Me again, 97Ranger- Gear Lube In Trans
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Me again, 97Ranger- Gear Lube In Trans
Well guys- I found out why my shifting has been so hard-
My stepdad wanted to bet me his entire paycheck I had a new clutch put in at some point(Still original) However- I went and did what you done told me to do-
I went to drain the trans fluid and got some Mercon 5 to replace it- And the damn thing had GEAR LUBE IN IT!!!... Who in their right mind does this these days? Maybe 30 years ago but these manual trans are alluminum with very tight tolerances. Put fresh fluid in it and bam works like new.
My question is now- How much damage have I done to this clutch learning to drive it with gear lube in the trans?
Any help, again, would be appreciated. Thanks....
97Ranger 2.3L (monster!) 5speed.
My stepdad wanted to bet me his entire paycheck I had a new clutch put in at some point(Still original) However- I went and did what you done told me to do-
I went to drain the trans fluid and got some Mercon 5 to replace it- And the damn thing had GEAR LUBE IN IT!!!... Who in their right mind does this these days? Maybe 30 years ago but these manual trans are alluminum with very tight tolerances. Put fresh fluid in it and bam works like new.
My question is now- How much damage have I done to this clutch learning to drive it with gear lube in the trans?
Any help, again, would be appreciated. Thanks....
97Ranger 2.3L (monster!) 5speed.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: suburban atlanta
You might want to make sure that Mercon is the recommended lube. Different things were used, with different viscosity. I remember a post here or on rangerstation about mixing gear lube with ATF of some sort, the proportions are somewhere on my computer, and producing the proper weight lube for the Ranger transmission, such as 85W90.
Check the owners manual to make sure Mercon will provide enough protection for the loads on the gear teeth, or you may end up with a nice shifting transmission, until the teeth start wearing and whining.
Just a suggestion...
tom
Check the owners manual to make sure Mercon will provide enough protection for the loads on the gear teeth, or you may end up with a nice shifting transmission, until the teeth start wearing and whining.
Just a suggestion...
tom
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yea i went to pull the plug again to remove any excess and it still wreaks of gear lube-
So yea I will listen to your advice once again, and drain it and refill in a few weeks. When I have the cash or miss a child support payment
I don't care what anyone says about this kind of matter-
You don't put gear lube in your tranny unless its like a 1970 or older truck- Sure it might work but its just not designed to work as intended- I could barely get my truck to shift into 2nd gear at 15mph with the gear lube- Back in the day they used to put sawdust in tranny's to quiet them down- But we are very much advanced from those days...
Thanks again for free advice thats keepin me runnin on the road-
Peace
Now she will drop into 2nd at 40mph if i pull the clutch- so im very much satisfied-
So yea I will listen to your advice once again, and drain it and refill in a few weeks. When I have the cash or miss a child support payment
I don't care what anyone says about this kind of matter-
You don't put gear lube in your tranny unless its like a 1970 or older truck- Sure it might work but its just not designed to work as intended- I could barely get my truck to shift into 2nd gear at 15mph with the gear lube- Back in the day they used to put sawdust in tranny's to quiet them down- But we are very much advanced from those days...
Thanks again for free advice thats keepin me runnin on the road-
Peace
Now she will drop into 2nd at 40mph if i pull the clutch- so im very much satisfied-
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Boston, MA
I was running coastal mercon($11 for 5 Gal). Then I switched to castrol mercon V. The mercon V makes the tranny shift smoother. I did read in a few places that the reguler Mercon has more additives and detergents in it . The reguler mercon might be better and cheaper to run in the tranny a few times to clean out the old oil. a 5 gal jug and 1 quart will do 2 changes.....
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: suburban atlanta
97rangerftw: "...You don't put gear lube in your tranny unless its like a 1970 or older truck- Sure it might work but its just not designed to work as intended..."
You are incorrect.
tom
You are incorrect.
tom
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
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From: Lost
Gear lube in a trans depends on trans design, not year of origin. My 1990 Nissan truck uses 75W gear lube, while my RX7 uses 90W.
Both are considerably newer than 1970......
