gearbox problems

Submitted: Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 00:13

ThreadID: 105373 Views:2005 Replies:5 FollowUps:4

This Thread has been Archived

exmouth1

G, day all, I have a 2008 V8 troopy diesel
When cold it is very hard to get into gear. When changing from 1st gear to second it takes some effort to change. Also when going from second back to first it is also very stiff. It is ok in all other gear changes ie from second to third and third to fourth.
When it warms up it is not a problem.
My local mechanic changed the oil in the box a while back but lately it has seemed to have gotten worse.
Is this a common problem or do you learned people think that I may have bent selectors or something more sinister?
By the way it has now done about 230000 ks
Cheers
John

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: customline - Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 04:35

Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 04:35

G'day Exmouth1,if this problem has just started since the oil was changed it seems that the "OIL" is too heavy. Change to a lighter grade of oil as per the owners manual .Let us know how you get on .

AnswerID: 522577

Reply By: braggy - Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 07:43

Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 07:43

Hi John
There is a bit about this on the LCOOL site,
seems a change of oil (as metioned) helps fix that.

Cheers Ken

AnswerID: 522579

Reply By: Member - Jack - Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 08:01

Thursday, Dec 05, 2013 at 08:01

LCool have some info on this which suggests using Castrol VMX-M 85/95 oil. I tried it and it worked for me. I have a 1991 Landcruiser.

Jack

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

Member
My Profile Send Message

AnswerID: 522580

Reply By: The Bantam - Friday, Dec 06, 2013 at 23:19

Friday, Dec 06, 2013 at 23:19

This is a very common problem and has been since 5 speed boxes introduced over 30 years ago.

Still some mechanics are not up withe the game. still some mechanics think they can put 80/90 gear oil in the gear box.

Most of the light to medium 5 speed gear boxes run a light viscosity gearbox oil.

Castrol VMX 80 commonly fits the bill...in both the gearbox and transfer case...there is a great deal of difference between VMX 80 and 80/90 gear.

I not a great lover of Castrol, but I keep comming back to their gear oils after being disapointed by others.

In fact before light viscosity gear oils where commonly available ordinary engine oil was often recommended.

VMX 80 is runny about the viscosity of 30 weight engine oil when cold.

Put oil that is too heavy in a gearbox and it will drive like a pig.

Don't worry the fix is cheap and easy.

Ya not the first and you wont be the last to have thiis problem.

cheers

AnswerID: 522684

Follow Up By: The Bantam - Friday, Dec 06, 2013 at 23:21

Friday, Dec 06, 2013 at 23:21

Oh btw.....VMX80 and VMX-M are very close together...slight differences....your gearbox my like one better than the other......both will work way better than "the wrong oil"

cheers

FollowupID: 803819

Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Monday, Dec 09, 2013 at 08:02

Monday, Dec 09, 2013 at 08:02

When I spoke to a Castrol engineer before I put their oil in mine, he told me that the "M" meant it had been designed for a "Mitsubishi". I cannot recall which model, but he told me it was different to the "standard" VMX80.
Jack

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

Member
My Profile Send Message

FollowupID: 803939

Follow Up By: The Bantam - Monday, Dec 09, 2013 at 21:40

Monday, Dec 09, 2013 at 21:40

As I said VMX80 and VMX-m are very similar....from memory M is slightly different in viscosity...and yes it was designed for mitsubishi gearboxes..

Also as I said.....some people seem to think their particular gearboxes run slightly better on one or the other.

When these 5 speed boxes get a bit of age under them that can get a little quirky, particularly in the syncros.

picking the oil that suits the best, can often either save the need or at least delay the need for a rebuild.

Other otions include engine oil and auto transmission fluid.....all very similar viscosities to light viscosity gearbox oil wit slightly different behaviours

My old L300 van that had lots of miles under it.....toward the end seemed to like engine oil.

Oh and before someoen says that engine oil is not gear oil....yeh well there are a a few engine oils out there that actually have been acredited for gear applications.
Like some of the diesel spec oils.

cheers

FollowupID: 803996