Best gearbox oil for 1.9 jtd (castrol)?

[ZandO]

Hi

I have read that people got Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle 75-90, in their cars here in forums and it has helped improve gearchange.
I serviced my car here by a local mechanic, and I thought I would do the same but he wouldn't touch that oil as he said it was the wrong oil and i would ruin the gearbox. It was the yellow thick oil , he drained a little amount into a cup form the original oil and i was watery/purple/redish (auto oil).. So my question is what should we use in our transmissions? (it has to be castrol oil as I have used it in all of my cars with good results).

Castroll sugests Castrol Syntrans Transaxle 75W-90 , but it is rated as GL-4+ and in my manual form alfa it says GL-5 oil.??

Could anybody clear this up for me?

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...arbox-oil.html (best gearbox oil?????)

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...nge-cured.html (Stiff Gear Change Cured)

[lesken]

in mine they filled castrol 75-90 if i remember right. 2.2 liters in total. I have a 1.9 150hk.
Done at Alfa service workshop.

[ZandO]

Originally Posted by lesken

in mine they filled castrol 75-90 if i remember right. 2.2 liters in total.

What kind of castrol?

[lesken]

Castrol Syntrans Transaxle 75W-90 (Formerly TAF-X 75w-90) synthetic Transmission Fluid

[ZandO]

Originally Posted by lesken

Castrol Syntrans Transaxle 75W-90 (Formerly TAF-X 75w-90) synthetic Transmission Fluid

Ok its the same as castrol recommends.Do you feel any improvement in gear change over the old oil? It's purple color or?

[Buzbox]

Originally Posted by ZandO

...but he wouldn't touch that oil as he said it was the wrong oil and i would ruin the gearbox...

I wonder how wrong an oil would need to be to "ruin the gearbox"? I've got 3 litres of Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle 75W-90 waiting to go into my 159 gearbox just as soon as I can figure out how to get the darn filler nut undone (it is tight beyond belief and I had to give up this weekend after bending more knuckles than I thought would be required). I've not yet seen any posts warning to steer clear of this specific oil - quite the contrary - so I'd love to know if anyone really knows why there might be a technical reason why this oil should be avoided.

[JON156VELOCE]

Any branded 75w 90 oil will be fine.
Remember to make sure you can get access to and undo the filler plug before draining the old oil out.
There is different oil quantities listed for the manual gearbox varying between 2.4 and 2.8 liters, I put 2.5 liters of Comma oil in mine, the filler plug is under the battery tray, not the plug half way up on the front of the box

[ZandO]

Originally Posted by Buzbox

I wonder how wrong an oil would need to be to "ruin the gearbox"? I've got 3 litres of Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle 75W-90 waiting to go into my 159 gearbox just as soon as I can figure out how to get the darn filler nut undone (it is tight beyond belief and I had to give up this weekend after bending more knuckles than I thought would be required). I've not yet seen any posts warning to steer clear of this specific oil - quite the contrary - so I'd love to know if anyone really knows why there might be a technical reason why this oil should be avoided.

Oil that behaves like water and oli that is "creamy" cannot be without significance when it's in gearbox? I mean components are designed for specific type of oil.... Auto gearbox cannot run on "regular" oil....

I seem to hear the mechanic was talking of removing the bolt on top of the gearbox not on the side...Under the battery tray.... He had some "data" program and there was picture of gearbox with a big fat red X on the big nut from side....

[lesken]

Originally Posted by ZandO

Ok its the same as castrol recommends.Do you feel any improvement in gear change over the old oil? It's purple color or?

Haven't seen the color, cause they filled it up after changing gearbox at Alfa service.
The gears feels good and normal.

[ZandO]

I called Alfa and they said as long it meets requirements API GL 4 and 75W-85 or above it will be ok. API GL 5 is also ok. The original oil is read color but it is an Italian thing. I filled her up with Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle 75W-90 as originally planned . After some miles I can report that car shifts better. I couldn't feel the change rigt away but it gets better and better over time and I feel that it shifts now how it it designed to shift. So out with the nasty Tutela oil....

[159_kid]

Ive got 3 ltrs of 75 90w gl5 castrol to go in my 1.9 over the weekend. Point noted about ensuring i can remove the filler plug first before draining the oil

[156taxi]

Castrol universal gear oil 75/90 used to be syntrans, is the best for your 159. We run 159's as taxis and the first thing we do when we get them is drain all the nasty Tuttella oils and and refill with Castrol oils.If it can work in a high mileage cab imagine what it will do in your car, the 'notchy' gear change won't go straight away but after 2-4 weeks it will hardly be noticeable. We get all our Castrol products mail order from opie oils.co.uk, they are very good, hope this helps cheers Steve.

[156taxi]

Just noticed you say your going to put 3 litres of oil in your gearbox, thats too much we usually put in about 2.2 litres, to be on the safe side measure what you drain out of the box before you refill. Cheers Steve

[159_kid]

Thanks for the tip steve on fill level. Do u run 1.9s?

[ZandO]

Originally Posted by 156taxi

Just noticed you say your going to put 3 litres of oil in your gearbox, thats too much we usually put in about 2.2 litres, to be on the safe side measure what you drain out of the box before you refill. Cheers Steve

Alfa said 2.3L in 1.9 but i used 2.4L just to be on the safe side.

[156taxi]

just got in from work missed your last post 159 kid, yes used to have 159 2.4 taxi now got the 1.9 much better suited for the job, still can't bear to part company from my first Alfa taxi an old 156 its still on the drive. Every time I take it out for a spin I get all sentimental! Let me know how you get on with the oil change, cheers Steve

[garbancillo]

Would anyone recommend Castrol Syntrans 75w90 for a 3.2 JTS Q4? I feel also stiff gearshifting from 1st to 2nd, particularly with outdoor low temperature and want to correct in some way. My service workshop says that it is better to stick to 75w85 but I foung nothing "reliable" in API GL4 with such SAE classification and 100% fully synthetic, other than the "average" Tutela car matryx recommended by Alfa.

[JON156VELOCE]

Since my earlier post I've changed from the comma oil to redline mt90 and its made a big improvement to the gear change, no notchines now

[ZandO]

Originally Posted by JON156VELOCE

Since my earlier post I've changed from the comma oil to redline mt90 and its made a big improvement to the gear change, no notchines now

Great news. It just confirms how nasty selenia oil is. I have also noticed a big improvement with castrol oil. This post should be a sticky....

[Unkle Munkle]

Originally Posted by JON156VELOCE

Any branded 75w 90 oil will be fine.
Remember to make sure you can get access to and undo the filler plug before draining the old oil out.
There is different oil quantities listed for the manual gearbox varying between 2.4 and 2.8 liters, I put 2.5 liters of Comma oil in mine, the filler plug is under the battery tray, not the plug half way up on the front of the box

Did a gearbox oil change with the service last weekend. We refilled using the plug half way up the front of the box until it dripped out. Gearbox feels fine - have we made a terrible mistake or am I being paranoid? Am sure plenty of oil went in...