Both are considerably newer than 1970......
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Cargo Master
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I had a Zf 5 speed come in that won't shift and it was due to being filled with gear oil. I drain it and then filled it with diesel and ran it at idle for a few minutes in neutral. Then drained that and let it drain completely (30 mins) then refilled with Mercon. It never had ant more issues.
You really want to read the owners manual and identify your particular transmision to ascertain which fluid it uses. Ford pretty much uses ATF across the board. But they did still use 80-90w well into the 80's for sure I had an 1984 F-150 that had a NP435 that used 80-90w. And other manufactures still use it today. If your trans does call for 80-90W read the specs very carefull as to grade of 80-90w a lot of gl-5 gear oils contain sulfur which will eat brass syncronizers. Chrysler (jeep owners) found out the hard way.
You really want to read the owners manual and identify your particular transmision to ascertain which fluid it uses. Ford pretty much uses ATF across the board. But they did still use 80-90w well into the 80's for sure I had an 1984 F-150 that had a NP435 that used 80-90w. And other manufactures still use it today. If your trans does call for 80-90W read the specs very carefull as to grade of 80-90w a lot of gl-5 gear oils contain sulfur which will eat brass syncronizers. Chrysler (jeep owners) found out the hard way.
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ok so I might be incorrect on newer models that still think you should use gear lube for a transmission-
But I'm only 26- And.. I'm not all that incorrect- If I bought a vehicle that said to put gear lube in my manual trans the first thing I would do is find out what kind of synthetic I could replace it with-
Gear lube has absolutely NO viscosity - its like syrup on a pancake and a transmission needs that fluid to splash around- Gear lube doesn't splash anywhere when its -20degrees outside- There are a million sites with a million posts about why their trans wont operate or shift into gears and truth be told its usually gear lube.
Now in terms of 5 gallons and 1 quart to fill my manual transmission --
2 pints is a quart- 4 quarts in a gallon- 5 gal would actually replace my fluid nearly 5 times- Mazda Trans takes 5.6Pints or roughly 3 quarts. and really once its warmed up and you pull the fill plug its more like 5 and 1/2pints because you can't fit a funnel under the damn thing in your driveway and be on a level plane all at the same time. I had to take a cap off a bottle and cut the top and squirt it in there-
Either way, I solved my problem- On to the next one.
But I'm only 26- And.. I'm not all that incorrect- If I bought a vehicle that said to put gear lube in my manual trans the first thing I would do is find out what kind of synthetic I could replace it with-
Gear lube has absolutely NO viscosity - its like syrup on a pancake and a transmission needs that fluid to splash around- Gear lube doesn't splash anywhere when its -20degrees outside- There are a million sites with a million posts about why their trans wont operate or shift into gears and truth be told its usually gear lube.
Now in terms of 5 gallons and 1 quart to fill my manual transmission --
2 pints is a quart- 4 quarts in a gallon- 5 gal would actually replace my fluid nearly 5 times- Mazda Trans takes 5.6Pints or roughly 3 quarts. and really once its warmed up and you pull the fill plug its more like 5 and 1/2pints because you can't fit a funnel under the damn thing in your driveway and be on a level plane all at the same time. I had to take a cap off a bottle and cut the top and squirt it in there-
Either way, I solved my problem- On to the next one.
Cargo Master
Joined: May 2001
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Yep the ranger tranny holds just shy of 3 qts. Any place that sells boat supplies (wal-mart) sells a small hand pump used to put oil in lower units that works very well for pumping fluid out of 1 qt containers into things like the Ranger tranny. As for draining the tranny if nothing else cut the side out of a gallon anit-freeze jug makes a good catch pan. The 75 to 140 gear oil that is sold today has an actual viscosity of 40 weight. The atf that is recommended in the Ranger trannys is a 5-10 weight oil and yes if flows very well when cold but it does not have the lubrication properties of 75-90 gear oil, but apparently enough to keep the trannies from burning up. Synthetic fluids handle higher temps and shear loads better then regular mineral oil and cost 2-3x more it probably more important to change the fluid then to worry about wether to use syn or dino mercon/dexatron
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