Hah. We just pulled my tranny to put in new, much stronger gears and input shaft. The Redline had turned to a blue/green gritty paste on most of the gears and shaft and was beginning to plug up the oiling holes. Nasty, nasty stuff. We put all the parts and the casings in an industrial-strength parts washer that heats to nearly 200 degrees and it STILL didn't get everything off. Me, I am never, ever, going to use anything except a good, standard synthetic trans fluid.
Hah. We just pulled my tranny to put in new, much stronger gears and input shaft. The Redline had turned to a blue/green gritty paste on most of the gears and shaft and was beginning to plug up the oiling holes. Nasty, nasty stuff. We put all the parts and the casings in an industrial-strength parts washer that heats to nearly 200 degrees and it STILL didn't get everything off. Me, I am never, ever, going to use anything except a good, standard synthetic trans fluid.
Would you care to tell us what Redline oil you had in the tranny?
There's a lot of people using Redline Oils in their transmissions, both Subarus and other makes, and I've never seen this reported before. Got any pics to show us this?
Redline recommends that you use 75w90 NS in the transaxle and 75w90 in the rear differential. When I changed out my fluids I knew the reasoning, but I have since forgotten the details. If you would like to know the down-and-dirty I would recommend contacting RedLine at (800) 624-7958. They are extremely knowledgeable and easy to talk to.
Would you care to tell us what Redline oil you had in the tranny?
There's a lot of people using Redline Oils in their transmissions, both Subarus and other makes, and I've never seen this reported before. Got any pics to show us this?
Sorry. We've been busy rebuilding the transmission. Just finished today. I'll post pics that show the green goo as soon as I can. Have to replace the rear u-joint on the driveshaft; that's going to take a couple of days. I'm also modifying the catch can to feed oil back to the sump.
I'm not sure what the exact Redline was. It was in the trans from about 10K miles to about 50K miles. The last 20K, I used standard synthetic fluid. I think I've still got a half quart or so of the Redline somewhere in the garage. I quit using it because no one around here carries it, and it had to be special ordered. All I remember is that it was a Redline rep who recommended it as specific to the WRX.
Work on the trans was done by two master mechanics. Both have a lot of experience with Subaru transmissions. They've never seen anything like it (the green goo).
Re: the green paste in my transmission. Here's the reply from Redline:
Thank you for contacting Red Line Oil, it sounds like your transaxle
was filled with the ShockProof LightWeight. The ShockProof gear oils
are very unique and are better suited to racing and some speciality
applications. They contain a friction modifier and as a result can be
too slippery for the synchros, they contain a moly component in a gel
structure that tends to thicken faster than some of our other
products. The ShockProof wouldn't be our recommendation in that
transaxle.
Re: the green paste in my transmission. Here's the reply from Redline:
Thank you for contacting Red Line Oil, it sounds like your transaxle
was filled with the ShockProof LightWeight. The ShockProof gear oils
are very unique and are better suited to racing and some speciality
applications. They contain a friction modifier and as a result can be
too slippery for the synchros, they contain a moly component in a gel
structure that tends to thicken faster than some of our other
products. The ShockProof wouldn't be our recommendation in that
transaxle.
In your transaxle I would recommend the 75W90NS.
Regards, Dave
Red Line Oil
Interesting. Are you thinking it had only shockproof in the tranny?
The common idea is to use 1 QT of it and mix with 75W90NS or some other fluid. I change my tranny lube every 2 years and have not had a problem with the shockproof in it.
I'm sure this is what was in the transmission. I'll try to get the pictures of the green gunk downloaded tomorrow or the next day. The thing is, you'd never know that it was turning to paste and sticking to parts unless you cracked the transmission. My transmission worked fine, and the stock parts, once they were cleaned, looked good as new. The two bearings we replaced were a different matter, though. They were clearly on their way out. And they were on their way out because the paste was preventing them from oiling properly. Also, please remember, that we DID change the transmission fluid, and had in fact gone back to a standard trans fluid over 20K miles ago.
It's a thick green paste, about the consistency of toothpaste. And it was a lot more than just a film. It was larded on.
The thing is, I don't think it matters if you only add one quart of the stuff and mix it with three quarts of something else. If I understand the guy from Redline correctly, it's still going to "thicken" in the trans.
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