New Member - 6th Gen Civic Manual Transmission Oil

[civicist]

Hello Everyone, Just joined the forum last night and hope to share the best of my knowledge and experiences with you. Last week I drained the manual transmission oil (first since 2000), flushed it and filled it with Shell Helix Ultra 5w40. Transmission runs flawless, fuel mileage improved until the operating temps and overall cruising noise is lower then it used to. What do you all think when it comes to using synthetic 5w40 oil in transmission? How long can I run this group 3 oil in the tranny? Would you actually consider using a group 3 synthetic oil instead of Honda MTF? This is my fist post and hope to have an effective & short discussion. Thank you all.

 

[Boomer]

Does your tranny call for motor oil? I am not familiar with it.

 

[SOHCman]

My 94' honda specs Honda MTF, 10w-30, 0r 10w-40. It always shifted terrible with the motor oils compared to Honda MTF, and now I use Amsoil MTF and like it even better. If the Shell 5w-40 works good for you, use it, but make sure you change it when it starts to shift bad eventually. Welcome to the forum!

 

[civicist]

it does call the 10w30 and 10w40 (temporarily though - no time intervals mentioned). but since the car sees temps below 14 degrees i just thought 5w40 would be a better call then honda mtf (which is a 10w30).

 

[Smoky14]

Since the advent of SH oils, it is far better to run MTF instead of motor oils. The add pac is insufficant for long term use.

 

[civicist]

how often should i change the oil if i keep using shell 5w40?

 

[SOHCman]

Originally Posted By: civicist

it does call the 10w30 and 10w40 (temporarily though - no time intervals mentioned). but since the car sees temps below 14 degrees i just thought 5w40 would be a better call then honda mtf (which is a 10w30).

The new green cap Honda MTF is more of a 5w-30 IIRC, and the Amsoil MTF is as well. As far as how long the OP should use the 5w-40? My guess is that you could probably run it up to a year, but the real MTF's will offer much better protection and longer run intervals.

 

[mechtech2]

Motor oil can be acceptable in that transmission, but it is not my first or second choice. I would use a dedicated lube made for manual transmissions. They help with shifting [friction modified for good synchronizer engagement]. They also have EP and AW additives for gears and bearings. Amsoil and Redline make superb fluids for this.

 

[civicist]

well, it seems like i wont be keeping the 5w40 in the transmission for a long time and move on with a proper mtf fluid. i had great experiences with redline oil back when i used live in states. unfortunately amsoil and redline dont have distributors in turkey. i believe motul does. what would be your suggestion with motul?