Classic Car trans / diff oil advice.

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FCD

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Well after 45 years and over 300k miles of service the "four on the floor" gearbox in my '75 Capri is beginning to show its age.

1st and 2nd sometimes pop out on overrun or at slow speed / high load.

Shifting from 3rd to 2nd has a nasty crunch except at low speeds.

And when hot it sometimes "packs up" and no gear will engage, it usually takes 3 or 4 attempts for it to finally go into gear.

I have changed the fluid several times now with the proper specified mineral 80W GL-4 oil

I have managed to buy a good gearbox which has less than 60k miles from a friend, who swapped his for a 5 speed about a year ago...


Now here is the question, it has no problems, do i change the fluid and put in the spec'd 80W GL-4, or do i go for something more modern like a synthetic 75W-80 or 75W-85?

Also, while the diff also has +300k miles it appears to be in perfectly good health.

I have changed the oil twice and has the spec'd EP90 GL-5 in it.

It's 4 years now since i changed the diff oil and the gasket is leaking just a little bit of oil.

Would you keep using the same EP90, or maybe something like a 75W-110?

I understand that years ago the 90 grade was split in half, and that the old school EP90 usually had a Kv @100c of between 20-24cst, whereas modern 90 grade gear oils like 75W-90, 80W-90 and EP90 tend to be in the 16-18cst range.
 
GL4 80W90 for trans .
GL5 SAE 110 or SAE 90 for diff.
Higher KV@40*C is always preferred in both sumps .

Edit:Yes, I'm aware SAE 110 is hard to come by .
 
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Thanks for the reply.

SAE 110 is almost impossible to find here, i have never seen any.

Locally i have available :

ATF of all kinds
Febi 75W GL-4
Castrol and Repsol 80W GL-4
Shell and Total 75W-80 GL-4
Total 75W-85 GL-4
Ford, Castrol, Shell and Repsol 75W-90 GL-4
Castrol, Repsol and Shell 80W-90 GL-5
Castrol, Repsol EP90 GL-5
Repsol 90W GL-4
Repsol 140W GL-4
Liqui Moly 75W-110 GL-5
 
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Originally Posted by FordCapriDriver
It's 4 years now since i changed the diff oil and the gasket is leaking just a little bit of oil.


Don't know about the oil but toss the solid gasket. Use a modern liquid gasket like,

[Linked Image from bowessealfast.com]
 
Any yellow metal in the trans or diff that could be affected by some modern GL5's? I'd stay with GL4 unless you are sure.

FWIW I use various Redline gear oils in all my classic cars. Redline's gear oils are non corrosive to yellow metals, per them. Redline should be available locally, but will be $$$. I thought Castrol Europe had an offering that was suitable for older cars, maybe that is the GL4 you referenced.
 
Yes the Synchros are brass in the gearbox.
And yes i can get Redline, but it's ludicrously expensive, about x5 the price of other brands.
 
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If available, I would get a quart of this, Ford FML-XT-11-QDC, and a quart of this F5-Qord S and mix them 1:1.
 
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