R380 Gearbox oil

[JimAttrill]

Back in 1997 I was given some advice on what was then the LRO forum to use MTF94 in my R380 (main) gearbox. I managed to hijack 20 litres which was supposed to go to the LR assembly plant, but I have now used it all.

I was going to change to synthetic ATF like Shell Donax TX, but it seems to be made of unobtainium or unobtainioil rather. Checked up on Castrol Transmax Z, but it seemed a bit pricey.

For a bit more money I have bought and 'fitted' (can you fit oil?) Redline MTL. According to their web site this stuff does everything except cure warts on frogs, and it does give a very nice gear change, no baulking or graunching. And maybe I can leave it in a bit longer as it has no viscosity additives to get chopped up.

Anybody else using it?

[tacr2man]

Redline is Rolls royce product (quality wise I dont mean made or used) I have used MTL in my gearboxs LT85 and R380 (different vehicles ) in OZ and UK works well in Heat and cold.

When in OZ they supplied TNT road train running Perth To Darwin oil trial in Main Diff of tractor unit , the dino oil had to be changed after every return trip . The redline was tested after each trip, and temp logged on the trips. It dropped the diff temp 60C when climbing and had shown no deterioration .

They do a good shockpruf oil for transfer and diffs, a plus point is it will not chemically change with water contamination, so you can just drain water off after allowing to settle, and carry on.

Your right tho it isnt cheap.

[JimAttrill]

I quite fancy putting the oil in the LT230 as these boxes run very hot (as you will know). Redline do make a 75w90 GL5 gear oil which I reckon would be about right - or would you recommend one of the other gear oils. There is such a variety in their catalogue that it's hard to decide.

For the moment the diffs can look after themselves on ordinary EP90.

Re the cost, I get a 20% discount for the workshop, which helps a lot.

[m0bcg]

i use DEXRON 2 or 3 ATF in my lt77 and r380 boxes .

its cheap and works just fine .

ive allways had gear crunching problems using other types of oil but with ATF i never have this trouble .

i use dexron in my drag race gearboxes and in my trials bike gearboxes also .

im not saying that synthetic oils dont work , but my being a land/range rover owner for the last 25 years i get to know all the little niggles about them and i know one thing, they are fussy on gearbox oil viscosity in the cold weather .

what you need is a gearbox oil that is same viscosity or thinner than ATF , otherwise youll have gearchange issues , ie crrrruncch eeeeeek .

i had a new gearbox fitted to a range rover [ in the summer] and it was not too clever at gearchanges .

i drove it home and drained the gearbox oil [clear colour and definately not red ATF ] and changed for normal ATF .

then it changed gear lovely and never played up once .

my r380 was scrunchy through gears on cold mornings when i bought the landy , so i did same thing and changed the oil for ATF , it drives without problem and touch wood ive not had any problems since .

if you go on the difflock forum there is a lot of discussion about gearbox oils on there, they also sell synthetic gearbox oils if you want to order and try any of them out .

personally i will stick with dexron , after all it is cheap and easy to obtain , and it keeps my power steering topped up too , one less oil to carry .

Redline is Rolls royce product (quality wise I dont mean made or used) I have used MTL in my gearboxs LT85 and R380 (different vehicles ) in OZ and UK works well in Heat and cold.

When in OZ they supplied TNT road train running Perth To Darwin oil trial in Main Diff of tractor unit , the dino oil had to be changed after every return trip . The redline was tested after each trip, and temp logged on the trips. It dropped the diff temp 60C when climbing and had shown no deterioration .

They do a good shockpruf oil for transfer and diffs, a plus point is it will not chemically change with water contamination, so you can just drain water off after allowing to settle, and carry on.

Your right tho it isnt cheap.

[rick]

Jim, as I mentioned on the tech thread, I feel that Castrol Syntrans gives a better gear change than MTL, and it resists thinning in high ambients better than MTL. (MTL is approx. 10.5 cSt @ 100°C, Syntrans 11.9 cSt)

I've used straight MTL, and various brews of MTL/MT90 to combat thinning in high temps, and IMO Syntrans wins out.

In your and our summers, ATF and MTF94 isn't enough, particularly 300Tdi's without oil coolers.

[rick]

i use DEXRON 2 or 3 ATF in my lt77 and r380 boxes .

its cheap and works just fine .

ive allways had gear crunching problems using other types of oil but with ATF i never have this trouble .

<snip>

Try using ATF in high ambients and high loads and the gear change goes to hell. Notchy, noisy and hard to engage gears.

I'll stick with a dedicated manual trans fluid, thanks.

BTW, I've used a 75W-85 down to -6°C and never had a problem changing gears, just got to use the right one

[JimAttrill]

In your and our summers, ATF and MTF94 isn't enough, particularly 300Tdi's without oil coolers.

Ah, but I do have an oil cooler - admittedly it's one of those TD5 things which is just a pipe that goes forward to the front of the engine and back again. Found it lying around in the workshop.

And my LT230 has an aluminium extended sump with fins on it - holds about an extra litre of oil.

[rick]

Ah, but I do have an oil cooler - admittedly it's one of those TD5 things which is just a pipe that goes forward to the front of the engine and back again. Found it lying around in the workshop.

And my LT230 has an aluminium extended sump with fins on it - holds about an extra litre of oil.

...and the cooler is well worth fitting.

I have the t/stat block and some lines (possibly V8 ?), but I've been too lazy to fit it all up. It's amazing how quickly hard work/high temps and a limited oil capacity degrade premium fluids that are OK in truck transmissions for up to 400,000km.

Nearly all the premium synthetics are excellent stuff, and should extend the service life of any gearbox.

[110WestCape]

Looking at this prevcious thread ........ I see Texaco MTF94 is recommended by LR for the R380 gearbox, it is marketed by Chevron in SA also as MTF94. It's a 75W/80. There is an equivalent in Mobilube XH1 also a 75W/80, seems to be a bit scarce though.

Engine oils, I found an interesting opinion today ..... I have been using a mineral based oil in my TD5 mainly due to the stealer having started it it on mineral oil since I bought it. I wanted to change to a full synthetic after I have taken over the servicing myself. The recommendation by our technical advisor was against using a synthetic after a mineral oil was already used. He reckons a mineral oil has a tendency to swell the oil seals slightly over time. A synthetic does the opposite, shrinks the seals which could lead to a bit of smoking / leaking.

After an overhaul or from new it would be fine to use a full synthetic as an engine oil in the TD5.

Thought i'd share this opinion and see if anyone has anything to the wiser.

Cheers

Wikus

[BogMonster]

110WC,

Is that what LR have on the "excuse of the day" flipchart for explaining all the oil leaks ?

I think they have always done it

[Ex Member]

I quite fancy putting the oil in the LT230 as these boxes run very hot (as you will know). Redline do make a 75w90 GL5 gear oil which I reckon would be about right - or would you recommend one of the other gear oils

That is what I use in my LT230 and is what I would recomend.

[110WestCape]

110WC,

Is that what LR have on the "excuse of the day" flipchart for explaining all the oil leaks ?

I think they have always done it

Whaaaahaha .... yours leak oil ? tsk tsk ....... typical example of theory vs practise. Damn good to laugh though.

Cheers

Wikus