So I broke down and bought some MTL-R from SF.

[GarrettSocling]

I recently bought some MTL-R and here are my experiences using it.

Car: 2005 Toyota Corolla, 5 speed manual...


MTL history :

OEM fill : from 0 to 6300 miles
Good shift quality, only slightly notchy when down in the single digits. Normal clutch feel.

Costal 75W-90 : from 6300 to 7050 miles
Conventional GL4 or GL5 type oil. Normal clutch feel. Notchy below about 25'F when starting from cold, slightly worse than OEM at normal operating temps. Took a long time for the shift quality to degrade to steady-state.

SF MTL-R : from 7050 to 7400 miles
Synthetic GL4 oil. 'Different' clutch feel, almost like it releases sooner than it used to, especially upshifting, after about 250 miles. Good shift quality, improving daily. Still slightly notchy when starting around 25'F, but I suspect this will continue to improve.

I'll post updates if anything changes signifigantly.

Any recommendations on how long to leave MTL-R, being synthetic, in a transmission? 45,000? 60,000? 100,000? I don't race or anything, 1% 'city' miles, mostly country two lane.

G

 

[MolaKule]

Garret,

Was this for your manual transaxle?

I would say do a UOA if you can every 25,000 to 50,000 miles and if the fluid shows low wear, continue on to the next sample. This is the only way to determine how your tranny/fluid combo is going to perform.

Terry Dyson has close knowledge of this fluid and can help you determine the health of the fluid/tranny combo.

Sometimes a slightly lower viscosity fluid, such as the MTL-P with a GL5/4 add pack, can greatly improve cold weather shifting.

 

[cos]

I wonder why your clutch feels different. I recently drained Redline D4 ATF from my '99 Ford Escort transaxle (Mazda designed) after it was in use for 5 yrs and 54K miles. I installed SF MTL-P and the shifting is a bit better but the clutch feels exactly as it always has - excellent.

 

[GarrettSocling]

It is for my manual transmission, transaxle means the same thing?

I was considering the MTL-P, but I figured Toyota spec'ed a 75W-90 for a reason and went with MTL-R. I'm not worried about the notchiness when cold because it took a good 600 miles for the Coastal to 'degrade', so I figured the MTL-R would take about as long to 'improve'.

I really noticed the difference in clutch feel when cold (or the first few shifts), I couldn't quite place the sensation other than that I wasn't letting off the gas soon enough which is why I said that it seemed to be 'releasing sooner'. Either it only took me a minute to adjust, or it didn't happen warm, hard to tell

[ February 24, 2005, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: GarrettSocling ]

 

[cos]

Your Corolla is front wheel drive, so your axle and trans are one unit, hence the term - transaxle.

 

[GarrettSocling]

UPDATE: 7400 miles to 7800 miles
Shift quality is easily as good as the OEM fluid below 25'F, but have not had single digits to test out bottom end of range. With OEM fluid, I would sometimes have a bit of a problem getting into first, even with hot fluid. I don't notice this at all, and am quite pleased because I was hoping that a high-quality synthetic WOULD improve this second to first shift.


I'll get a used oil analysis done around 50,000 miles. Blackstone is just as competent at transmission fluid as they are with engine oil? Other labs more highly recommended?

Garrett