[Good2Go]

Originally Posted by Engmus

I can't believe someone called Amsoil and Motul snake oils. =l

I'm not bashing Motul and Amsoil. I think they make good proven products. I called them snake oils because you can usually only get them by mail order and not at your local parts store. I don't know whay these companies have chosen not to use normal retail channels. I am always initially very skeptical about mail order only products.

[005sti]

Originally Posted by Good2Go

Anyone have experience with commonly available synthetic oils like Mobil 1 75W90 or Valvoline 75W90 Synpower? These meet all the required specs and are available off the shelf. Might be very good options compared to the more exotic snake oils discussed so far.

the valvoline synpower works beautifully for me x 2 fluid changes (for the tranny)...I use the oem lsd rear diff stuff!

[Turninconcepts.com]

Originally Posted by Good2Go

I'm not bashing Motul and Amsoil. I think they make good proven products. I called them snake oils because you can usually only get them by mail order and not at your local parts store. I don't know whay these companies have chosen not to use normal retail channels. I am always initially very skeptical about mail order only products.

Just because Motul and Amsoil's normal retail channels do not include autozone or pepboys does not make it a snake oil. Their normal retail channels are companies that tend to focus more on the performance aspect of automobiles.

[dsm02c]

I have been using the gear 300 for the last 7k miles and really like it... Always drop the pan when you are changing gear oli.... IMHO.

[CoaSTI]

I'll be changing my trans fluid next week and plan on using the Amsoil SVG and found this post on another forum, the guy works for SOA, so now what do I us? I already bought the AMSOIL, any suggestions/ideas?

*QUOTE*Ladies and gentleman if you have STi six speeds I would highly recommend NOT using Synthetic oils in your Transmissions. The trans was designed to work with Standard GL-5 gear oils. Putting synthetic slip modifiers in your trans WILL cause your trans to fail prematurely. Synthetics are actually to slippery for the syncros and will throw off the timing and cause them to grind and fail. I worked with the initial 6MT rebuilding project a bit and I can tell you synthetic oil was one of the biggest causes of failure. My recommendation is to stick with a good GL-5 75-90w gear oil.*QUOTE*

[Turninconcepts.com]

Originally Posted by CoaSTI

I'll be changing my trans fluid next week and plan on using the Amsoil SVG and found this post on another forum, the guy works for SOA, so now what do I us? I already bought the AMSOIL, any suggestions/ideas?

*QUOTE*Ladies and gentleman if you have STi six speeds I would highly recommend NOT using Synthetic oils in your Transmissions. The trans was designed to work with Standard GL-5 gear oils. Putting synthetic slip modifiers in your trans WILL cause your trans to fail prematurely. Synthetics are actually to slippery for the syncros and will throw off the timing and cause them to grind and fail. I worked with the initial 6MT rebuilding project a bit and I can tell you synthetic oil was one of the biggest causes of failure. My recommendation is to stick with a good GL-5 75-90w gear oil.*QUOTE*

I'm not being a jerk here, just looking for clarification. There are a TON of synthetic GL-5 oils out there, and since the owners manual makes NO distinction on synthetic I'm having a really hard time swallowing this.

Please have your contact name brands that they approve of, and have had good luck with.

Until then I'm gonna stick with what we've learned through lots of trial and error.

[CoaSTI]

Originally Posted by Turninconcepts.com

I'm not being a jerk here, just looking for clarification. There are a TON of synthetic GL-5 oils out there, and since the owners manual makes NO distinction on synthetic I'm having a really hard time swallowing this.

Please have your contact name brands that they approve of, and have had good luck with.

Until then I'm gonna stick with what we've learned through lots of trial and error.

I understand, I've read nothing but good things about Amsoil SVG and couldn't find anything bad about running synthetic myself. I'll try and get some more info from him. Here's the link to the thread if anyone interested.
http://awdm.net/index.php?topic=143.0

[hoffit]

I run Amsoil SVG and I can tell you that it makes the synchros work harder. What I did to correct that is use 1 qt Amsoil synchromesh in lieu of 1 qt of SVG and it shifts better than it ever has.

[kursplat]

Originally Posted by CoaSTI

*QUOTE*Ladies and gentleman if you have STi six speeds I would highly recommend NOT using Synthetic oils in your Transmissions. The trans was designed to work with Standard GL-5 gear oils. Putting synthetic slip modifiers in your trans WILL cause your trans to fail prematurely. Synthetics are actually to slippery for the syncros and will throw off the timing and cause them to grind and fail. I worked with the initial 6MT rebuilding project a bit and I can tell you synthetic oil was one of the biggest causes of failure. My recommendation is to stick with a good GL-5 75-90w gear oil.*QUOTE*

nice, since a Senior Master Technician at Sherman Oaks Subaru just recommended synthetic trans oil to try and clear up an intermittent 5th gear grind i'm getting. they even sell it (i forget the brand)
oh well, Motul will be here end of the week

[wdb]

Don't be afraid of Motul. Experience trumps hearsay every time, and there is a ton of experience with Motul on this forum that says it works fine. I changed mine about 7K miles ago and the synchros are definitely working less hard than they were before the change. I would recommend it to anyone.

There is also experience on this forum that says certain other synthetic oils are not a good match for the 6MT, so the Subie Tech is not wrong; the error is in making it a blanket statement covering all synthetics.

[Wtfmateim65]

i have 3500 miles on my car, and grinding in 2nd and 4th sometimes 3rd and 5th pretty much since i've had it.

how often are you supposed to change trans oil?

should i change my trans oil now at only 3500 miles and see if it cures the prob?

i would have the dealer check the syncros but they said theyd keep it for a week and strip the transmission so that is a last resort. i also dont want to risk them blaming it on my stage 2 setup.

i was thinking motul 300 like clint reccommended or the subaru extra-s

???

[fullerton]

Originally Posted by Wtfmateim65

...

i was thinking motul 300 like clint reccommended or the subaru extra-s

???

Well, the Subaru Extra-S should already be in there.

You could always siphon out a quart of the current fluid and add in a Syncromesh to see if that helps. BUT, I'd be worried that a new car is grinding already...

[Wtfmateim65]

wait they come with the extra-s? i thought it was some other generic oil the dealer gets in 50 gallon drums?
well it seems like grinding is a pretty common problem. maybe my fluid was low from the dealer im gonna check hah.

by 'a syncromesh' do you mean penzoil syncromesh or any synthetic like motul 300?

how many quarts does the tranny take and what is the normal oil change interval?


thanks a lot man

[fullerton]

The tranny comes filled from the factory. I would assume they fill it with extra-s there.

It holds about 4.3 quarts (at least the 05 does).

Fluid has been known to come low from the factory. Check it ASAP.

Change interval is 30,000 miles. Sooner if you track it and/or drive hard.

Penzoil Syncromesh is ok to use. Do NOT overfill.

[Turninconcepts.com]

Originally Posted by Wtfmateim65

i have 3500 miles on my car, and grinding in 2nd and 4th sometimes 3rd and 5th pretty much since i've had it.

how often are you supposed to change trans oil?

should i change my trans oil now at only 3500 miles and see if it cures the prob?

i would have the dealer check the syncros but they said theyd keep it for a week and strip the transmission so that is a last resort. i also dont want to risk them blaming it on my stage 2 setup.

i was thinking motul 300 like clint reccommended or the subaru extra-s

???

Stop futzing with fluids if you're grinding with 3500. Go straight to the dealer, and have them fix it. Your car should not be doing that.