4200 Gearbox Oil Change - What Oil?

Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Opie oils recommended Motul one for me as well so have used it for past 8 years (can’t believe it’s that many years now!?) without any problems...

yet!
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,656
According to Tim @OpieOils...

See here, an extract from the Lamborghini forum (found here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=68&t=1752379) where he offers an insight into the Rotra LSX...(It's for tractors...lol)


The synchros in a gearbox want a GL4 oil, but the diff wants a GL5 as the GL4 level of additives help to slow the synchros for changes. The diff wants the GL5 level of pressure additives to protect due to the high pressure generated in the diff.

I spoke to one of the oil companies a while ago about the Rotra LSX as it was something I hadn't heard of and when I was searching for it, it was listing commercial vehicles. It turns out that the Rotra LSX is primarily aimed at heavy off road vehicles, like the big dumper trucks used in quarries, rather than high performance cars.

The two oils I would look at using are the Motul Gear 300 or Red Line 75w-90NS (rather than the MT90 as it is a GL5, but aimed at gearbox use). Those two oils are very well proven in Porsche and Ferraris, where the oil is shared between the gearbox and diff. There are a couple of Gallardos I can think of that use it as well.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-899-motul-gear-300-75...
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-1017-red-line-synthet...

In most cases, they work fine and do not need any additional friction modifier, but if your diff is noisy, I suspect it will need the modifier and the Red Line one is ideal.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-6320-red-line-limited...

You need to be careful with the friction modifier, too much will lead to the diff slipping more than you want and it will prevent the synchros from slowing enough, leading to poor changes. Too little modifier and it will still be noisy and the diff too keen to lock up. I would add it a quarter of a bottle at a time, then take the car out and test it, so you will find the correct level. That's basically how the Pakelo stuff would work (although I have no idea about their oils, we don't get them over here to my knowledge).
 

tulit

Member
Messages
110
Yup. I personally don't believe a straight up GL4 is a good choice. You need to find a GL5 that is mainly yellow metal safe. The redline (maybe hard to find in the UK?) and the Motul seem to fit the bill.

Sent from my SM-A515W using Tapatalk
 

Eightpot

Junior Member
Messages
35
Update: this is an awful job and if it goes wrong (i.e. the filter breaks apart) can take ages. I ended up drilling mine out, had to buy a bunch of hole making drills and all sorts of tools. I am all for DIY but this is one I wished I had taken to an indy. If I ever tackle this job again, I might have tried something like a corkscrew into the filter.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
One other little tip, it the filter breaks or separates in two, you can go up the drain hole with a pic tool and push it from behind.
 

exporschdrivr

Junior Member
Messages
98
So, is the Motul 75W-90 LS the right one or not? The availability of this oil here in Germany is good, way bether than the Redline...
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
It’s the right grade complies with GL4 (as per the manual) and is suitable for limited slip diffs. So it will certainly do the job.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
One other tip I’ve learnt the hard way go very easy when tightening the sump nut up they are very easy to strip the threads. Fortunately it’s just the plug that threads so you can get a new one.

Make sure you pull all the threads out the gearbox thread with a pic tool.

Just tighten a bit less than you would think.
 

Hexadex

Member
Messages
827
Just got around to changing my gear box oil filter. The filter is stamped 04 so would I be right in assuming it’s the original one? Bearing in mind it was professionally serviced until a couple of years ago.
 

Attachments

  • A7E57E72-AF32-44DE-BADA-27643169F5E2.jpeg
    A7E57E72-AF32-44DE-BADA-27643169F5E2.jpeg
    115.3 KB · Views: 16
  • 10925C56-7B90-46AC-A7C5-AF6F43652638.jpeg
    10925C56-7B90-46AC-A7C5-AF6F43652638.jpeg
    98.5 KB · Views: 17
  • 57DA271A-6E30-4F38-8F6E-A7883CCA237E.jpeg
    57DA271A-6E30-4F38-8F6E-A7883CCA237E.jpeg
    129.3 KB · Views: 17
  • 3F71616C-6946-4568-94DF-F9D8426CF5D4.jpeg
    3F71616C-6946-4568-94DF-F9D8426CF5D4.jpeg
    73.4 KB · Views: 16
  • 871B002C-E7BC-4299-AB61-6466208A119D.jpeg
    871B002C-E7BC-4299-AB61-6466208A119D.jpeg
    169 KB · Views: 15

Gp79

Member
Messages
1,393
Just got around to changing my gear box oil filter. The filter is stamped 04 so would I be right in assuming it’s the original one? Bearing in mind it was professionally serviced until a couple of years ago.
Doesn’t look like that filter has been cleaned for a good while.
At least out in one piece.
Mine are all the old type but cleaned every 2yrs as per the book they come out easily.

50FF248D-D568-4F85-B9CF-B5E2468713E7.jpeg
 

maseratimike7

Member
Messages
364
Filter in one piece is great, this is what mine ended up like once out vs new!
fd1307c3af58591ae2c3b81064a74d68.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk