Gearbox Oil For Tran-x Diff.

[taylorspug 7]

Im fitting my Tran-X next week and just wondered what oil people have experience of using with them. My plan was to use the std gearbox oil, a few people seem to have done the same with no problems, and its cheap which is an added bonus! In the past ive used various Castrol oils in my VW (and now BMW) race car diffs and boxes, but im open to suggestions and opinions on alternatives.

[welshpug 1,621]

from the Tran-X website;

 

Recommended Lubricants

 

Product Code Recommended Oil Price

10668 MILLERS CRX LS 80W-90 £44.95

10670 MILLERS CRX TRANS/ LS 80W-140 1204 'BM' £74.25

 

which seems a fair bit thicker than what pug boxes run best on

Edited November 26, 2008 by welshpug

[philfingers 5]

Comma Semi Synthetic SX 75/90 is what i use in mine. About £22 for 5 ltrs from a trade suppliers. Seems to work ok.

[Alastairh 47]

I used standard stuff in my T16, but the gearbox later died, but that was more to do with too much power and right foot the way it died.

 

But i did ask the oil man on another forum a while back...

 

Well you find yourself with a conflict of interests in the gearbox, lsd but cannot us an lsd specific oil as it needs to be a synchromesh oil too.

 

The answer is to go for an oil that can do both, these are few and far between such as the Silkolene Syn5 75w-90 or the redline synthetic 75w-90.

 

Cheers

 

Guy.

 

Al

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

I can't give a REALLY technical answer, and I know James R is another who swears by the Tran-X and uses std gearbox oil, however, logic tells me that the plates need a product which prolongs their lives as do the synchros in the gearbox.

 

To me, these items are fairly disimilar, and I'm surprised to be honest that it's possible to run such items together sharing the same oil.

 

I have used both the Millers item listed above, standard and am currently on Silkolene Silktran Syn 5 which was recommended to me by these guys:

 

http://www.motoscope-online.co.uk/oil_products.htm

 

Very helpful, and I find that this product is slightly thicker than the Millers and gives better gear changes (i.e. it's looking after the synchros), and was about £12/ltr.

 

BTW, the Motoscope guys could've sold me either, but his experience told him the Silkolene was a better product (read: compromise). I like it.

Edited November 26, 2008 by DrSarty

[RonnieG 0]

I remember doing a fair amount of similar research earlier this year before I fitted both my Tran-X's. On balance I'm with James R on this one as there seemed to be a general steer away from synthetic gearbox oils which is also a view supported on the FAQ section of the Kaaz plate diff website -

 

What type of gear oil should I use for my Kaaz Limited Slip Differential ( LSD ) ?

 

KAAZ "PowerTrain Gear Oil" has been specially blended to remove chatter and extend the LSDs life. All-synthetic gear oils should be avoided as they will make the LSD, more noisy in operation.

 

The oil used in the LSD can also contribute to LSD chatter. Poor quality oils contain large amounts of tiny grains of metal which cause chattering. All-synthetic oils are also more likely to cause chattering in a mechanical LSD

 

I'm using the standard genuine Peugeot Total gearbox oil in both of mine and certainly happy so far...

[16v205 9]

I use normal gearbox oil in mine and have done so for a number of years without any issues. There was something a while back on 205 challenge about why not to use use the recommended oil, cant remember the exact reasons why but was related to the syncro's in the pug box's.

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

I'm sure Miles told me that a certain part(s) of the pug boxes are aluminium and therefore a synthetic oil would just eat it up over time. GSF don't stock the peugeot mineral oil last time I went to get some, they have replaced with semi or full synthetic. Comma do a mineral oil in the correct grade for peugeot boxes although whether its anygood for the LSD I havn't a clue.

[philfingers 5]

what you definately don't want to do is run a special LSD oil in a FWD box with LSD. It will wreck the sycnros

[Chris H 10]

I allways use Total BV 75w80 and thats running a 200 bhp Mi16

 

The shifting is fine, diff works great...never found the need to try something else.......especially at the price

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

Obvious choice would be what Trans X recommend, same as using the Kazz diff oil for there diffs. Even for running in.

 

That way if anything goes wrong with it during the warranty period they can't argue that the oil used is at fault.

 

Graham.

[taylorspug 7]

Ok, fair amount of experience with the standard oil there, and in all fairness from the small amount of research id done i was erring on this as the way to go. Im also concerned about the use of synthetic based oil in a gearbox not designed for it, so think i will steer clear of that option. At the end of the day if people have been running the diffs reliably for years using the standard oils (such as Rich and James), then i think thats a good indication im not going to have problems with it.

 

As for warranty the diff is a secondhand unit (albeit one with running in mileage on it) so not sure where i stand with that.

[pug_ham 240 3 Cars]

AFAIK the oil recommended by Kaaz for their diffs (& the oil they supply with them) is mineral based so maybe the semi synthetic's aren't all they are cracked up to be where LSD's are concerned.

 

Graham.

[taylorspug 7]

Yeah ive heard of a few problems with them in the past hence my OP to see what the general concensus was. I also dont see the logic in Tran-X producing a diff that effectively cant be used in the standard gearbox with the standard oil, surely the diff should be designed around the gearbox it is going into? And with the vast majority if not all BE boxes using the standard mineral based oil (to good effect aswell, ive certainly never had one issue related to gearbox oil grade), it would seem a little silly to design a diff that didnt work properly using this grade.