Changing manual transmission fluid

[Bruce Bartlow]

Also, @Bruce Bartlow is quite knowledgeable about lubricants in general.

Did i miss an Amsoil discussion...darn. Will look back to see if I can add anything. (Been in the process of moving to NC... apologize for not checking in more often)

I really try not to bash what is generally a superior synthetic, but in today's world the value proposition just isn't there, outside the racing circuit perhaps... or those who hyper extend oil change intervals.

In addition to the MTF debacle itself, the Amsoil "warranty" was the biggest disappointment of that experience. But after spending an entire week at Amsoil corporate and having lunch everyday with Amsoil brass, I shouldn't have been surprised. Old man AJ (the fighter pilot who started the company, a real perfectionist who insisted on the absolute BEST) was in the process of turning the company over to his very young son, Alan, and Alan's friend Dean, the bean counter. (btw, it was a week-long lube training conducted by an independent consultant by the name of "Bud_Weiser" (true) which of course means nobody at Amsoil had the expertise to do the training)

So yes, always agree with @squiggy, @webby and others who have have testified to the provably bad experiences with Amsoil MTF in an LSD. The warnings against using the MTF on an LSD were even right on the MTF label... so how in the world could they defend it?

Over at BITOG, seems the most vitriol comes from Amsoil dealers who would be hurt financially from our observations. But the pics don't lie, and neither does the UOA from two labs, although Blackstone's comments suggested that the 'next UOA might be better'. Great. With our transmissions on the line -- and literally self-destructing -- there was no way squiggy and i were going down that road.

 

[Bruce Bartlow]

At twice the cost of OEM is it really that much better?

If in doubt, use OEM. Don't assume aftermarket is necessarily better. When I was into high end lubes for Amsoil Industrial I was looking for sponsors/clients/customers and ran across a lead at the Redline facility nearby. OMG, what a mess. The entire warehouse was like a High School chemistry experiment gone wrong: Half empty bottles EVERYwhere, uncovered, testing equipment non-existent and management that was playing up the Redline name ("wanna buy some T-shirts?") instead of willing to discuss technical properties of their lubricants. Utterly disgusting. Haven't recommended Redline since. Perhaps mine was a one-off, and perhaps i'm too much the perfectionist... but Do Your Own DD. Eventually you'll be glad you did.

 

[Bruce Bartlow]

It's a continuous whine at any speed that increases pitch with vehicle speed. Gear or rpm don't play a difference, sounds like a truck with it's ring and pinion going bad. I'm a mechanic myself so I'll be doing my 3rd MTF change at 20k if I reach that before taking it in. The clutch fork also will start catching and popping after 10 min of driving and warming up, wont do it cold. Can feel the pedal bind up then release as an audible clack and feeling the the clutch fork pop when someone else actuates it and I'm down by the slave. Regardless of spirited driving the the trans doesn't seem right to me so yea topic for another thread. I'll try again with blackstone labs but last time I asked for 2 bottles for engine/trans and was ignored so I wasn't to happy to try again. Probably no big deal and no reason for it so I'll try again.

Not sure about your particular tranny issue. My comment is about Oil Analyzers.

OA used to be tied at the hip with Amsoil (not sure anymore) or at least was financed by them as a startup. At first (6- 7 yrs ago) OA still seemed legit b/c they were the ones who sounded the alarm for @squiggy and I about Amsoil MTF in LSD. It was a bad MTF for LSD, that's seems almost certain.... and OA basically said 'get your current MTF outta there'. (Either that or your brand new tranny was self-destructing for no reason)

As it turns out @squiggy and i decided to drain the Amsoil MTF and start over with OEM. No problems since, so turned out to be a great decision.

Good luck.. def get another UOA going, if you choose to wait that long.