs of germany to fix the problems ford was having with the Getrag transmissions in the contour and focus. has significant amounts of FM for ease of shifting, and is highly regarded in the miata community since Molakule shut down SF.

almost any GL5 will make a synchromesh transmission shift poorly, although Molakule was able to do it right.
 
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Visit a truck stop or truck service center. You should be able to find some high quality GL-5 non-LSD mineral gear oils there.

Read the bottle. Anything mentioning LSD compatible should be avoided. Coastal might be what you are looking for!
 
Have you tried Amsoil MTG ?
I have great success with castrol dyno and MTG.
I find the Redline is not consistent, and basic petroleum(non-ester) oil still works the best for the toyota gearbox.
I believe standard GL-5 may not suitable for this gearbox, and I found the new corrolla 2008 still recommend GL-3 in Japan.

One thing I notice is on my car the shift will improve after you keep the car in the garage for a few days without driving. Not sure why, but my guess is this allow the oil to dry on the gear and create a layer of coating
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Drew, so the valvoline GL5 works good? Cheetah, the owners manual recommends 75w90 GL4 or GL5.

Havent tried the MTG, but im REALLY not wanting to spend another 20 bucks plus on something that needs to be shipped after redline disappointed... The stock fluid worked AWESOME actually.... So I want to find OTC 4 dollar stuff. I believe it was drew that said hes tried like, every fluid available in this trans and mineral worked best.

The coastal looks good, but its "GL-3 GL-4 and GL-5" which is odd to me.
 
any GL5 oil is also GL4, so you must dig deeper.

GL5 oils have 40-60% more EP (Extreme Pressure) additives that GL4 oils (which have no uppper limit on the additive, which is why an oil can be GL4/GL5). the higher EP additive discourages proper sychronizer function. cars that have been run with GL5 lubricants can take 3-5k for the EP coating to wear off.

the GL5 oil will not hurt the transmission, on the contrary it will run just fine on it. the shifting will just be suboptimal. the interesting thing is that MT-90 is a GL4 oil, as is MTL. i am intrigued by the problems with shifting that the mix is producing.

try NAPA StaLube brand GL4 dino 75w90. as unDummy pointed out, be careful of any lube with LSD additive.
 
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Originally Posted By: cheetahdriver
the shifting will just be suboptimal.


All well and dandy in theory, BUT...........

Take it from me. I've spent hundreds of bucks trying every fluid out there in my Corolla. GL-5 dino gives the best shift quality, and it has for numerous owners of older Corollas.
 
I drained the factory fill (which is said to be 75w90 GL5) and used the MTL/MT90 mix, and the shifting instantly went to [censored]. With the stock fluid, shifting was effortless, like butter, the redline mix is notchy, sometimes a slight grind into third or fifth, hard to engage first sometimes. This happened immediately after the fluid change.

The manual says GL5 is fine, unusual, but I cant argue with toyota on something as simple as trans lube (btw the parts dept. said they use "bulk 75w90" for the manual trannies)

Drew, the valvoline doesnt have LSD adds does it?
 
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I don't believe so. It's standard GL-5 gear oil.

Whatever you do, don't try a GL-5 synthetic! I tried Pennzoil synthetic GL-5 gear oil and barely made it around the block and back to my house. Couldn't even downshift to 2nd.
 
Redline 75W90NS does NOT have LS adds, you can give it a try. Ditto for NEO 75W90HD

The thing is, unless your tranny shares the same lube oil with the hypoid differential (like in the front manual transaxle of a Subaru), you don't really need GL5. GL5 with all the EP adds is really meant for hypoids because of the sliding they do. Meshing gears in a tranny will do just fine with a GL4.

And do by all means avoid limited slip additives, they just interfere with the synchros. Have you tried a cocktail of Pennz Synchromesh fluid with MTL? Or Synchromesh with 75W90NS?
 
The last thing I'd do is give Redline 75w-90NS a try in this application. Unless you want to be out another 50 bucks with a notchy shifting trans.

I did try Pennzoil synchromesh mixed with Castrol Hypoy C and it shifted best. However, when I drained it after 20,000 miles there was so much visible wear metals, I scrapped that combo!
 
Try the "MTG". Am using it in the manual of our Yaris and it works well. Had Castrol's Syntorq LT in there at first drain of factory fluid and it wasn't too pleasing either. No issues at all with the Amsoil lubricant.
 
I say when it comes to manual transmission fluid,Amsoil MTG is the ONLY way to go. My car`s tranny has synchro issues in the 1st to 2nd gear shifts and it`s the only fluid that`s smoothed it out. In addition to that,it makes 3rd-5th sooooooooooooo smooth that I can speed shift through them with my pinky finger. MTG is some amazing stuff! And the thing I like about it is that the hotter the tranny gets,the smoother shifting gets,unlike all the other fluids I`ve tried,which got worse the hotter the tranny got.

Here`s all I`ve tried,best being at the top of the list,worst being at the bottom:

Amsoil MTG
Redline MT90
Redline MTL
Sta Lube
Royal Purple Max Gear (this one being the worst,made every gear grind,but then again,it`s not a dedicated transmission oil)
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm

Royal Purple Max Gear (this one being the worst,made every gear grind,but then again,it`s not a dedicated transmission oil)


Then again, it is Royal Purple.
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OK--- well, I just drained the redline, and refilled with 2 quarts of valvoline white bottle dino 75w90 GL-5. On the back it said it was good for conventional and limited slip diffs, but also said it is recommended in manual transmissions where GL-5 or MT-1 is specified.

Only drove a mile or two, shifting seems better already!!!! I will update later when I get some more miles on it.
 
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