I went to Autozone looking for some gl-4 gear oil for my transmission and I couldnt find any at all, all they had was (gl-5,gl-4,gl-3)compatible gear oil. I asked someone that works there and they told me that the gl-5,gl-4,gl-3 one they had would work just fine in our transmission. I just need some feedback, is it ok if i use this oil instead of the gl-4 only oil?

 

im no senior member or anything,,,actually im new here too, just got a maxima a couple of months ago and have been on here just about everyday since....i searched for a long long time on this and from what i have read you dont want to use the gl4 gl5 ect blends....you only want straight gl4....i guess there is dino" old school regular "dont know where you would get it " and then most people say redline mt or amsoil.....i ended up going with the amsoil ... you can get it from a member on here pretty cheap shipped....just do a search for amsoil gear oil....and make sure you choose relevancy when your searching that should help out alot....I didnt know that for a while.....Now i haven't put it in my car yet because im getting cv axles next week and I dont wanna lose any when those are changed. ...but i actually found a local dealer in my area....googled it........however i think it was cheaper from the guy on here ...his name is talking horse or something....again just search amsoil gear oil and you'll find him.....you want 75w 90 i do believe....and gl4 only says it right on the bottle.

 

GL-4 ONLY !!!!!!!


GL-5 will eat the syncorz in the trans. It's also thicker, heavier, and has different heat tollerances. GL-3 is not adiquit either - again, different heat toll.

You can use any old GL-4, of course reccomended is as stated above - Amsoil, or Redline (or Royal Purple is also a popular one here). You can look at other auto parts stores, but you might be better off ($$ wise) to order what you'll need. You will need 5 qts - only uses 4.5 though.

Out of total curiosity - why do you need MT oil ???? Leaking ???

You can see the link in my sig for more 'detailed' trans issues. It's my write up on rebuilding / R+R / + clutch job.

 

Use straight GL4 gear oil, not one of those blends and change it every 30,000 miles. Synthetic gear oil should be good for 50 - 60 k.

Not sure if there are Pennzoil lube joints where you are but in British Columbia they carry straight GL4. The stealerships don't even carry straight GL4 locally.

 

Read this thread. the part numbers will work anywhere sta-lube is sold.
http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...gl-4-dino.html

 

Hey OP, I put Redline in my transmission at 100k and it's been amazing. No leaks to speak of, and if anything my shifts have gotten smoother. I would 110% recommend it. I had to go to a smaller, less nationally known car store to get it.

It's worth the extra time and effort to get a good synthetic. It's been amazing. . I'm now at 154k and it's still as smooth as when I first put it in.

 

contact talkinghorse

 

GL-4 synthetic man. I got it and shifts are smooth. haynes and FSM say to replace fluid every 30k

 

Back in the day went I decided to switch to a synthetic gear oil, I chose Amsoil.
When replacing a clutch a drained it andcouldnt find any Amsoil local so I put in the Redline. I noticed a difference immediatly. My shifts werent as smooth as they were with the Amsoil. A few weeks later I went back to the Amsoil and have used it ever since.
As mentioned before Talking horse will give you a great price on the Amsoil.

 

you can use GL5, but you'll wear out your synchros faster. we actually used to OK it for use in GL4 transmissions that were going to see heavy duty racing applications. it protects the gears better because it has significantly more EP agents in it. but those EP agents will also wear out soft metal synchros faster (specifically how much faster I don't know, but we only recommended it for use in transmissions where the act of racing itself would wear out the synchros quickly anyways, necessitating rebuilds and replacement of those synchros more often than a street car would need).

in short, you can use it but there's no reason to in a street car. just get some regular GL4.

 

im using redline and i beat the crap out this car every day like its a freakin formula one race car i rip the gears clean out of the tranny. never had a problem.....however i dont recomend it cause i dont care if this car dies it will be a reason to get a new one LOL !

 

Agreed! Amsoil is what I have been using as well - got it from Talking Horse in fact. He will give you a good deal and it really is the way to go.

Nealoc - interesting thought on the GL-5 in a 'racing' application. I would be sort of curious (to a degree) to find out how much quicker the 5 breaks down the brass of the syncroz. This sounds like a job for Mythbusters! Let's call em'. hehehehe

 

Okay, so everyone has recommended GL-4, but I need to know if it's the 75W-90 or 80W-90, etc?

Can someone please tell me the factory recommended type?

 

The FSM for the '99 Maxima states 80W-90.

 

Thanks, but I have a 97. I'm assuming the Trans are the same (97-99)?

Can someone please verify this?

 

All 4th gen 5MT open-diff transmissions are the same, the RS5F05A. The VLSD trans is the RS5F05V.

DO NOT use GL-5 if you like your synchros. The additives will form too strong of a sacrificial bond with the soft metals (brass synchros) in your transmission and slowly degrade them. Good reading for this subject: http://www.widman.biz/uploads/Transaxle_oil.pdf

 

75w-90 red line mt-90, or amsoil mtg is want you want. Or you can can just go with the dino version from napa, sta-lube iirc. Just make sure it's GL-4 only.

 

Thanks guys, this was very helpful.

I think I will go with the Amsoil GT-4, 75W-90.

 

Alright, I've just changed the Trans fluid (Amsoil 75W-90) for my 5 speed.

I have no idea why, but now shifting into 2nd is not smooth at all. I thought maybe if the trans would get warmer this hard shifting would go way, but no.

Anyone else having this issue?

 

i've found a few mom and pops shops around here in socal that sell straight gl4, its made by crc iirc...

kinda ot.. when i used to work in a shop as a lube tech, we would put gl5 or whatever was cheapest into cutomer cars. Also sometimes 20w50 motor oil. No ill effects..

 

yo man...only factory recommended fluids from my car

 

Just put amsoil 75W-90 in too about a month ago at almost 140K miles. All my shifts got smoother, although still stiff, but thats probably because of the STS.

 

aaaand that's why cars should not be taken to shops like that...

 

lol thats one of the reasons i quit working there..

 

can you use RP SYNCHROMAX – MANUAL TRANSMISSION FLUID?????

 

Don't know that brand. Why not look on the Redline website to see which product they recommend and just buy their good synthetic oil. It is intended for GL-4. It works quite well. Others have used it. Why re-invent the wheel?

 

Contact member Talkinghorse he is an Amsoil distributor and will get you the correct lube at our member price. There is a note in the group buys section about it.

Here's a link below.

https://maxima.org/forums/group-deal...available.html

:

 

+1 for the amsoil, it's butter

 

ik its old, but did your problem get worse? Did you ever solve the problem?