FridgeFreezer Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Whilst flicking through a rough scan of the old Defender Workshop Manual I noticed this oddity in the specs for the LT230 oil - I've never heard of engine oil or ATF in an LT230 yet it appears to have been Land Rover's recommendation once upon a time - presumably "just use whatever's in the gearbox" no mention of using EP90 in it at all! Anyone ever run theirs on ATF or engine oil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Never noticed that it might be a cold climate thing as I imagine ep90 would be like treacle at -15°. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Hmm it may very well be me going blind, but the way I see it from the picture it does state that you should use EP90? It says differentials, swivel pin and LT230? Or is it because I don't see the complete picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerous doug Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 In the same boat as soren, looks like it says ep90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Both going blind, there's a note saying lines marked with a star, the oils can be used in LTZ transfer box.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 8 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Both going blind, there's a note saying lines marked with a star, the oils can be used in LTZ transfer box.... Ahh, but what is the LTZ Box then? Lt230R and T is what we usually have on our old Landies IRC, and they state 90 weight, correct? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I took the LTZ! to be a wildcard, by my reading anyways Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 If it was meant like all LT230's I suppose they would've written something like: LT-X or LT(X). On another note I once had an RRC with the TF 727, the guy I bought it from had always used ATF on the Transfer as well and it worked just fine and didn't leak a drop, so I suppose its just fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 You expect a LR workshop manual to make sense? Pah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 20 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: You expect a LR workshop manual to make sense? Pah I know I'm a bit naive yes But in this case I trust Land Rover Perhaps Mr. Ashcroft can enlighten us? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 You're all going blind - it's a very grainy scan of the manual that's been run through dodgy OCR software, so it's (for some reason) replaced a blurry "LT230" with "LTZ!" in an odd font. And yes, what it says (or originally said) was that lines with a * next to them indicate oils which are also suitable for the LT230, those lines being LT77 (ATF) and LT95 (Engine oil). But yes it does on a 5th reading appear to indicate EP90 for the LT230. What led me to this was a bit of poking around oils suitable for the Roverdrive, makes me wonder if something like ATF might be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 6 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said: You're all going blind - it's a very grainy scan of the manual that's been run through dodgy OCR software, so it's (for some reason) replaced a blurry "LT230" with "LTZ!" in an odd font. And yes, what it says (or originally said) was that lines with a * next to them indicate oils which are also suitable for the LT230, those lines being LT77 (ATF) and LT95 (Engine oil). But yes it does on a 5th reading appear to indicate EP90 for the LT230. What led me to this was a bit of poking around oils suitable for the Roverdrive, makes me wonder if something like ATF might be an option. Haha okay, no wonder you got us all confused then If the ATF is better suited for high temp than the EP90 I wouldn't hesitate to use it, as heat seems to be the killer of overdrives in general. Unless of course there's an oilpump in the overdrive that is designed for a certain viscousity but I have no clue if that is the case. My overdrive experinece is limited to an old Fairey for a Series box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 I've dropped Roamerdrive an e-mail, they're usually very good at replying. I believe the Roamerdrive uses some parts from a yank autobox so it may well be fine with ATF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Is it a planetary gear type then? If so ATF sounds about right do you engage it via an electric switch like on an old MG? I wish the series overdrives were like that, much less noisy and easier to engage/disengage. Does anybody know if such a type was ever made for the series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I had a Series Roverdrive before they became Roamerdrives. I had gear oil in it because it just uses the transfer case oil - it doesn't have its own supply. It was fine at 100kmh and under about 35C, but after that and especially over 40C it just couldn't handle the heat and it cooked the 80w-90 that was in it. So they recommended one of those finned sump covers and a fully synthetic gear oil. It still ran painfully hot. I was offered a new and improved casing but never heard from them again. My suspicion is that the design just couldn't handle high ambient temperatures. I'm sure you'll be fine over there on long drives in your cooler weather but for me it was a very, very expensive experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I know its not with a Roamerdrive, but the experience may be useful. With my GKN OD it has a separate oil sump that is very small and it runs on ATF. GKN reccomended 50,000km oil changes - i change it at every service every 6000 miles. Any longer and it cooks the ATF and it comes out black and burnt. I have tried the difflock evo ATF equivalent in there adn that was dreadful - it went brown black very quickly. I am convinced that all of these ODs benefit from extra cooling and much more frequent oil changes than reccomended by the manufacturer. I am looking at an extended sump for my GKN to increase the oil capacity and already have the finned sump on the transferbox to cool that as much as possible and decrease heat transfer to the OD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 The Roamerdrive uses a good old fashioned lever and shares oil with the LT230. The Roamerdrive is epicyclic (http://roamerdrive.com/ds_overdrive.html) It undoubtedly puts extra load & heat into the oil, we have the finned sump & I added a heat-shield to the exhaust which keeps it all below 100deg . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I have always used RedLine synthetic gear oil in the 230 and this would give you a safety margin with an overdrive unit JMHE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 A useful reply from the boys in the lab: Quote That tells me it's a lightly loaded gear. All of those could potentially provide GL-4 levels of gear protection. The variation in recommendation was probably just caused by whatever Landrover had on hand in the factory at the time, so was easiest to fill the vehicle with in the factory. If you're worried about copper protection and high temperatures, then ATF would probably be the best choice of those. But that's just based on those specs. I can’t comment on what your overdrive needs vs that recommendation for the transfer case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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