Recommend a High Quality 80w-90 for Differential

[Idrinkmotoroil]

I have a 2006 Ford Escape and it recommends an 80w-90 for the rear differential on the 4wd setup. The stock fluid is Motorcraft Premium Rear Axle Lubricant. Would I be better off with a good synthetic ?, I think it might be better in cold weather use and such, I don't think the Motorcraft fluid is synthetic, but I could be wrong.

Any advice or recommendation would be appreciated, thanks

Joey

 

[Brett Miller]

Amsoil Severe Gear 75W-90.

 

[bmwtechguy]

I would think for your location a quality synthetic would be beneficial, especialy in winter. You could use any of the Amsoil 75W-90 or 80W-90 products as recommended by previous poster. You could contact our BITOG canadian site sponsor for Amsoil products, Don. I have also used Mobil 1 75W-90 and some Redline products as well. Mola's SF brand gear oils seem to have a stellar reputation around here. Schaeffers makes some outstanding gear oils and we have a site sponsor for them as well. Any brand name synthetic would most likely serve you well for this application.

The synthetic gear oil should flow better at lower winter temps and last longer in service. This is not an area to skimp on, considering it probably only takes 2 quarts or less, and you don't replace this fluid very often. Dealers often charge high prices for average fluids when a better quality fluid can be found for same or even less money.

 

[Idrinkmotoroil]

thanks for the replies fellas. I don't know much about gear oil, but is 75w-90 the same as 80w-90 ?. In my owners manual it states that we can substitute a synthetic 75w-140 if time is spent with temps as low as -40. Temps around never get much colder than -20 at the worst, but I thought it was interesting that they recommend a second fluid. Now I would have though that 7w-140 would be thicker than an 80w-90, but I guess not.

So you think 75w-90 would be compatible with 80w-90 ?, I'd hate to mess things up if they aren't. thanks for the replies.

Joey

 

[Brett Miller]

75W-90 is fully compatible with 80W-90.

 

[Idrinkmotoroil]

thanks for the reply Brett Miller, how about one more question ? - is 75w-90 any better than 80w-90 or would they be about the same ?

thanks

 

[ebaker]

Generally 75w90 will shift better when it's cold.

 

[Idrinkmotoroil]

thanks again, I'll probably check out Redline's 75-90 or Amsoil's. I appreciate the info.

 

[Brett Miller]

If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that Amsoil state the Severe Gear 75W-90 was superior to their own 80W-90. You can use it with complete confidence.

 

[par]

just kidding. I've gone full route with synthetic 75-90 versus dino 80-90 and decided to stick with the dino since the diff seems quieter and also I am comfortable doing yearly fluid changes or more ofter if I submerge the rear end of my Tacoma.